News Briefs

Dr. Loehrer's "State of the Cancer Center" presentation is 3 p.m. Oct. 25

Patrick Loehrer, MD, director of the IU Simon Cancer Center, gives his annual "State of the Cancer Center" presentation at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25 in the Walther Hall auditorium. A reception immediately follows. The presentation is part of the cancer center's weekly Seminar Series.

Big Ten CRC celebrates 5 years

From a dream shared by a few cancer center directors to a robust collaboration among some of the nation's top academic institutions, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium has opened a new era in cancer research, where competitors on the field become partners in curing cancer. As the Big Ten CRC celebrates its fifth year, we asked some of our early leaders to share their thoughts on the consortium's founding, development, and success. More>

NCI releases annual plan, budget

The NCI has released its Annual Plan and Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2020. In Dr. Sharpless’s first year as NCI director, he identified key focus areas that leverage the scale and reach of NCI: develop the workforce of cancer investigators; reaffirm commitment to basic science to drive novel approaches and technologies; innovate the design, administration, and analyses of clinical trials; and increase data aggregation and interpretation to speed work across the cancer enterprise. More>

Rafat Abonour, MD, gives a thumbs-up as he nears the finish line Saturday, Sept. 22 after another successful Miles for Myeloma. He and 40 other cyclists biked about 200 miles Friday and Saturday to raise awareness of multiple myeloma and funds for research at IU and patient care at IU Health. Over the past 14 years, Dr. Abonour has covered more than 2,300 miles on Indiana's roads. Eric Schoch photo

Upcoming Events

BioCrossroads Indiana Life Sciences Summit: Oct. 9-10

Registration is open for the BioCrossroads Indiana Life Sciences Summit, which is Oct. 9-10 at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. The 15th annual summit will bring together speakers from around the world and celebrate life sciences innovation. Visit the summit Website for more.

Stay current with FDA-approved immunotherapy treatments; SITC program is Oct. 25

Join IU’s own Shadia Jalal, MD, and Theodore Logan, MD, in Indianapolis on Oct. 25 for the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s (SITC) Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy^TM (ACI) program. Attend this CME-, CNE- and CPE-accredited program to learn how to apply foundational knowledge of cancer immunotherapy and its clinical applications to further improve patient outcomes. This program is free for scientists and healthcare professionals working in academic and clinical settings, students, and patient advocates. The 2018-19 ACI series is jointly provided by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and SITC in collaboration with the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and the Association of Community Cancer Centers.

Share your news

Is your research about to be published in a journal? Are you about to present your research at a professional meeting? Have you received national funding for your research? Share your news with Michael Schug, IUSCC communications manager. Contact him at maschug@iupui.edu.

Cancer center members in the news

• Melissa Fishel, PhD, and Mark Kelley, PhD, have been awarded a $227,554 supplemental grant from the NCI for their research, “Exploiting the Ref-1 Node in Pancreatic Cancer: Tailoring New Pancreatic Cancer Therapy Using Multi-targeted Combinations.” In this study, Fishel and Kelley will partner with Teresa Zimmers, PhD, a cachexia expert. The research team will work to define the mechanisms of cachexia arising from treatment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and identify mechanism-driven, targeted anti-cachexia therapies related to the Ref-1target. Also, Fishel and Kelley are among the authors of “Blocking HIF Signaling via Novel Inhibitors of CA9 and APE1/Ref-1 Dramatically Affects Pancreatic Cancer Cell Survival.” The research was published in Scientific Reports. 
  
  
• Melissa Fishel, PhD, is among the authors of “Development of a Novel 3D Tumor-tissue Invasion Model for High-throughput, High-content Phenotypic Drug Screening,” published in Scientific Reports.
  
  
• Sherif Farag, MD, PhD, recently appeared on Inside INdiana Business to discuss CAR T-cell therapy. The IU Precision Health Initiative is bringing new immunotherapy treatments to Indiana patients through our partner, IU Health.
  
  
• Jiali Han, PhD, was interviewed by Reuters about his recent research that suggests voriconazole may boost the risk of squamous cell carcinoma in transplant patients.
  
  
• Lisa Carter-Harris, PhD, has been named a 2018 American Academy of Nursing fellow. Academy fellows include renowned researchers and academic, clinical and government leaders who have transformed health care, nursing practice or education. More>
  
  
• Max Schmidt, MD, PhD, and Jianjun Zhang, MD, PhD, and colleagues wrote “Plasma-derived Metabolite and Protein Biomarker Panels Have Additive Performance for Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer.” It was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
  
  
• Kathy Miller, MD, a Komen scholar, is a recipient of a 2018 Susan G. Komen research grant. Dr. Miller has been awarded $600,000 to evaluate the benefits of exercise for breast cancer survivors through two pilot clinical trials: iMTEX and low intensity vibration (LIV). The iMTEX trial will add physical tasks into the patient’s daily routine and determine how this affects quality of life and biomarkers of disease. The LIV study will evaluate whether LIV therapy can improve muscle function and bone/muscle quality in post-menopausal women starting aromatase inhibitory therapy (a drug which often decreases their function). In addition to Dr. Miller, Bryan Schneider, MD, and Hari Nakshatri, BVSc, PhD, are current Komen scholars.