December 7, 2021:

This month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium highlights UW Carbone Cancer Center and Jeremy Kratz, MD, a medical oncologist and researcher at the cancer center. Dr. Kratz is a member of the Big Ten CRC’s Gastrointestinal Clinical Trial Working Group.

For Dr. Kratz, pushing cancer care and research forward is much more than an academic pursuit. It’s personal. Read More

November 7, 2021:

This month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium features our member institution University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and medical oncologist Margaret Byrne, MD, MS, clinical assistant professor of Internal Medicine-Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation at the Carver College of Medicine.

Dr. Byrne’s research interests include early-phase clinical trials of adjunctive therapies to enhance the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with head, neck, and lung cancers. Her clinical expertise includes thoracic malignancies and head and neck cancer. Read More

October 4, 2021:

This month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium features our member institution The Cancer Center at Illinois at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Neha Gothe, MA, PhD, associate professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who serves as director of the university’s Exercise Psychology Lab.

She is taking her expertise in kinesiology and behavioral psychology to explore the benefits of non-traditional forms of movement, such as yoga, in cancer survivors.

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September 1, 2021:

This month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium features our member institution Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Coral Omene, MD, PhD, medical oncologist at Rutgers Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Research Interests and Expertise:

Dr. Omene is a medical oncologist with a passion for women’s health who is dedicated to the care of treating and managing a diverse pool of breast cancer patients. She has devoted much of her research toward translating novel laboratory observations into discoveries to better care for breast cancer patients, with a particular focus on triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is known to be among the most aggressive breast cancers, with a poor prognosis, especially among African American women.

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September 1, 2021:

While the world continues to focus on the ever-challenging worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, groundbreaking research into potentially practice-changing novel therapies for oncology patients has continued. This year has been one of innovation in unprecedented times, and the field of gastrointestinal cancers has kept pace.

As an early phase clinical investigator at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, my research focuses on developing novel combinations to treat advanced biliary tract, hepatic, and pancreatic cancers. Unfortunately, the rising incidence of hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers, coupled with poor outcomes for these patients, continues to be a pressing reminder of our mission as researchers.

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August 3, 2021:

Purdue Center for Cancer Research (PCCR) scientist Philip Low, PhD, Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery and Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry – Biochemistry (Department of Chemistry) at Purdue University.

The latest research update from Dr. Low is the design, synthesis, and patenting of PSMA-617, an investigational PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. It began with a PCCR collaboration including Dr. Low, Timothy Ratliff, PhD, and Tom Gardner, MD, from Indiana University School of Medicine, who ran the first clinical imaging trial, funded by PCCR, to show the targeting agent was highly prostate cancer specific.

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June 29, 2021:

During the month of July, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium highlights the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, and cancer center member Paul Christian Mayor, MD, MS, FACOG.

Paul Christian Mayor, MD, MS, FACOG
Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology
Indiana University School of Medicine

Educational Background

• Medical Degree: Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University
• Residency: Indiana University School of Medicine
• Fellowship: Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

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June 2, 2021:

This month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium highlights our member, Penn State Cancer Institute. Get to know more about Penn State Cancer Institute investigator Monika Joshi, MD, MRCP.

Monika Joshi, MD, MRCP

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology

Penn State Cancer Institute, Next Generation Therapies

Educational Background

• Medical degree/MBBS: Manipal Academy of Higher Education
• Residency: UPMC Pinnacle, Harrisburg, Pa.
• Fellowship: Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pa.
• Specialist Registrar (Fellow): University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, England, United Kingdom

Research and Clinical Interests

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May 5, 2021:

This month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium highlights our member, the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). Get to know UMGCCC investigator Yixing Jiang, MD, PhD, and learn about a novel approach currently being tested to deliver treatment across the blood-brain barrier in high-grade gliomas.

Yixing Jiang, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine; Director, GI Medical Oncology
University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center

Educational Background

• MD, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University
• PhD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
• Internal Medicine Residency: Mount Sinai School of Medicine
• Fellowship: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Research and Clinical Interests
Dr. Jiang’s clinical expertise includes gastroesophageal, pancreatic, hepatobiliary and colorectal cancers. University of Maryland has the largest liver transplant center in Baltimore-DC area. Dr. Jiang is part of the multidisciplinary team managing patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma referred to the center. Read More

April 5, 2021

Investigator Spotlight:

Channabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy BVSC (DVM), MVSC, PhD, MBA, University of Nebraska Medical Center

Research Interests:

I am a professor of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience and director of the Mouse Genome Engineering Core Facility. My research interest is in enhancing technologies for biomedical research. I develop genome-editing technologies and custom mouse models useful to research ranging from cancer to neuroscience to COVID-19 research. I am fortunate to work in the interface of two Nobel awarded technologies: mouse genome engineering and the CRISPR-Cas systems. Along with a long term collaborator Prof. Masato Ohtsuka (Tokai University, Japan), I have published more than 25 papers on mouse genome engineering technologies, ultimately developing Easi-CRISPR—an approach now regarded as a revolutionary method in our field.

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