Jianjun Zhao, MD, PhD, has received a five-year, nearly $2.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to investigate a new approach for treating chemotherapy-associated kidney damage.

In study results published last year, Dr. Zhao and his team found that the protein APE2 may be a viable target to help treat or prevent acute kidney injury among patients treated with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. As many as a quarter of all cancer patients treated with cisplatin will develop the condition.

“We found that genetically knocking out APE2 in preclinical models treated with cisplatin significantly reduced cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury, suggesting that pharmacologically targeting the protein may be a viable approach to treating the condition in humans,” said Zhao, assistant staff in the Department of Cancer Biology and member of the Molecular Oncology Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. “With this new award, we will develop small molecules that can target APE2 and test how effective they are in disrupting mechanisms of disease.”

VeloSano is offering options to participate in any way you are most comfortable - whether riding with us during "Bike to Cure" weekend September 10-11, riding virtually, or by choosing your own activity to participate as a Virtual Fundraiser.

The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Team Case CCC, will be joining VeloSano again this year and providing complimentary registration and jerseys for its riders. Please contact team captains Caroline El Sanadi or Mary Wright for the registration waiver or code with any questions!

Join the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at a Cheer Station on Saturday September 11 from 11a-3p. Volunteer shifts are either two or two and a half hours.

We will cheer on VeloSano 100-Mile, 50-Mile & 25-Mile riders by ringing cowbells, holding signs, and making noise to keep everyone motivated. Children are welcome!

To register, go to https://www.velosano.org/velosano-volunteer/login-register. Once you have logged in, choose Register with a Group and then Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Two Case Western Reserve University faculty members with a Cancer Center link were appointed as Distinguished University Professors at this week's convocation. The designation represents the highest honor the university bestows on a member of its professoriate.

Mukesh Jain, MD, innovative leader at University Hospitals and long-time member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, was recognized for his pioneering research, his strong commitment to mentorship, and his contributions to the Cleveland biomedical community, Jain, the Ellery Sedgwick Chair and Distinguished Scientist in the Department of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, is internationally recognized for his discovery of the role of a family of factors termed Kruppel-like factors (KLFs)—DNA-binding proteins that regulate a host of biological processes in the body, including those of the heart, blood vessels and immune cells.

Faye Gary, EdD, RN, FAAN, community advocate and psychiatric nursing expert, is a valued member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Community Advisory Board. Her work has informed health policy related to child and adolescent mental health, health disparities and domestic violence. Gary is the Medical Mutual of Ohio Kent W. Clapp Chair & Professor of Nursing at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing,

The Cancer Center Seminar Series will commence for the 2021-2022 academic year on September 10 at 12p in the Wolstein Research Building Auditorium. This interdisciplinary seminar series addresses cutting-edge clinical, translational, and basic research topics in cancer and is a focal point of the educational and inter-programmatic activities of the Cancer Center. CME credit is available for those who attend seminars. 

"Targeting actin-regulatory protein in clear cell renal cancer"

Associate Professor, Bioengineering and Pathology

University of Pittsburgh

Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery

Member, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

"Quantitative Modeling of Cancer Evolution in silico and in vivo"

Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences

Assistant Professor, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Member, Cancer Genomics Program, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

As the new Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement, Erika Trapl, PhD, strives to facilitate a bidirectional connection between Cancer Center research faculty and catchment-area community partners. The catchment area will inform research projects and, in turn, research will be used to inform and impact local communities. Trapl has used this reciprocal cycle for nearly two decades.

Trapl has spent her academic career partnering with Cleveland communities on health-related issues such as tobacco use and dietary behaviors. She is a community-engaged researcher devoted to identifying opportunities to improve health and health outcomes in local communities – especially in areas impacted by systemic inequalities.

This story was featured in our 2020 Annual Report. Click here to read the full report. 

The Computational Genomic Epidemiology of Cancer (CoGEC) T32 training program (Director: Rong Xu, PhD; Associate Director: Thomas LaFramboise, PhD) has an opening for a September 2021 appointment of a training grant eligible postdoc conducting computational research focused on cancer. Cancer researchers obtaining training in this program will have the skills vital to deciphering the complex pathways comprised of genetic and environmental risk factors for disease, and will ultimately be able to provide clinicians and their patients with valuable information for the prevention and treatment of cancer.

An eligible postdoc will be a United States citizen or permanent resident. If you have an eligible postdoc you would recommend for the program, please contact Damian Junk at damian.junk@case.edu.

This half day CME accredited symposium is specifically designed to provide those who have lung cancer management interests the latest advances in screening, evaluation, and local-regional and systemic therapies.

This activity will bring together an audience of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, pulmonologists, nurses, and other health care providers to discuss management of these patients.

Junior faculty members and established faculty wishing to refocus are invited to submit proposals for career development projects of up to $40,000 to be funded by the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) - Tazania - Uganda HIV-associated Lung Cancer Collaborative. This training program is funded by the NCI U54 mechanism and is a collaboration between Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), the Case CCC, University Hospitals (UH), Makerere University, the Joint Clinical Research Center (JCRC), Uganda Cancer Institute, National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) Tanzania, Muhimbili National Hospital, and the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI). Full-time faculty at or above instructor-level at any of the aforementioned institutions are eligible.

The Technology Validation and Start Fund (TVSF), funded by the Ohio Third Frontier, aims to accelerate and fund the translation of promising technologies into the marketplace through Ohio start-up companies with the eventual goal of creating greater economic growth.

CWRU is the only Ohio institution to have received five consecutive awards of $500,000/yr, which is administered by the Technology Transfer Office as the CWRU TVSF Program (CTP) to advance a number of selected programs over a 12-month period.

Technology focus areas:

Pre-Proposal (using template): September 1, 2021 at 5p

Invited Full Proposals: September 20, 2021 at 5p

“We had an antibody-drug conjugate called enfortumab vedotin (Padcev), which was approved in 2019, (but) there are now patients who cannot receive that due to preexisting severe neuropathy,” said Dr. Shilpa Gupta, director of genitourinary medical oncology at Cleveland Clinic, in an interview with CURE®.

Researcher Dr. Ruth Keri and her team are working to identify a gene that causes triple-negative breast cancer, a project launched with help from VeloSano funding.