Stan Gerson, MD
Director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
|
|
Wednesday was a busy day in a lonely cancer center office with a total of 9 conference and Zoom calls peppered throughout the day (starting at 7:30 am), enough to have my cell phone run dry. I also saw 5 rather sick patients with cancer who needed attention and treatment decisions.
Our research and clinical leadership have responded with deliberation and care, guiding with thoughtfulness and a clear focus on safety for all of us. The good news is that the level of engagement, focus, determination and community support is, well, overwhelming. The bad news is that many are scared as they work to adjust their expectations and timelines. It will help when we have a numerator and denominator, and we improve our exposure habits in times of a rampant, untreatable infection that has all of us on edge. Otherwise, every day is Groundhog Day; you need to have the same precautions today as you did yesterday.
|
|
The Times reported on the
passing of Vittorio Gregotti, age 92, from COVID-19 in Italy. He designed the renovation of the Barcelona Olympic Park. My wife Deb and I jogged through it last year.
But I also noted that
Starbucks is reopening in China (who would have thought?) with extensive efforts at modifying risk through cleaning, contact management and an emphasis on take-out, they have figured out how to adjust and return to operations.
Japan and China are
reporting success of an anti-viral developed for influenza, Favipiravir, that reduces COVID-19 viral load in symptomatic, if not severe, cases. A safety vaccine trial in normal donors is beginning at NIH.
Somewhere, and I hope soon, we will find the means to counter, combat and reduce the burden of COVID-19. It sounds like our approach to cancer, and we have come a long way. Keep your discovery engine going and stay well. Research, in all its forms, remains the backbone of medical advances and all of you are at the center of that progress.
|
|
Gmail users: to ensure you're always viewing the entire newsletter, check at the bottom of the email to see if the newsletter has been "clipped" and click "view entire message" if so.
|
|
Message from the Associate Director for Shared Resources
|
|
|
In response to the current environment where research is expected to continue in a reduced capacity, I wanted to provide an update on shared resource (SR) activity.
At this time, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Shared Resources will continue to provide services to our research community in a manner that prioritizes the safety of facility staff. Each facility is facing a unique situation, and each SR director has developed its own plan for providing services at this time. Details are posted on each shared resource's webpage. If you have any questions, please reach out to the SR directors. I am also available to help however I can.
-Marty
|
|
From the NIH: COVID-19 information for NIH applicants & funded investigators
|
|
|
|
Dr. Mike Lauer, NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research, provides an update for applicants and recipients of federal funding on flexibilities NIH has put in place to support them and their research through the disruptions caused by COVID-19.
|
|
COVID-19 Update: FDA Issues Guidance for Conducting Clinical Trials
|
Recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic may impact the conduct of clinical trials, the US Food and Drug Administration issued guidance on Wednesday for industry, investigators and institutional review boards conducting clinical trials during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
|
|
ASCO Launches Coronavirus (COVID-19) Oncology Resource Center
|
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is committed to providing the most current information and resources to its members and the larger oncology community to help ensure that individuals with cancer continue to receive high-quality care. ASCO has compiled a range of resources to support clinicians, the cancer care delivery team, and patients with cancer. This is a rapidly evolving situation and ASCO resources will be updated on a regular basis. Please continue to check back for the most current information. ASCO is united in working together to ensure that the critical work of conquering cancer continues during this health care crisis.
|
|
|
COVID-19, your research program at CWRU and upcoming events across the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
|
|
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) has
moved to remote delivery as of this week, in addition to
campus restrictions pertaining to on-campus meetings, gatherings, and conferences. As of this time, CWRU has also transitioned every possible university function to remote operation to protect the health of the campus community during this rapidly expanding outbreak.
The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center is continuing to establish virtual meetings where possible and maintain a
current calendar of events as meetings across our partner institutions are postponed, canceled, or made available virtually.
The Office of Research and Technology Management has also asked researchers to be prepared for the impact of the Novel Coronavirus might be on their research in various scenarios.
Latest information pertaining to research restrictions is available on the
CWRU Health Updates webpage.
|
|
Messages from the Associate Director for Administration
|
|
Amanda Ross, MNO Joins the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center as Deputy Associate Director for Administration
|
|
Please join me in welcoming
Amanda Ross to our administrative team! As the Deputy Associate Director, Amanda is responsible for developing implementation strategies, advising on matters of operational feasibility, providing programmatic and developmental research support; and, overseeing activities of the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG). Special emphasis includes organizational oversight for research space, shared resources, research programs, CCSG funds, pilot grants, cancer center seminars, conferences, national activities, information services, and other operational activities of the cancer center. Amanda works closely with me in my efforts across the consortium institutions to implement seamless administrative services, to achieve the goals and strategies of the Case CCC.
Amanda began her career in research administration at the NIH-funded General Clinical Research Center at MetroHealth Medical Center, leaving as the Administrative Manager of the CTSC-funded Clinical Research Unit. Coming to CWRU in 2011, she collaborated with the Case CCC as the Administrative Director of the Practice-Based Research Network Shared Resource. Amanda is joining the CCC administrative team from the CWRU College of Arts and Sciences where she most recently directed the Office of Research Administration and Grant Development. Welcome, Amanda!
|
|
Case CCC Administration working remotely
|
|
Please note that our administrative team has moved to remote operations and will continue working full-time during regular business hours. The best way to reach our team is via email or leaving a voicemail on their work phones, which are forwarded to their emails.
|
|
Mian, Hwang and Gupta receive DoD Translational Team Science Award
|
|
|
The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) extends congratulations to members
Omar Mian, MD, PhD,
Tae Hyun Hwang, PhD and
Shilpa Gupta, MD as they were recently awarded a Translational Team Science Award from the Department of Defense totaling $2.3 million. Their project is entitled, "Dissecting combinatorial synergies to improve immune checkpoint inhibitor response in bladder cancer." The three initiating and partnering principle investigators will combine their expertise in clinical, translational and computational science to address critical unanswered questions related to the limited efficacy of bladder cancer immunotherapy.
Drs. Mian, Hwang, and Gupta, all staff at Cleveland Clinic, have cultivated a team of collaborators including fellow Case CCC members
Byron Lee, MD, PhD,
Marcela Diaz, PhD and
Lily Wang, PhD. They will also be joined by Moshe Ornstein, MD, MA, Chandana Reddy, DO, Jane Nguyen, MD, PhD and Aysegul Balyimez, PhD.
The group aims to accelerate prognosis, treatment and survivorship directly toward clinical applications by improving ability to tailor immunotherapy. The project will study specific myeloid cells that suppress anti-tumor immunity and block tumor clearance by the immune system, and explore tumor and immune proteins that control myeloid cell function. The team will also integrate artificial intelligence algorithms to build computational tools to help clinicians and scientists select the best-tailored treatment approaches.
|
|
Center for Computational Imaging and Personalized Diagnostics (CCIPD) at CWRU awarded 50 patents
|
|
|
The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center extends congratulations to the
CCIPD including cancer center members
Anant Madabhushi, PhD,
Satish Viswanath, PhD, and
Pallavi Tiwari, PhD and their incredible research teams! Their teams have now been awarded 50 patents in Artificial Intelligence, medical image analysis, computer-aided diagnosis and computer vision.
|
|
Join Team Case CCC in VeloSano 2020!
|
The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) is honored to make its sixth appearance in
VeloSano, a year-round fundraising initiative and "Bike to Cure" weekend to support lifesaving cancer research. Our continuing goal is to bring sustainable funding to cancer research by enlisting the passion and energy of thousands of people who wish to give back... including
YOU! We raised nearly $94,000 in 2019 and every dollar goes directly toward cancer research. In our six years of participation, more than $1,000,000 of VeloSano fundraising totals have come back to the Case CCC to award researchers as pilot funding for cancer research projects.
|
|
The Case CCC will provide complimentary registration fees and jerseys again this year. Contact team captains
Caroline El Sanadi or
Mary Wright for the registration fee waiver code to sign up! While registration is complimentary, all riders are responsible for meeting the minimum fundraising commitment associated with the
distance they ride. Fundraising can begin as soon as you register to ride and continues through October 1, 2020.
Registration is open now and information about volunteering for our cheer station and supporting our team through sponsorship will be available soon!
|
|
Mon, Mar 23
Cancer Center Research Chalk Talk
You-Wei Zhang, PhD
|
|
Fri, Mar 27
Cancer Center Seminar Series
Stanley Huang, PhD
|
|
Weds, April 1
Cancer Microbiome Focus Group
|
|
Fri, April 3
Cancer Center Seminar Series
Angela Ting, PhD
|
|
|
Cancer Center Seminar Series
March 20, 12p
This week's cancer center seminar features
Omar Mian, MD, PhD presenting, "Subtype Speciation and Convergent Evolution of Small Cell/Neuroendocrine Carcinoma" at 12 pm today.
Due to
institutional restrictions, the seminar will be available virtually via Zoom for the remainder of the series. Attendees will be muted upon entry and are encouraged to submit questions via chat.
Note: for best audio quality, we highly advise requesting the application call your phone to connect to the meeting audio.
Dr. Mian is associate staff at Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute and assistant professor of medicine, at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He is also a Member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center's GU Malignancies Program.
|
|
|
|
Cancer Center Seminar Series
March 27, 12p
Dr. Huang is assistant professor of pathology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center's Hematopoietic and Immune Cancer Biology Program.
He will present, "Stress Sensing and Metabolism of Macrophages in Tumor Immunity" on behalf of the Hematopoietic and Immune Cancer Biology Program.
|
|
|
|
|
Core Facilities and Shared Resources Symposium
April 28, 2020
Opening remarks from Provost Ben Vinson III will begin at 8:30 am. This opportunity for networking and discovery will feature:
- plenary talks from CWRU faculty from various schools/colleges
- breakout sessions celebrating how our cores create a continuum of discovery across multiple disciplines and providing administrative technical assistance about running a Core
- poster sessions showing the work our facilities make possible
Please note: at this time, the event is still welcoming registration as organizers explore options for potentially hosting the program remotely.
|
|
|
|
Call for Abstracts and Registration: Cancer Stem Cell Conference 2020
August 4-6, 2020
Tinkham Veale University Center
The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and the National Center for Regenerative Medicine invite you to submit an abstract and register for CSC 2020!
Now in its fourth year, CSC 2020 will feature renowned thought leaders in the field of cancer stem cell research. This conference is guaranteed to offer cutting-edge keynote presentations from a variety of niches within the field. Join world-class investigators for this three-day summit and network with scientists and clinicians advancing cancer stem cell research and therapeutic applications.
The
Cancer Stem Cells Conference call for abstracts affords an exciting opportunity to highlight cancer stem cell focused research, providing a forum to showcase basic research, as well as novel technologies and translational therapeutic strategies. Basic science, clinical and translational researchers, as well as trainees, are invited to
submit abstracts by 5 pm EST, Friday, May 29, 2020.
Symposia topics include, but are not limited to: developmental biology, immune interaction, microenvironment, cellular metabolism, epigenetic regulation, druggable targets and emerging technologies.
|
|
|
|
|
Save The Date: Great Lakes Breast Cancer Symposium 2020
October 4-6, 2020
Tinkham Veale University Center, CWRU
As host site for the 2020 Great Lakes Breast Cancer Symposium, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center encourages you to mark your calendar for the symposium taking place October 4-6, 2020.
The symposium highlights ongoing basic, translational, clinical and population studies addressing the biological mechanisms, management and prevention of breast cancer. Researchers from participating institutions will share their exciting work with a goal to develop cross-institutional collaborations.
This year's event features two keynote speakers:
- Carlos Arteaga, MD, Director of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center
- Helen Piwnica-Worms, PhD, Professor of Experimental Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
|
|
|
|
Additional Upcoming Events
|
|
|
POSTPONED:
NCCN 2020 Annual Conference
March 20-22, 2020
Orlando, FL
The annual gathering of leading oncology professionals to discuss latest cancer research and guidelines has been postponed out of concern for vulnerable populations.
|
|
|
|
POSTPONED:
AACR Annual Meeting
April 24-29, 2020
San Diego Convention Center
|
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Board of Directors has made the difficult decision, after careful consideration and comprehensive evaluation of currently available information related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, to terminate the AACR Annual Meeting 2020, originally scheduled for April 24-29 in San Diego, California. A rescheduled meeting is being planned for later this year.
|
|
|
|
|
CANCELED:
The Race
May 10, 2020
Legacy Village
|
The Race is a 5K and one-mile walk/run charity event that empowers children and their families to make a difference in the lives of those touched by breast cancer by raising awareness and money for innovative breast cancer research.
The Race has been held each Mother's Day for the past sixteen years and to date, The Race, with help from friends, business associates and corporate sponsors, has raised over $1,250,000 for the fight against breast cancer.
In light of recent developments concerning the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), the School of Medicine and event hosts Jonathan and Patti Berns have canceled the Race on May 10 supporting breast cancer research at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Supporting the health and wellness of our community is a top priority, and we are following current Case Western Reserve University protocols as well as recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, with particular emphasis on limiting social contact with others. We hope that by doing our part, we can help to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
We look forward to holding this event next year. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Stay healthy!
|
|
|
|
Inaugural Tee Off 4 Cancer Golf Classic
June 27, 2020
Mallard Creek Golf Club
|
The 2020 Tee Off 4 Cancer Golf Classic will take place Saturday, June 27 at Mallard Creek Golf Club in Columbia Station, Ohio. Proceeds benefit the labs of Drs.
Vinay Varadan at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and
Danny Welch at the University of Kansas Cancer Center.
Players may join the classic for $95 which includes golf, range balls, lunch and dinner, plus beer, water, soda and sports drinks throughout play. Sponsorship packages are also available.
|
|
|
|
Deadlines Extended
for Case CCC Funding Opportunities
Available award: $40,000 for one year
Extended LOI Deadline: April 13, 2020
Available award: $75,000 for one year
Extended Deadline: April 10, 2020
Available award: $120,000 for one year
Extended Deadline: April 10, 2020
Available award: $75,000 for 18 months
Extended Deadline: April 10, 2020
Available award: $180,000 for 18 months
Extended Deadline: April 10, 2020
|
|
Global Engage - Mar 16, 2020
Anant Madabhushi, PhD provided
Global Engage with an interview explaining, "why having patents is not enough" ahead of his keynote presentation at the 6th Digital Pathology & AI Congress: USA this June. Dr. Madabhushi is the F. Alex Nason Professor II of Biomedical Engineering and director of the Center for Computational Imaging and Personalized Diagnostics at CWRU. He is also a member of the
Case CCC's Cancer Imaging Program.
|
|
Weekly NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
|
Notices
Funding Opportunities
Deadlines: July 31, 2020; July 30, 2021
Deadlines: July 31, 2020; July 30, 2021
|
|
Use the button below to submit all your news, events, announcements and communications requests to the Case CCC Marketing and Communications team!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|