Accolades/Funding:

At the Dec. 7 Town Hall meeting, Director Brian Druker, M.D., announced that Lisa Coussens, Ph.D., and Shivaani Kummar, M.D., will serve as OHSU Knight Cancer Institute deputy directors effective immediately. Druker said the two strong leaders – representing the clinic and the lab, respectively – are well-equipped to step into these critical roles. If you missed last week’s Town Hall meeting, you can watch the recording.

Congratulations to Dr. Lisa Coussens, who is one of six scientists at OHSU who are among world's most highly cited per the consulting firm Clarivate. Lisa made the list in the field of molecular biology and genetics. Clarivate compiles an annual list of researchers who’ve shown significant and broad influence reflected in the publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers. Read more on OHSU Now.

Congratulations to Dr. Kate Byrne, who has been awarded a grant from the Robert L. Fine Cancer Research Foundation funded for 2 years. The title of the grant is, "Harnessing CD4 T cells in the pancreatic tumor microenvironment."

Congratulations to John McClatchy, graduate student in the Agarwal lab, who is a recent recipient of the F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award to study role of inflammation in TET2-mediated clonal hematopoiesis.

Congratulations to Michael Parappilly, student in the Wong lab, who was recently selected as one of the OSLER TL1 awardees. 

Congratulations to Victoria Schuster, graduate student in the Ruhland lab, who is a recipient of the 2022-23 N.L. Tartar Trust Fellowship. The Fellowship is intended to be used for supporting research endeavors and research career development in the School of Medicine.

Congratulations to Breanna Maniaci, graduate student in the Maxson lab, who has been awarded an F31, which will support her thesis work on understanding oncogenic CSF3R signaling in patients with Chronic Neutrophilic Leukemia.

Congratulations to Margaret Haerr, graduate student in the Byrne lab, who is a recipient of the 2022-23 N.L. Tartar Trust Fellowship. The Fellowship is intended to be used for supporting research endeavors and research career development in the School of Medicine.

Ashley Anderson, graduate student in the Wong lab, received an NRSA funded by the NCI for her project, ”Mechanisms of Neoplastic Hybrid Cell Dissemination in Colorectal Cancer.”

Ashley Anderson, graduate student in the Wong lab, was interviewed by the ARCS Scholars regarding her experience as a trainee at OHSU. The video will be posted in October.

Dr. Ranish Patel, surgical resident with the Wong lab, abstract accepted for presentation at the American Pancreatic Association annual meeting 2022.

Dr. Adam Tuttle, postdoc in the Nechiporuk lab, has made the cover of the September 2022 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. See it here.

The Maxson lab made the cover of the August 2022 issue of Blood. See it here.

Congratulations to Michelle Ozaki, graduate student in the Schedin lab, who is the recipient of the 2022 Associate Dean's Award For Exemplary Contributions to the Graduate Program.

The graduate program in Biomedical Sciences (PBMS) held its annual retreat on Friday, April 22. Two of our own graduate students, both in the Integrated Cancer Biology Hub, won awards for their presentations:

• Best poster prize awarded to Jennifer Finan (Jonathan Brody’s Laboratory)

• Best talk prize awarded to Ashley Anderson (Missy Wong’s laboratory)

Congratulations to Mona Mohammadhosseini, graduate student in the Agarwal lab, who is a receipient of the F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award in April 2022.

Congratulations to Dr. Amy Moran who has recently been awarded funding from the OHSU Technology Transfer Early-stage Technology Fund.

Congratulations to Dr. Pepper Schedin and the Schedin lab whose paper, “Postpartum breast cancer has a distinct molecular profile that predicts poor outcomes” published in Nature Communications, is the School of Medicine’s Paper of the Month. 

Congratulations to Ashley Anderson, graduate student in the Wong lab, who has received a Medical Student Grant from the Melanoma Research Foundation.

Publications:

Dr. Pepper Schedin and colleagues recently published, "Young-Onset Breast Cancer Outcomes by Time Since Recent Childbirth in Utah" in JAMA Network Open. The publication was also featured on OHSU Now.

The Agarwal lab and AML team have recently published, "Associating drug sensitivity with differentiation status identifies effective combinations for acute myeloid leukemia" in Blood Advances. Read the paper here.

The Wong lab has two publication-related announcements:

• A collaborative study between Wong, Gibbs, Wu and Chang labs, with partnership with Dr. Alison Skalet. In review: "Circulating neoplastic-immune hybrid cells predict metastatic progression in uveal melanoma" in Cancers.
• Review published: "Circulating Cells with Macrophage-like Characteristics in Cancer: The Importance of Circulating Neoplastic-Immune Hybrid Cells in Cancer" in Cancers.

Dr. Adam Tuttle, postdoc in the Nechiporuk lab, has recently published, "c-Kit Receptor Maintains Sensory Axon Innervation of the Skin through Src Family Kinases" in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The Maxson lab has recently published, "Mutated SETBP1 activates transcription of Myc programs to accelerate CSF3R-driven myeloproliferative neoplasms" in Blood.

Jeff Tyner, Ph.D. and the OHSU AML team have published, "Integrative analysis of drug response and clinical outcome in acute myeloid leukemia" in Cancer Cell.

Sanjay Malhotra, PhD and the Malhotra lab have recently published, "SU086, an inhibitor of HSP90, impairs glycolysis and represents a treatment strategy for advanced prostate cancer" in Cell Reports Medicine.

Amy Moran, PhD, in conjunction with Dr. Jen Wargo's group, has recently published "Androgen receptor blockade promotes response to BRAF/MEK-targeted therapy" in Nature.

Jonathan Brody, PhD has recently published two papers:

• "Limited nutrient availability in the tumor microenvironment renders pancreatic tumors sensitive to allosteric IDH1 inhibitors" in Nature Cancer.
• "HuR Plays a Role in Double-Strand Break Repair in Pancreatic Cancer Cells and Regulates Functional BRCA1-Associated-Ring-Domain-1(BARD1) Isoforms" in Cancers.

Amy Moran, PhD and the Moran lab has recently published, "Androgen receptor activity in T cells limits checkpoint blockade efficacy" in Nature.

Katie Blise, graduate student in the Goecks lab and predoctoral trainee in the ICSB T32 training program (mentors: Drs. Lisa Coussens and Jeremy Goecks), has a recent 1st author publication titled, "Single-cell spatial architectures associated with clinical outcome in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma" in Nature-Precision Oncology.

Accolades/Funding:

Congratulations to Sarah Bernhardt, Ph.D., who is a postdoctoral scholar in the Schedin lab, who has been awarded a Prevent Cancer Foundation Fellowship.

Congratulations to Amy Moran, Ph.D. and the Moran lab which has won the Prostate Cancer Foundation's 2021 Young Investigator Award.

Congratulations to Karin Rodland, Ph.D. who has recently received the PNNL Lab Director’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in Science or Technology.

Congratulations to Missy Wong, Ph.D. and the Wong lab whose paper, "Relevance of circulating hybrid cells as a non-invasive biomarker for myriad solid tumors," published in Scientific Reports is the School of Medicine's Paper of the Month. Read the story on OHSU Now.

Congratulations to the following postdoctoral and predoctoral trainees who have been awarded the T32 training grant from CDCB: Tahereh Ziglari, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Pucci lab, Benjamin Sarno, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Mills lab, Katie Blise, graduate student in the Goecks lab, and Mona Mohammadhosseini, graduate student in the Agarwal lab. Learn more about the T32 training program and trainee projects here.

Congratulation to Philip Copenhaver, Ph.D. who has been awarded the Allan J. Hill, Jr. Award for Basic Science. The award recognizes excellence in teaching by honoring a full-time faculty member in basic science.

Congratulations to Hsin-Yun Lin, M.S., graduate student in the Agarwal lab, who has been selected to receive the AACR-Doreen J. Putrah Cancer Research Foundation Scholar-in-Training Award. Read more here.

Congratulations to the Megan Ruhland, Ph.D. and her lab who have been awarded a grant from the Harry J. Lloyd Charitable Trust. 

Congratulations to Breanna Maniaci, graduate student in the Maxson lab, who has been awarded the ASH Minority Hematology Graduate Award.

Congratulations to Lisa Coussens, Ph.D. who has been elected as American Association for Cancer Research President-Elect for 2021-2022. Learn more here.

Congratulations to Gordon Mills, MD, Ph.D. who has been awarded the 2021 Career Innovator Award from the Society of Gynecological Oncologists for his lifetime contributions to research and training in Gynecological Oncology.

Congratulations to Breanna Caruso, PhD Candidate in the Moran lab, who was awarded an F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award in February 2021.

Congratulations to Robert Eil, M.D., Ph.D. who is a 2021 AACR-MPM Oncology Charitable Foundation Transformative Cancer Research grantee for his project, "Targeting the ionic immune checkpoint on T cell antitumor function."

Congratulations to Naoki Oshimori, Ph.D. who has recently received R01 funding for the project, "“Mechanisms of cellular crosstalk in tumor-promoting niche formation.”

Congratulations to Julia Maxson, Ph.D. who is a 2021 Women in Academic Health and Medicine (WAHM) Awardee. Dr. Maxson received the Mentorship award which is given to a faculty member who goes above and beyond their duties, and exemplifies a deep commitment to fostering the professional and personal development of women and non-binary students, residents, fellows, post-docs, and faculty.

Congratulations to Benjamin Sarno, Ph.D. (Post-Doctoral Scholar, Mills lab) who has been awarded the 2020/21 Oregon Health & Science Fellowship for Diversity in Research for his project titled, "Monitoring Therapeutic Response of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Patients by Liquid Biopsy."

Publications:

The Malhotra lab has recently published two articles:

• "Harnessing the predictive power of preclinical models for oncology drug development" in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
• "New Selective Inhibitors of ERG Positive Prostate Cancer: ERGi-USU‑6 Salt Derivatives" in ACS Medicine Chemistry Letters.

The Schedin lab has three publications to announce:

• "Immune Milieu Established by Postpartum Liver Involution Promotes Breast Cancer Liver Metastasis" in MDPI Cancers.
• "The definition of pregnancy-associated breast cancer is outdated and should no longer be used," in The lancet Oncology journal.
• "Vitamin D as a Potential Preventive Agent For Young Women's Breast Cancer" in Cancer Prevention Research.

The Oshimori lab has published, "A mechanistic basis for the malignant progression of salivary gland tumors" in iScience. Read the paper here.

The Schedin lab has published, "Postpartum breast cancer has a distinct molecular," in Nature Communications. Read the paper here.

The Brody lab has published, "The FDA-Approved Anthelmintic Pyrvinium Pamoate Inhibits Pancreatic Cancer Cells in Nutrient-Depleted Conditions by Targeting the Mitochondria," in the Molecular Cancer Therapeutics journal. The publication coincides with the start of a clinical trial, "A Study to Determine if the Drug, Pyrvinium Pamoate, is Safe and Tolerable in Patients With Pancreatic Cancer."

The Sherman lab has published, "Mesenchymal Lineage Heterogeneity Underlies Non-Redundant Functions of Pancreatic Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts," in Cancer Discovery. Read the paper here.

The Pucci lab has published, "Characterization of the tumor immune microenvironment of sinonasal squamous-cell carcinoma," in the International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology. Read the paper here.

Adrian Baris, graduate student in the Anand lab, has published, "Nucleic Acid Sensing in the Tumor Vasculature," in Cancers. Read the paper here.

Amy Moran, Ph.D. and Megan Ruhland, Ph.D. are contributors on a recently published symposium commentary, "Arthur L. Irving Family Foundation Cancer Immunology Symposium: Supporting the next generation of scientists to lead cancer immunology research," in Cancer Immunology Research. Please come back later for a link to the paper.

Amy Moran, Ph.D. is a contributor on a recently published paper, "Identifying phenotype-associated subpopulations by integrating bulk and single-cell sequencing data," in Nature Biotech. Please come back later for a link to the paper.

The Coussens lab published two papers:

• "Leukocyte Heterogeneity in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Phenotypic and Spatial Features Associated with Clinical Outcome," in Cancer Discover. Read the paper here.

• "Neoadjuvant Selicrelumab, an Agonist CD40 Antibody, Induces Changes in the Tumor Microenvironment in Patients with Resectable Pancreatic Cancer," in Clinical Cancer Research. Read the paper here.

The Enns lab published, "Hepatocyte Neogenin Is Required for Hemojuvelin-Mediated Hepcidin Expression and Iron Homeostasis in Mice," in Blood. Read the paper here.

Pepper Schedin, Ph.D. and colleagues published, "The definition of pregnancy-associated breast cancer is outdated and should no longer be used," in The Lancet Oncology journal. Read the commentary here.

Karin Rodland, Ph.D. and colleagues published, "Proteogenomic and metabolomic characterization of human glioblastoma," in Cancer Cell. Read the article here.

The Pucci lab published, "Gene Expression Profiling of Lymph Node Sub-Capsular Sinus Macrophages in Cancer," in the journal of Frontiers in Immunology. Read the paper here.

Alex Quackenbush Bartlett and the Schedin lab published, "Immune Milieu Established by Postpartum Liver Involution Promotes Breast Cancer Liver Metastasis" in Cancers. Read the paper here.

The Moran lab, in collaboration with Mike Munks and the Ann Hill lab at OHSU, published, "PD‐1‐specific “Blocking” antibodies that deplete PD‐1⁺ T cells present an inconvenient variable in preclinical immunotherapy experiments" in the European Journal of Immunology. Read the paper here.

The Malhotra Lab published, "Investigation on the Anticancer Activity of Symmetric and Unsymmetric Cyclic Sulfamides," in the ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters journal. Read the paper here.

Karin Rodland, Ph.D. published, "Proteogenomic and metabolomic characterization of human glioblastoma," in Cancer Cell. Read the paper here.

The Pucci Lab has a paper in preprint, "Gene expression profiling of lymph node sub-capsular sinus macrophages in cancer." Read the paper on bioRxiv.

Publications:

The Malhotra Lab published, "Novel Aza-podophyllotoxin derivative induces oxidative phosphorylation and cell death via AMPK activation in triple-negative breast cancer" in the British Journal of Cancer. Read the paper here.

The Mills Lab published has two recent publications: 

• "Large-Scale Characterization of Drug Responses of Clinically Relevant Proteins in Cancer Cell Lines" in Cancer Cell. Read the paper here.

• "Differential expression of MAGEA6 toggles autophagy to promote pancreatic cancer progression" in Elife. Read the paper here.

The Schedin Lab published, "Characterization of weaning-induced breast involution in women: implications for young women’s breast cancer," in NPJ Breast Cancer. Read the paper here.

The Oshimori Lab published, Cancer stem cells and their niche in the progression of squamous cell carcinoma, in Cancer Science. Read the paper here.

CDCB's Dr. Evan Lind and members of the Lind lab recently published, "Reversible suppression of T cell function in the bone marrow microenvironment of acute myeloid leukemia," in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The paper has also been named the "Paper of the Month" by the OHSU School of Medicine. Read the paper here.

A group of OHSU researchers, including CDCB's Dr. Amy Moran, recently published, "A phase II single-arm study of pembrolizumab with enzalutamide in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer progressing on enzalutamide alone," in the Journal of ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. Read the paper here.

The Sherman lab published, Acidic fibroblast growth factor underlies microenvironmental regulation of MYC in pancreatic cancer, in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Read the paper here.

The Pucci lab published, Cell Surface Labeling by Engineered Extracellular Vesicles, in Advanced Biosystems. Read the paper here.

The Oshimori lab published, Tumor-initiating cells establish an IL-33–TGF-β niche signaling loop to promote cancer progression, in Science magazine. Read the paper here.

The Schedin lab's Sonali Jindal published, Comparison of Mortality Among Participants ofWomen’s Health Initiative Trials With Screening-Detected Breast Cancers vs Interval Breast Cancers, in JAMA Network Open. Read the paper here. 

The Schedin lab's Elizabeth Mitchell published, Loss of myoepithelial calponin‐1 characterizes high‐risk ductal carcinoma in situ cases, which are further stratified by T cell composition, in Molecular Carcinogenesis. Read the paper here.

The Walker lab published, NKTR-214 immunotherapy synergizes with radiotherapy to stimulate systemic CD8+ T cell responses capable of curing multi-focal cancer, in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer which was featured in the spotlight of ACIR's June 11 2020 Weekly Digest.

The Enns lab has three recent publications: 

• "The Ectodomain of Matriptase-2 Plays an Important Non-Proteolytic Role in Suppressing Hepcidin Expression in Mice" in Blood. Read the paper here. 

• "Insights into basic science: what basic science can teach us about iron homeostasis in trauma patients" in Current Opinion in Anesthesiology. Read the review here.

• "Extrahepatic deficiency of transferrin receptor 2 is associated with increased erythropoiesis independent of iron overload" in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Read the paper here.

Accolades/Funding:

Congratulations to Karin Rodland, Ph.D. who is is a recipient of the Human Proteome Organization’s 2020 Distinguished Achievement in Proteomic Sciences Award.

Congratulations to Samuel Tsang, Ph.D. (Research Assistant Professor, Mills lab) and Aurora Blucher, Ph.D. (Postdoctoral Scholar, Mills lab) who are both OHSU Center for Women’s Health Circle of Giving 2020 awardees.

Congratulations to Amy Moran, Ph.D. whose invited presentation at the Immuno-Oncology Young Investigator's Forum won first place in the research scientist category. Her talk focused on work revealing how androgen receptor activity is a critical determinant of checkpoint blockade efficacy.

Congratulations to the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute's Center for Experimental Therapeutics, directed by Sanjay Malhtora, Ph.D., which has been awarded one of eleven grants from the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) to form a virtual network for COVID-19 research. 

Congratulations to Michelle Ozaki, graduate student in the Schedin Lab, who recently received the ACRS Scholar Award and was one of three OHSU students to receive a 2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Congratulations to Philip Copenhaver, Ph.D. who was recently awarded a five-year RF1 grant to investigate how signaling by the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) controls neuronal guidance within the developing nervous system.

Congratulations to Mara Sherman, Ph.D. who is the recipient of a Pew Scholar award. As part of the 2020 class of the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research, Dr. Sherman will receive a four-year grant to advance innovative research into the development, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Learn more here.

Congratulations to Adrian Baris (Anand lab) and Reed Hawkins (Moran lab), two CDCB students who have each received a training grant from the NIH Ruth L Kirschstein T32 Program in Enhanced Research Training (PERT), and will spend one year in intensive training that emphasizes the competencies they will need to develop a successful career in biomedical research.

The OHSU School of Medicine's Office of Graduate Studies has released the 2020 report of career outcomes for its 518 PhD recipients, including Cancer Biology and Cell & Developmental Biology program graduates. Read the report here.

CDCB's Philip Copenhaver, Ph.D. and his fourth-year M.D. mentee, Eric Nomura, were featured in OHSU News article "Scholarly projects showcase student creativity from the heart", which explores how the pair developed Eric's capstone project.

Publications:
Lind Lab published, Acute myeloid leukemia-induced T-cell suppression can be reversed by inhibition of the MAPK pathway, in ASH's Blood Advances.

Moran Lab published, OX40 Agonist Tumor Immunotherapy Does Not Impact Regulatory T Cell Suppressive Function, in the Journal of Immunology.

Sherman Lab published, A Stromal Lysolipid–Autotaxin Signaling Axis Promotes Pancreatic Tumor Progression, in AACR's Cancer Discovery.

Accolades/Funding:
Congratulations to Sara Courtneidge, Ph.D., who has been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Read more on OHSU Now.

Congratulations to Ferdinando Pucci, Ph.D., who has received over $600,000 in grants from the Collins Medical Trust, Medical Research Foundation, V Foundation, and Cancer Research UK in his first year at OHSU.

Congratulations to Sara Courtneidge, Ph.D., awarded the 18th Rosalind E. Franklin Award for Women in Science by the National Cancer Institute. Learn more about the award.

Congratulations to Nechiporuk Lab for publishing Retrograde Ret signaling controls sensory pioneer exon growth in eLife.

Congratulations to Moran Lab for publishing OX40 Agonist Tumor Immunotherapy Does Not Impact Regulatory T Cell Suppressive Function in The Journal of Immunology. 

See profiles of CDCB faculty Melissa Wong, Ph.D., Amanda Lund, Ph.D., and Anupriya Agarwal, Ph.D., among others featured in Onward's Forces of Change.

Congratulations to Amanda Poissonnier, Ph.D., awarded a CRI/Irvington Postdoc Fellowship, a training fellowship from the Cancer Research Institute, for her project, Relieving immune suppressive pathways in breast cancer to improve outcomes.

Congratulations to Amanda Lund, Ph.D., chosen for the Cancer Research Institute's Lloyd J. Old STAR Program. Each STAR will receive $1.25 million over five years for research contributing to cancer immunotherapy.

Congratulations to Takahiro Tsujikawa, M.D., Ph.D., awarded as a best young physician scientist in Japan, by the Otorhinolaryngological Society of Japan. See photo

Congratulations to Ryan Lane, recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Journal Article: Basic Science award, for his research article, IFNγ-activated dermal lymphatic vessels inhibit cytotoxic T cells in melanoma and inflamed skin.

Congratulations to Lisa Coussens, Ph.D., who has recently been honored as a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy. Read more on the Knight News blog, and on AACR.

CDCB's Pepper Schedin, Ph.D., will be giving  the talk, Young Women's Breast Cancer - What is the Role of Pregnancy? at the Susan G. Komen event, the 2019 Regional Breast Cancer Issues Conference.

Congratulations to Amanda Lund, Ph.D., and Sudarshan Anand, Ph.D., the first to receive KCI's new leadership awards funded by the Betty Hise Foundation. 

Congratulations to Caroline Enns, Ph.D., an author on SOM's January, 2019 Paper of the Month, VIPER is a genetically encoded peptide tag for fluorescence and electron microscopy. 

CDCB news: A collaborative research effort co-led by Pepper Schedin, Ph.D., finds that breast cancers diagnosed in young women within 10 years of giving birth are more likely to metastasize than breast cancers in young women who gave birth more than ten years ago, or not at all. Read the published article, Association Between Postpartum Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Metastasis and the Clinical Features Underlying Risk, here. In the press: Medical Xpress, Oncology Learning Network. 

Recent CDCB publications: Lund Lab published Quantifying Leukocyte Egress via Lymphatic Vessels from Murine Skin and Tumors.

Lund Lab also published Non-hematopoietic Control of Peripheral Tissue T Cell Responses: Implications for Solid Tumors.

Moran Lab published Late stage tumor regression after PD-L1 blockade with a concurrent OX40 agonist. 

Inside SOM: Thriving Junior Faculty Advancement Program meets critical need.

CDCB recognitions: Congratulations to Philip Copenhaver, Ph.D., on his new grant, Normal and abnormal control of APP signaling.

Onward Stories: OHSU Foundation's Onward campaign recently featured three CDCB faculty members, Sudarshan Anand, Ph.D., Amy Moran, Ph.D. and Naoki Oshimori, Ph.D., in the article Chasing Down Cancer. 

Recent CDCB and Knight Cancer publications: Lund Lab published IFNγ-activated dermal lymphatic vessels inhibit cytotoxic T cells in melanoma and inflamed skin. The article was highlighted here in Nature Reviews Cancer. 

Tyner Lab and Knight Cancer Institute collaborators published CSF1R inhibitors exhibit anti-tumor activity in acute myeloid leukemia by blocking paracrine signals from support cells.

Beer and Qian Lab published Interplay between hypoxia and androgen controls a metabolic switch conferring resistance to androgen/AR-targeted therapy.

Knight news: Congratulations to Lisa Coussens, Ph.D., honored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science as an elected AAAS Fellow for her pioneering studies in tumor biology.

Cancer Translated news: Study explains a tumor enabling role of the immune system – and suggests a new treatment approach.

Recent CDCB publications: Wong Lab published Cell fusion potentiates tumor heterogeneity and reveals circulating hybrid cells that correlate with stage and survival.

Coussens Lab published Complement C5a Fosters Squamous Carcinogenesis and Limits T Cell Response to Chemotherapy.

Schedin Lab published Ibuprofen supports macrophage differentiation, T cell recruitment, and tumor suppression in a model of postpartum breast cancer.

OHSU news: Tumor cells fuse with immune cells and become more aggressive. Download the featured published article here. 

Congratulations to Lisa Coussens, Ph.D., recipient of the 2018 Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Basic Science.

Congratulations to Sudarshan Anand, Ph.D., on his NHLB award for A microRNA-target Network in Endothelial DNA Damage and Angiogenesis and a second NHLB award for MicroRNA regulation of endothelial DNA repair to enhance anti-tumor immunity. 

Congratulations to Mara Sherman, Ph.D., for her NCI award for Identifying and Targeting Metabolic Dependencies in the Pancreatic Tumor. 

Congratulations to Amy Moran, Ph.D., and Julie Graff, M.D., awarded $1 million by the Prostate Cancer Foundation to study the effect of intestinal microbiota on responsiveness to prostate cancer immunotherapy treatments. Read more on the O2 blog, Knight News. 

SOM news: Leadership team selected for new Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Sciences.

Congratulations to Pepper Schedin, Ph.D., for her winning poster,  Paying it Forward: A Unique Approach to Junior Faculty Professional Development in the Basic Sciences, at the 2018 Education Symposium.

SOM news: The man who created a mouse.

Congratulations to Lisa Coussens, Ph.D., recipient of the AACR Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship award. Dr. Coussens's award lecture is "Modulating Immune Response: Lessons Learned from Mouse Models of Cancer Development." Read more at OHSU News and at AACR. See the interview with Dr. Coussens at AACR's Annual Meeting, here.

SOM news: "We're trying to help create community."

CDCB news: Amanda Lund, Ph.D., awarded the V Foundation for Cancer Research Award for her project, "Lymphatic Vessel, PD-L1 and Anti-Tumor Immunity."

Nick Smith, Ph.D., Wong Lab, awarded the Nicholas L. Tartar Research Fellowship for his proposal, “Activation of Tumor Immune Cells by CD166 over-expressing Cancer Cells."

Amanda Lund, Ph.D., awarded the Cancer Research Institute's Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program (CLIP) Grant for her project "FasL Expressing Lymphatic Vessels in Melanoma.”

Ningning Zhao, Ph.D., Enns Lab, accepted to the Visiting Scientist Program at the Center for Cell Circuits for a summer internship at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Pepper Schedin, Ph.D., awarded the Circle of Giving Grant from the OHSU Center for Women’s Health, for “A Liver Imaging Study in Pregnant Women.”

Takahiro Tsujikawa, Coussens Lab, won the OCTRI Catalyst Award, for “Practical and cost-effective multiplexed immunohistochemistry for comprehensive immune complexity analysis of solid tumors.”

Jeffrey Tyner, Ph.D., earned the Martin and Rose Wachtel Cancer Research Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 

Dr. Tyner's accomplishment was recognized in the July 4, 2014 issue of The Cancer Letter. Read Dr. Tyner's prize essay in Science Translational Medicine.

Dr. Caroline Enns was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) this year for outstanding fundamental research discoveries on the biochemical, cell biological, and physiological mechanisms underlying iron homeostasis and its regulation. Read more.

CDCB postdoctoral fellow Alain Silk of the Wong lab presented a poster at the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting in New Orleans and had an article written about the lab's work in The Scientist. Read more.

CDCB news: OHSU cancer researcher aims to make cancer a manageable disease.
About one in three Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes, and close to 600,000 will die as a result this year. Lisa Coussens hopes to dramatically reduce that number, making cancer a manageable disease instead of a deadly one. While traditional cancer research focuses on the malignant cells themselves, Coussens, a professor at the Knight Cancer Institute at the Oregon Health and Science University, is part of a new wave of biologists investigating the surrounding microenvironment. Read more.

CDCB news: OHSU researching new breast cancer drug.
Women with the most aggressive form of breast cancer are getting some new hope from research done right here in Portland. Women with triple negative breast cancer don't usually respond to the most traditional therapies. The prognosis is also another five to eight years to live, but this new research is aiming at extending that.