At the end of this month, Jill Barnholtz-Sloan, PhD will move on to her new position with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as Associate Director for Informatics and Data Science, Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT) and she will become an intramural researcher in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Trans-Divisional Research Program. We all congratulate this step up onto the national stage at NCI and know she will represent us well. 

Jill has been with the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center since 2007. She will be missed for her many extraordinary accomplishments here, including branding an innovative approach to data science, her dedication to brain tumor research (including a recently awarded P01) and serving as an exemplar model of female leadership. Her roles across the cancer center, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, with University Hospitals and university service have all been high impact.

Nationally, Jill is well known to the NCI. She has served as a disease expert on the NCI The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) brain tumor-related working groups and is Co-chair of the NCI Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) glioblastoma expert committee. Additionally, she serves on advisory boards for multiple brain tumor foundations in the United States and is an associate editor or member of the editorial board for multiple peer-reviewed journals. Jill has served as an expert peer reviewer for National Institute of Health study sections.  

Director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

All students, postdocs and fellows conducting cancer research are invited to submit abstracts for two opportunities to present their research during the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Annual Scientific Retreat: 1) poster presentation and 2) oral presentation. Cancer Center leadership will review abstracts based on the relationship to cancer, novelty, significance of findings and clarity.

From University Hospitals: Oncologists at University Hospitals (UH) have two new powerful tools in the fight against cancer following the announcement that Abecma & Breyanzi, from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), are currently being used to treat patients at UH Seidman Cancer Center. The CAR T treatments, for multiple myeloma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, offer hope for patients who have exhausted several other treatment options.

“Providing these latest CAR T-cell therapies to our patients is just another way UH Seidman Cancer Center is leading the way in immunotherapy,” says Ted Teknos, MD, President and Chief Scientific Director of UH Seidman and Deputy Director for University Hospitals, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“Prostate cancer is big in our community,” says Urban Kutz Barbershops owner Waverly Willis, a member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Community Advisory Board.

The Cleveland African American Prostate Cancer Project, directed by Erika Trapl, PhD, will develop and implement a comprehensive, sustainable, community-based program to increase the number of African Americans screened for prostate cancer by educating them about their prostate cancer risk. The project aims to reduce prostate cancer mortality and fight a known health disparity among African American men.

“Our [community advisory] board pushed us to bring the work to locations central to men’s lives, such as barbershops,” said Trapl, director of the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. “From there, the idea has taken off, thanks to the partnership of people living in this community facing these genuine issues. We hope it will become a national model.”

For more information about the facilities and services supported by the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, please visit case.edu/cancer/research/shared-resources or contact Marty Viegl, PhD, Associate Director for Shared Resources at mlv2@case.edu.

Join Cleveland Clinic Thursday, May 20 at 5:30 pm ET for a special virtual event highlighting VeloSano's impact on cancer research, including some familiar faces from the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center!

This is a unique opportunity to look through the lens, see where research is taking us and learn how VeloSano funded cancer research is changing lives.

The program includes a discussion from Cleveland Clinic researchers sharing details of their work that was made possible by VeloSano dollars. You'll also learn more about the application and selection process and how the organization is leading the way in cancer care.

The 2021 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting is taking place virtually in two parts. The AACR Virtual Annual Meeting Part I was held April 10-15 and Part II will be held May 17-21. The AACR Annual Meeting program covers the latest discoveries across the spectrum of cancer research—from population science and prevention; to cancer biology, translational, and clinical studies; to survivorship and advocacy—and highlights the work of the best minds in research and medicine from institutions all over the world.

As announced last month, Cleveland Clinic's Nima Sharifi, MD was selected as the 2021 recipient of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Waun Ki Hong Award for Outstanding Achievement in Translational and Clinical Cancer Research.

In the award announcement, AACR highlighted Dr. Sharifi "has made significant contributions to cancer research through his focus on the role of androgen synthesis in advanced castration-resistant prostate cancers." He was selected for his work into how a genetic variant enables prostate cancer cells to evade first-line treatment and leads to aggressive disease.

Dr. Sharifi is director of the Center for Genitourinary Malignancies Research at Lerner Research Institute and the Kendrick Family Endowed Chair for Prostate Cancer Research at Cleveland Clinic. He also leads the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center's GU Malignancies Program and is a professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine. His featured award lecture will be available on-demand during Part II of the 2021 AACR Virtual Annual Meeting beginning Monday, May 17.

With the generous support from VeloSano Bike to Cure 2020, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) is providing seed funding for innovative and impactful proposals that will generate key data for larger, nationally competitive multi-investigator/team grants (MPI R01, P01, U01, SPORE, etc.). The Case CCC has recently undertaken a reorientation of its scientific programs, and this award will provide funds for each of our six scientific programs. Program Leaders will select the award aligned to their program, and therefore will not serve as project PI. Projects must be focused on the establishment or support of a collaborative effort by a team of 2 or more independent investigators from the case Case CCC research program. The goal is to submit a federal team science grant application.

The goal of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health Equity Scholars for Action (HES4A) program is to support the career development and academic advancement of researchers from historically underrepresented backgrounds who conduct health equity research. Grants will be awarded to address the challenges that underrepresented researchers experience; help them overcome obstacles to earning tenure; and make progress toward acquiring independent research funding. Grants will support three aspects of career development: research, mentorship, and connection with a community of support.

Up to fifteen grants of $250,000 each over two years will be awarded through the program. Funds will cover up to 70 percent of the scholar’s salary for two years (capped at $75,000 per year), with the remainder of the award to be used for research and other related expenses.

This Award is intended to recognize an individual who has made outstanding recent accomplishments in basic cancer research. The award recipient will receive an honorarium and present an award lecture during the AACR Annual Meeting 2022.

The AACR established this award to recognize an early career investigator on the basis of their meritorious achievements in basic cancer research. The award recipient will receive an honorarium and present an award lecture at the AACR Annual Meeting 2022.

This Award recognizes an outstanding interdisciplinary research team for their innovative and meritorious science that has advanced or may advance our fundamental knowledge of cancer, or a team that has applied existing knowledge to advancing the detection, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of cancer.