Fishel named Brand Scholar

The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center has named Melissa L. Fishel, PhD, the Myles Brand Scholar in Cancer Research.

Nationally recognized for her research in pancreatic cancer, Fishel is a tumor cell biologist working toward new targets and treatments for the often aggressive disease.

“I am very honored to be the Myles Brand Scholar and will do my very best to make headway against pancreatic cancer and use these resources to the full potential,” Fishel said. “I also have lost some key members of my family and close friends to cancer including pancreatic cancer. This fuels my fight and drive to keep thinking outside the box on how to treat this disease.”

The Myles Brand Chair in Cancer Research was created in 2009 to help physicians and scientists at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center to continue investigating devastating malignancies, such as pancreatic cancer, which claimed the life of Brand, the 16th president of Indiana University. Brand served as IU’s president from 1994 to 2002 and was president of the NCAA from January 2003 until his death on Sept. 16, 2009, at age 67.

Thanks to so many friends, colleagues and supporters, an endowed chair was established in Brand’s name to honor his contributions to academic scholarship, intercollegiate sports reform, and institutional leadership in higher education.

“The Brand family is grateful to IU researchers for their steadfast pursuit of improved measures to allay the unremitting consequences of this disease with an improved, but still terribly low 13% survival rate,” said Peg Brand Weiser, PhD, Brand’s widow and an IU emerita. “A more hopeful future rests on the extensive laboratory research being conducted by Dr. Fishel and her colleagues.”

Fishel and her team have developed various models including organoid and spheroid-based 3D tumor and animal models to test different combination therapies and innovative strategies to investigate pancreatic cancer. These models are created from patient samples and more closely resemble the structure and composition of real tumors than traditional, single-layer cell cultures. Her work is part of a team that has been funded to participate in a national consortium grant called Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Stromal Reprogramming Consortium.

In addition to being the Myles Brand Scholar in Cancer Research, Fishel is an associate professor of pediatrics and associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at IU School of Medicine. She co-leads the cancer center’s Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis research program and the Pancreatic Cancer Challenges and Solutions Working Group.

“I am excited about the opportunities to continue to build infrastructure and resources for the pancreatic cancer working group and support high-risk, high-reward work that will lead to more breakthroughs,” Fishel said.