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Richard Gorlick, M.D.

Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Pharmacology
Chief, Section of Hematology/Oncology
Montefiore Medical Center
3415 Bainbridge Avenue
Rosenthal Pavilion
Bronx, NY 10467
(718) 741-2333
rgorlick@montefiore.org

Dr. Gorlick, the principal investigator on the Children's Oncology Biology clinical trial, directs a research laboratory devoted to studying drug resistance and therapeutic target identification for osteosarcoma, leukemias and other pediatric malignancies. Areas of particular interest include the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma, antifolate resistance, and therapeutic inhibitors of signal transduction. Dr. Gorlick also serves as the Principal Investigator of a clinical trial investigating inhalation chemotherapy for the treatment of recurrent sarcoma.

Susanne Ragg, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Center for Computational Diagnostics
Indiana University School of Medicine
702 Rotary Circle
Indianapolis, IN 46202
(317)-274-8784
sragg@iupui.edu

Dr. Ragg directs the Center for Computational Diagnostics at Indiana University, and is devoted to integrating new technologies in proteomics and computer science with cancer research in children and young adults. Her laboratory is involved in building the largest collection of blood specimens from children and young adults with osteosarcoma, as well as from healthy individuals whose blood is used as a normal control. Her laboratory is also involved in examining the protein profiles in the blood of individuals with osteosarcoma, developing better mathematical tools to analyze the protein profiles, building databases to make these research results available, and developing tools for clinical researchers to easily visualize this data.

Joseph Bidwell, PhD

Associate Professor
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Indiana University School of Medicine
(317) 274-8784

Dr. Bidwell is interested in the regulation of gene expression in the healthy osteoblast and how information describing the molecular machinery that turns bone genes off and on can be used to understand bone disease pathogenesis and treatment, including osteoporosis and osteosarcoma. A long-standing interest in Bidwell's lab is architectural transcription factors (ATFs) or ATF-like proteins. Bidwell's lab recently determined that normal osteoblasts and some osteosarcoma cells release HMGB1 and that this release is regulated by osteotropic factors that regulate bone growth and development. The Bidwell lab has also recently presented preliminary evidence that HMGB1 protects some osteosarcoma cells from cisplatin. A current objective is to elucidate the role of HMGB1 in normal bone physiology, osteosarcoma etiology, and osteosarcoma chemoresistance.

Peter Beardsley, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Pediatric Hematology and Pharmacology
Department of Pediatrics
Yale School of Medicine
P.O. Box 208064
New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8064
(203) 785-7305
g.beardsley@yale.edu

Dr. Beardsley's laboratory is studying the functional effects of structural lesions in DNA and folate biochemistry. By using tissue microarray immunostaining methodology, Dr. Beardsley is examining expression levels of various genes associated with metastasis and drug resistance in osteosarcoma. His goal is to uncover prognostic indicators which will help predict outcome, and may also be targets for molecular therapy.

David Malkin, M.D.

Co-director and Staff Oncologist, Associate Chief, Clinical, Senior Staff Oncologist
Professor of Medical Biophysics, Pediatrics
Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto
416-813-5348 or 5977
david.malkin@sickkids.ca

Dr. Malkin's research focuses on the role of p53-mediated cell growth both in osteosarcoma as well as in cancer predisposition. Based on his clinical and research interests, he initiated the Cancer Genetics Program at Hospital for Sick Children that addresses clinical issues in cancer predisposition in children, as well as develops new directions for research initiatives that link these disciplines.

Jeff Toretsky, M.D.

Associate Professor
Departments of Oncology and Pediatrics
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Georgetown University
3970 Reservoir Rd. N.W.
Room 311 West
Washington, D.C.  20057-1469
phone: 202-687-8655
lab: 202-687-8478
FAX: 202-687-1434
jat42@georgetown.edu | CV

Dr. Toretsky is interested in the growth regulation of osteosarcoma, based on an extension of his work in Ewing's sarcoma. He is currently investigating the role of insulin-like growth factor signaling as a way for tumors to survive chemotherapy. Additional studies with colleague Dr. Aykut Uren are investigating the role of the wnt pathway in osteosarcoma growth and metastases.

Jeff Dome, M.D.

Associate Member
Department of Hematology/Oncology
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee Memphis Health Science
Center College of Medicine
Jeff.dome@stjude.org

Dr. Dome's research interests include studying telomere maintenance in osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is distinct from most human cancers in that it uses two distinct mechanisms to maintain telomeres: the telomerase enzyme (about 50% of tumors) and a recombination-based mechanism called "alternative lengthening of telomeres" (ALT) (about 50% of tumors). Preliminary data indicate that children with osteosarcoma are more likely to experience a recurrence of the cancer and less likely to survive if the cancer cells express the telomerase gene. Further studies of telomerase as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target for osteosarcoma are underway.

Ching Lau, M.D., Ph.D.

Texas Children's Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine
phone: 832-824-4543
FAX: 832-825-4038
chingl@bcm.tmc.edu
cclau@txccc.org
Ching Lau | Lau's Lab

Dr. Lau's research interests include the molecular biology of pediatric brain and bone tumors and the clinical applications of genomics. His laboratory focuses on establishing the molecular classification of osteosarcoma and identifying novel therapeutic targets by using high throughput genomic technologies such as gene expression profiling, comparative genomic hybridization, spectral karyotyping, and genotyping based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) scanning, as well as proteomics. He is the Principal Investigator of the Genomic Profiling of Osteosarcoma Project based on the Children's Oncology Group new joint study with the European cooperative groups (EURAMOS) that will accrue 1,400 patients.

Pulivarthi Rao, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Associate Director, Cytogenetics Laboratory
Baylor College of Medicine
6621 Fannin St., MC 3-3320
Houston, Texas 77030
(832) 824-4820
prao@bcm.edu
Pulivarthi Rao | Rao's Lab

The main goal of Dr. Rao's laboratory is the analysis of the genetic basis of deregulation of cellular proliferation and differentiation associated with malignant transformation. Several tumor types are investigated; notably osteosarcoma, pediatric brain tumors, and multiple myeloma. The following are the ongoing research projects in Dr. Rao's laboratory: causes and consequences of genomic instability and identification of genes in the amplified chromosomal regions in osteosarcoma, identification of tumor suppressor gene(s) from chromosome13, and development of molecular cytogenetic techniques for the analysis of chromosomal aberrations in murine models of human cancers (Comparative Cancer Cytogenetics).

Chand Khanna, DVM, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist
National Cancer Institute
9610 Medical Center Drive, Rm 315
Key West Medical Center
Rockville, MD 20850
301 594-3406
khannac@mail.nih.gov

Dr. Khanna's ongoing research projects include: identification and evaluation of metastasis-associated genes and proteins in osteosarcoma, development of in vivo assays of specific metastasis-associated processes, single cell in vivo imaging and intravital imaging of metastatic cells, and preclinical investigation of novel antimetastatic therapeutic strategies.

Eugenie S. Kleinerman, M.D.

Professor and Head, Division of Pediatrics
Professor of Cancer Biology
MD Anderson Cancer Center
ekleiner@notes.mdacc.tmc.edu

Dr. Kleinerman's main interest is to develop novel ways to treat osteosarcoma patients by identifying new therapeutic targets in the laboratory and then translating these ideas into clinical practice. Dr. Kleinerman has generated several investigator-initiated protocols based on bench research including the use of liposome-encapsulated MTP-PE, ImmTher, and IL-1a, and IFN-a with traditional chemotherapy.

Lisa Wang, M.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology/Oncology
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
6621 Fannin St., MC 3-3320
Houston, Texas 77030-2399
832-824-4822
llwang@bcm.edu
Lisa Wang | Wang’s lab

Dr. Wang's research interests include familial cancer predisposition syndromes, with specific focus on a disorder called Rothmund-Thomson syndrome (RTS). Patients with this genetic condition are highly prone to developing osteosarcoma. Dr. Wang's research demonstrated a correlation between RECQL4 mutations and risk of osteosarcoma.

Tsz-Kwong (Chris) Man, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology/Oncology
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
6621 Fannin St., MC 3-3320
Houston, Texas 77030
832-824-4682
tcman@txccc.org
Chris Man | Man's Lab

Dr. Man's laboratory is interested in using a combination of molecular and computational approaches to understand pediatric tumors. Dr. Man's current projects are molecular classification of osteosarcoma and integration of cytogenetic and expression data.

Bang Hoang, M.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of California, Irvine
Phone: 714-456-7801
Fax: 714-456-7547
Lab: 714-456-2919

Dr. Hoang is the Principal Investigator on an NIH grant to examine novel strategies using Wnt antagonists to suppress tumor growth and metastasis in osteosarcoma. He is also involved in a biology study approved by the Children's Oncology Group to establish new markers of disease
progression in osteosarcoma using clinical samples. His clinical research interests also include the use of new imaging modalities to quantify response of sarcoma to systemic therapies before tumor resection.

Jeremy Squire, Ph.D.

Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology
University of Toronto
J.C. Boileau Grant Chair in Oncologic Pathology
Senior Scientist, Division of Applied Molecular Oncology
(416) 946-4509
jeremy.squire@utoronto.ca
The Squire Lab

Dr. Squire's research has focused on analyzing the nature of the tumorigenic 'steps' that take place as a consequence of changes to the chromosomes in osteosarcoma tumor cells. His laboratory studies how new classes of drugs that are known to 'turn off' gene expression in five regions of the genome could be used to control aggressive tumor growth.