Grants
Leona Ayers, MD, faculty emeritus, College of Medicine, received a five-year, $4.2 million competitive renewal National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant (CA183713) to form the Ohio Comprehensive Cancer Centers Biospecimen Consortium. The consortium will provide high-quality biological specimens, data and laboratory services to the general cancer research community.
Martha Belury, PhD, RD, professor of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism in the College of Medicine, and of Environmental Health Sciences in the College of Public Health, has received a two-year, $414,956 NCI grant (CA185140) to study the possible role of the cytokine adiponectin in inhibiting the progression of cancer cachexia.
David Carbone, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine (shown), and Mikhail Dikov, PhD, associate professor of Medicine, both in the Division of Medical Oncology, have received a five-year, $1.5 million NCI grant (CA175370) to study notch ligands in regulation of anticancer immunity.
Richard Goldberg, MD, physician-in-chief at the OSUCCC – James, has received a five-year, $7.3 million NCI grant (CA180850) to support OSUCCC – James participation in the NCI’s National Cooperative Clinical Trials Network.
Michael Grever, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine and principal investigator of the current NCI-sponsored Phase I program, has received a five-year, $4.19 million NCI grant (CA186712) for conducting phase I clinical trials on novel anticancer agents. The effort is part of a new consolidated NCI Experimental Therapeutics-Clinical Trials Network (ET-CTN)
Samson Jacob, PhD, professor of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, and Kalpana Ghoshal, PhD, associate professor of Medicine, have received a five-year, $1.5 million NCI grant (CA086978) to study the molecular mechanism of diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver cancer, and novel strategies to treat them.
Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, professor of Psychiatry and of Psychology, has received a five-year, $4.3 million NCI grant (CA186720) to follow up on preliminary data suggesting that chemotherapy treatment and depression can enhance cardiovascular risk in breast cancer survivors.
Gustavo Leone, PhD, professor of Medicine and associate director of basic research at the OSUCCC – James, has received a five-year, $1.6 million NCI grant (CA121275) to study the tumor-suppressor roles of E2F7 and E2F8 in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Guido Marcucci, MD, professor of Medicine, and Clara D. Bloomfield, MD, Distinguished University Professor and Ohio State University Cancer Scholar, have received a five-year, $3.5 million NCI grant (CA180861) to form an Integrated Translational Science Center for Leukemia to support new ideas from outstanding investigators with the goal of revolutionizing the treatment of leukemia.
Lisa Yee, MD, associate professor of Surgical Oncology, has received a four-year, $1.28 million NCI grant (CA164019) to test the ability of a fish-oil supplement rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid to reduce the risk of recurrence in women with highly aggressive breast cancer.
Jennifer Woyach, MD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology; Amy Johnson, PhD, associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology; and John C. Byrd, MD, director, Division of Hematology, and professor of Medicine, of Medicinal Chemistry and of Veterinary Biosciences, have received a five-year, $2.59 million NCI grant (CA183444) for “Molecular Evaluation of Targeted Therapies in Lymphoid Malignancies.”
Awards and Honors
John C. Byrd, MD, director, Division of Hematology, and professor of Medicine, of Medicinal Chemistry and of Veterinary Biosciences, and his team have received one of the Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards in the United States for 2014 by the Clinical Research Forum (CRF) for their study “Targeting BTK with Ibrutinib in Relapsed Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.”
Carlo Croce, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, and director of Human Cancer Genetics, has been elected a Fellow in the National Academy of Inventors.
David Liebner, MD, assistant professor of Medicine and of Biomedical Informatics, and JAMES L. CHEN, MD, assistant professor of Biomedical Informatics and of Medicine, have received two of three Career Development Awards issued annually by the Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration (SARC) to support sarcoma research by new investigators.
Erin Macrae, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, has received a 2014 Career Development Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology for $200,000 over three years for a study titled “Targeting Molecular Pathways in Metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer.”
Terence Williams, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Radiation Oncology, has received a three-year KL2 Scholar Award for $564,300 from Ohio State’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science and the National Center for Advancing Translational Science. His study is titled “Unraveling KRAS Mechanisms of Radioresistance and Developing Novel Radiosensitizers for KRAS Mutant Carcinomas by Targeting Downstream Pathways.”
Trainee Recognition
Tim Lautenschlaeger, MD, and Steve Walston, MD, both residents in Radiation Oncology, received Resident Awards from the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) for best research papers by residents at the ACRO annual meeting. The association grants just two of these awards per year.
Faculty and Programs
The OSUCCC – James has partnered with Moftt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., to accelerate discoveries in cancer research. The Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN) will hasten the development and delivery of more precise cancer treatments, diagnostic tools and prevention strategies through secure research sharing among the nation’s top cancer centers and institutions.
Leadership Activities and Appointments
John C. Byrd , MD, director, Division of Hematology, and professor of Medicine, of Medicinal Chemistry and of Veterinary Bioscience, has been named associate editor of the journal Blood, one of the premier publications in the field of hematology and the official publication of the American Society of Hematology.
Michael A. Calgiuri, MD, director of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and CEO of The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, is the new chair of the National Institute of Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Forum.
Jeffrey Fowler, MD, professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has been voted President Elect II of the Board of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO), and DAVID COHN, MD, professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has been voted SGO Secretary Treasurer Elect.
Michael Miller, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Plastic Surgery, has been elected to a six-year term as a director of the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS). Miller is nationally recognized for breast reconstruction using microsurgical techniques following mastectomy.
Julia White, MD, director of Breast Radiation Oncology and vice chair for Clinical Research, Department of Radiation Oncology, has been elected general director of the National Clinical Trials Network Foundation Board of Directors and will help oversee NRG Oncology’s academic, clinical and financial activities.