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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March 3, 2021:

This month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium highlights our member, the University of Illinois Cancer Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In this member feature, we shine the spotlight on two University of Illinois at Chicago investigators who are actively involved in consortium studies and working groups: Irum Khan, MD, and Kent Hoskins, MD.

Irum Khan, MD

University of Illinois Cancer Center member
Co-chair, Big Ten CRC Myeloid Malignancies Clinical Trial Working Group

Educational background

• MD, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
• Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Ohio
• Fellowship, Hematology/Oncology, Northwestern University, Chicago
• MS, Clinical and Translational Science, University of Illinois Chicago

Research and Clinical Interests
Irum Khan, MD, is as comfortable in a laboratory as she is a hospital. As a clinician, Dr. Khan cares for patients with acute and chronic myeloid malignancies, including leukemia, myeloproliferative and myelodysplastic disorders. Her research is focused on translational studies in myeloid malignancies, identifying therapeutic targets in myeloid leukemia and serving as principal investigator on numerous clinical trials. Read More

February 3, 2021:

This month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium highlights the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University as our featured member. Daniela Matei, MD, the Diana, Princess of Wales Professor of Cancer Research, professor of Hematology / Oncology and Gynecologic Oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and co-leader of the Translational Bridge Program at the Lurie Cancer Center, was featured in the story, “From Behind the Iron Curtain to a Career in Gynecologic Cancer Research,” in the ASCO Post.

Read the full story in the ASCO Post.

About the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium: The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium was created in 2013 to transform the conduct of cancer research through collaborative, hypothesis-driven, highly translational oncology trials that leverage the scientific and clinical expertise of Big Ten universities. The goal of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium is to create a unique team-research culture to drive science rapidly from ideas to new approaches to cancer treatment. Within this innovative environment, today’s research leaders collaborate with and mentor the research leaders of tomorrow with the unified goal of improving the lives of all patients with cancer.

About the Big Ten Conference: The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. The Big Ten sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013. For more information, visit www.bigten.org.

December 15, 2020:

After more than 20 years in cancer research, Borys Hrinczenko, MD, PhD, sees a bright future. As a lung cancer specialist at the Michigan State University Breslin Cancer Center, he has led numerous clinical trials and helped pioneer new therapies, including checkpoint inhibitors, harnessing the body’s immune system against lung cancer. Twenty years ago, he could offer his lung cancer patients few viable treatments.

More recently, “I’ve had patients who have done quite well” on checkpoint inhibitors, Hrinczenko said. That includes a small group of long-term survivors with advanced lung cancer.

He expects more breakthroughs as the Breslin Cancer Center looks forward to moving into a new hospital in early 2022 now being built by McLaren Health Care in partnership with MSU and adjacent to the East Lansing campus. Breslin is reorganizing its clinical trials office to improve efficiency and forming alliances with several other cancer groups, including the Karmanos Cancer Institute, which is part of McLaren.

MSU’s membership in the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium (Big Ten CRC) is a key to that bright future. Hrinczenko is a member of the Consortium’s Steering Committee and its Thoracic Clinical Trial Working Group. He is an associate professor in the MSU College of Human Medicine and director of the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program. Read More