COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) announces the following awards, honors, grants and more that were recently given to the organization, teams or individuals: Paskett and Quiroga named as ASCO fellows  Electra Paskett, PhD, FAACR, FASCO, deputy director for population sciences and community outreach at the OSUCCC – James, and Dionisia Quiroga, DO, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at Ohio State, are among the newest recipients of the Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) award.  The FASCO title goes to ASCO members who have shown extraordinary dedication in their voluntary efforts that benefit the ASCO mission of “conquering cancer through research, education and promotion of the highest quality patient care.” Dr. Paskett, who also directs the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at Ohio State and is founding director of the Center for Community Outreach and Engagement at the OSUCCC – James, focuses her research on designing intervention strategies that inspire people to make lifestyle changes that enable them to take better control of their health, with the goal of preventing or reducing the burden of cancer. Dr. Quiroga is a breast medical oncologist and researcher interested in tumor immunology and the role it plays in cancer pathogenesis and treatment. She also studies how fat tissue and the immune system impact breast cancer outcomes to identify new targetable pathways for cancer to be treated. Grant will help scientists develop AI-based system for predicting treatment-related cardiotoxicity risk in breast cancer patients A five-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will help Ohio State researchers develop a multimodal artificial intelligence (AI)-based system to better predict the risk of treatment-related cardiotoxicity, a key driver of mortality during or after breast cancer therapy. The NCI awarded the grant to Weidan Cao, PhD (project leader), assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, and Ping Zhang, PhD, associate professor and vice chair for education in the Department of Biomedical Informatics. Dr. Zhang also is in the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCC – James. In their project abstract, the researchers state that standard treatments for breast cancer have dramatically improved survival rates, but up to 20% of patients develop serious cardiovascular disease (CVD), such as heart failure, myocarditis or cardiac arrhythmia. They note that emerging data suggest CVD is the leading non-malignant cause of death during or after the treatment stage for breast cancer. Mardis earns prestigious honor for moving genetic research discovery into clinical applications Elaine Mardis, PhD, professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Ohio State and co-executive director of the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, will receive the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) Award for Excellence in Molecular Pathology for her expansive work in cancer genomics, immunogenomics and analytics, as well as for her contributions to advancing molecular diagnostics.  Dr. Mardis, who is a co-leader of the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCC – James, will receive her award at the AMP Annual Meeting & Expo in Boston in November, where she will deliver a keynote lecture titled “The Advancement of Next-Generation Sequencing and Analytics for Pediatric Precision Diagnosis.” The James is reaccredited as an ESMO Designated Centre of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute has been reaccredited as a European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Designated Centre of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care for 2026-2028. Jillian Gustin, MD, director of the Division of Palliative Medicine at Ohio State, was notified about the reaccreditation by the chair of the ESMO Designated Centres Working Group. Launched in 2003, the ESMO Designated Centres program recognizes cancer centers that provide integrated oncology and palliative care within mainstream oncology services, with the goal of improving research, education and clinical practice by setting standards for service development. To be accredited, institutions must fulfill 13 criteria that are based on recommendations from the World Health Organization guidelines on the provision of palliative care for patients with cancer. NCI grant-funded study may lead to better immunotherapies for AML OSUCCC – James researchers will use a five-year, $2.5 million NCI grant to study how a protein called PD-1H suppresses the immune system in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and to determine whether blocking the PD-1H pathway can improve immune responses to this aggressive blood cancer.   Principal investigator is Xue Han, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity at Ohio State and a member of the Leukemia and Hematologic Malignancies Program at the OSUCCC – James, where she is also a member of the Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology (PIIO). In their project abstract, the researchers state that AML remains difficult to treat; most patients relapse and have poor long-term survival. Ohio State faculty lecture at Translational Summit on Hematologic Malignancies Five faculty members in the Division of Hematology at Ohio State were among dozens of experts from leading cancer institutions who were invited to lecture at the DAVA Oncology 4th Translational Summit on Hematologic Malignancies held in Bermuda Aug. 6-10. DAVA Oncology is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company that facilitates cancer drug development.  Invited speakers from Ohio State and their lecture titles were: Seema Bhat, MD, “Immune Response to Active Vaccination for Patients With CLL: Ongoing Studies”; “Epcoritamab Bispecific Therapy in CLL: Monotherapy and Combinations”; “Lisocel+ or - Ibrutinib in CLL” James S. Blachly, MD, “Update on Revumenib Monotherapy in AML”; “Epigenetic Methylation Profiling as a Biomarker of Menin Inhibitor Sensitivity”; “Hereditary Biomarkers of Risk to Develop Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.” Dr. Blachly also moderated the “Myelodysplastic Syndrome” session. Uma Borate, MBBS, “Ziftomenib: Pivotal Data for a Menin Inhibitor for NPM1-Mutated AML”; “Ziftomenib: Combination Trials in Newly Diagnosed or Relapsed AML”; “CCUS and the Role of CHIP Cells in Tumorigenesis.”   Nicole Grieselhuber, MD, PhD, “SEA-CD70, an Anti-CD70 mAb for the Treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndrome”; “BRD4 as a Potential Target in CCUS” Kerry Rogers, MD, “Long-Term Follow-Up of a Phase II Study of IVO in CLL”; “Fixed-Duration Zanubrutinib + VEN + G-O.” Dr. Rogers also moderated the Relapsed Mantle Cell Lymphoma session.   James pharmacy members garner 3 statewide OSHP awards  Members of The James Pharmacy Department will receive three of 11 awards to be presented by the Ohio Society of Health-System Pharmacy (OSHP) at the OSHP Annual Meeting Oct. 24-25 in Newark, Ohio. Here are the 2025 OSHP award recipients from The James: •Stephen Polley, PharmD, MPA, MS, associate director of pharmacy, will receive the Timothy D. Moore Pharmacy Management Award for demonstrating significant managerial performance in delivering pharmacy services in a health-system institution.  • Tiffany Winslow, CPhT, oncology infusion pharmacy technician team manager, will receive the Shining Star Compounding Pharmacy Technician Award for dedication to patient safety and advancing the role of pharmacy technicians in Ohio.  • The Palliative Pharmacy Team will receive the Best Practice Advancement Award, which recognizes Ohio health systems that have demonstrated exemplary pharmacy advancements in accordance with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Practice Advancement Initiative. The team won this award for its Ambulatory Pharmacist Prescribing Program. Media Contact: Mary Ellen Fiorino, Mary.Fiorino@osumc.edu