Dec. 29, 2016:

Members of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium Steering Committee recently appointed Robert Kratzke, MD, as the committee’s first chair, and Ruth O’Regan, MD, as its vice chair. Each will serve a one-year term, with Dr. O’Regan serving as chair in the subsequent year.

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Dec. 21, 2016:

Fast away the old year passes, and the Big Ten Cancer Centers are bringing 2016 to a climactic close. Their amazing and world-changing work in the fight against cancer has not only made 2016 an unforgettable and truly historic year, but it also beckons the shining dawn of a promising new year full of hope for patients and researchers. Next year’s breakthroughs have been this year’s vision, and this year’s legacy becomes next year’s inspiration. Take a moment to reflect on recent breakthroughs which embody a year to remember, in 2016’s final Across the Consortium.

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Dec. 19, 2016:

Andrea L. Kasinski, PhD

Investigator Spotlight

Andrea L. Kasinski, PhD

Educational Background: PhD, Emory University (2009), Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University

Research Interests: My laboratory works on non-coding RNA biology and therapeutics. Specifically, we focus on identifying biologically important RNAs whose misexpression drives the tumorigenic process. We then utilize this information to design, develop, and implement RNA-based therapeutics. Specifically, evidence-based approaches are being developed to identify microRNAs that drive the process of tumorigenesis, or to identify microRNAs that are required for tumor cell maintenance or therapeutic resistance. Using this data, we then develop various strategies to alter the concentration of theses microRNAs in vivo using either small molecule inhibitors, or novel targeting approaches that deliver microRNAs in the absence of toxic delivery vehicles. Our overarching goal is to generate substantial knowledge that will lead to the clinical utility of non-coding RNAs.

Fun Facts: I have a loving and supportive husband, Scott Haymond, and two incredible step-children, Abby and Parker.

Growing up in a traditional blue-collar family, I had little knowledge on what a PhD was. A great deal of my scientific success is due to the late Dr. Dean Danner at Emory University, a fantastic mentor that recognized my strengths and recommended that I pursue my doctorate.

Originally I wanted to be a cardiac transplant surgeon; however, after I got involved in research I recognized that my passion was in research and discovery.

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Nov. 21, 2016:

Patients with locally advanced bladder cancer often find themselves at a fork in the road when it comes to treatment decisions. The determining factor for many patients is whether or not they are candidates for surgery.

For those who can have cisplatin based chemotherapy and can undergo surgery, the standard approach is often well defined; but for those who cannot, the road ahead is not so clear. A new Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium study, led by Monika Joshi, MD, MRCP, of Penn State Cancer Institute, may help to open new options for these patients.

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Nov. 18, 2016:

In the season of gratitude, this month’s edition of Across the Consortium recounts more reasons to be grateful for the collegial partnership of the Big Ten Cancer Centers in the fight against cancer.  Get up to date on the stunning discoveries and monumental breakthroughs with far-reaching implications.  Be inspired by accounts of leadership.  Remember why we are stronger together.  All this and more as we take you Across the Consortium!

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Nov. 2, 2016:

Investigator Spotlight

Natalie Callander, MD, is a hematologist at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center who focuses on the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma, the second most common form of blood cancer. She serves as co-chair of the Big Ten CRC’s Multiple Myeloma Clinical Trial group, along with Dr. Craig Cole of the University of Michigan. “Our mission at the Big Ten CRC is to foster collaboration between researchers and industry partners in order to develop novel therapies, particularly for patients with relapsed myeloma,” Callander said. “We also hope to provide young investigators a venue to explore new treatment paradigms.”

Callander is the Medical Director of the Myeloma Clinical Program at UW, where she has worked to increase the number of high quality myeloma clinical trials. Under her leadership, UW has become the one of the top accuers for myeloma clinical trials in ECOG (the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group). She also assembled a myeloma translational research group on campus, including Shigeki Miyamoto, PhD, Peiman Hematti, MD, Fotis Asimakopoulos, MB, PhD, and Alan Rapraeger, PhD, which has been working together now for nearly a decade. One of her projects involves collecting bone marrow samples from myeloma, patients, so that their tumor cells can be studies in a variety of ways. One investigation involves the study of how drug resistance develops and to identify new biological markers that could serve as therapeutic targets. Their group is also researching a personalized approach to treatment, where they test drug therapies on both cancerous and healthy cells culled from these donated bone marrow samples to accurately recapitulate the marrow microenvironment. “We hope that this approach will lead to a real time method of helping to decide the best treatments for relapsed patients, and ultimately spare them from ineffective and potentially toxic drugs,” Callander said. Read More

Oct. 19, 2016:

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and this month’s Across the Consortium illustrates why the Big Ten CRC member institutions are leading the way.  The team is heading off drug resistance at the pass, streamlining preventative measures, developing imaging technology, studying the role of diet, and pioneering treatment strategies where no targeted therapies presently exist.  Catch up with the consortium that’s transforming cancer research through collaboration.

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Oct. 5, 2016:

Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in women, behind skin cancer. About 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Each year in the United States, more than 200,000 women get breast cancer and more than 40,000 women die from the disease. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month — a time to engage, mobilize, and learn — and the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium brings a wealth of progress to the table.
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Oct. 5, 2016:

The first-ever Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium Summit drew an energetic group of academic investigators and pharmaceutical industry leaders to Indianapolis Sept. 9-10, for a series of meetings that strengthened academic and pharmaceutical industry collaboration within the consortium.

More than 100 attendees, representing all Big Ten CRC member institutions and 16 pharmaceutical and biotech companies, attended the event, hosted by the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. Read More

Oct. 2, 2016

Investigator Spotlight

Stephen Hecht, Ph.D., is a Carcinogenesis & Chemoprevention Research Program member at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, and a Wallin Land Grant Professor of Cancer Prevention at UMN Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. Dr. Hecht and his laboratory are focused on understanding the ways tobacco smoke constituents cause cancer. To do this he and his colleagues study the mechanisms by which these compounds enter the human body, are metabolized, and ultimately bind to DNA, causing mutations that result in cancer. The goal of Dr. Hecht’s research is two-fold: first, to provide evidence in support of ongoing regulation of tobacco products due to their harm to human health, and second, to find ways to identify the susceptible smoker.

Dr. Hecht has had more than 800 manuscripts published in scientific journals, was elected American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in 2014, received the Joseph Cullen Award from the American Society of Preventative Oncology in 2012 and selected as editor-in-chief of Chemical Research in Toxicology in 2012, among a long list of other awards and recognitions.
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