Researchers from the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and Moffitt Cancer Center have found that the genomic adjusted radiation dose (GARD) may be used to personalize radiotherapy (RT) to maximize the therapeutic effect of a given physical RT dose.

The research – published Aug. 4 in The Lancet Oncology journal – validates the association between GARD and radiation therapy outcome in a large cohort of patients, across seven different cancer types.

“As opposed to physical RT dose, which is the measure of what comes out of the machine and is delivered to the patient, GARD quantifies the biological effect on an individual patient of that delivered dose,” said Jacob G. Scott, MD, DPhil, Cleveland Clinic radiation oncologist, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine associate professor, and member of the Developmental Therapeutics Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, the first author of the study. “What we’ve found by looking at 1,600-plus patients is that the physical dose of radiation does not associate with outcome (time to first recurrence and overall survival), but GARD does.”

Charis Eng, MD, PhD and Vinod Labhasetwar, PhD were recently selected to receive a July 2021 Cleveland Clinic Caregiver Catalyst Grant. The Caregiver Catalyst Grants program pools the gifts from thousands of generous Cleveland Clinic donors into a fund allocated to support caregivers’ innovative ideas and has awarded more than $4.6 million since its inception in 2018.

Dr. Eng’s team will receive $64,000 over one year to assess the potential responsiveness of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in the cells of individuals with a high genetic susceptibility to cancer due to germline (heritable) mutations in the PTEN gene. Dr. Eng is the chair of the Genomic Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, the Sondra J. and Stephen R. Hardis Endowed Chair in Cancer Genomic Medicine, and member of the Cancer Genomics Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Labhasetward received funding to demonstrate that increasing anti-cancer drugs in lymph nodes is more effective in treating advanced-stage cancer than IV injection and minimizes side effects through lower, more targeted doses. Dr. Labhasetwar is staff in the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, a professor of molecular medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and a member of the Developmental Therapeutics Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Anant Madabhushi, PhD, director of the Center for Computational Imaging and Personalized Diagnostics and member of the Cancer Imaging Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, was recognized by The Pathologist’s Power List for the third consecutive year. This list celebrates 100 influential figures, thought leaders, and opinion shapers in pathology and laboratory medicine.

The Cancer Center Seminar Series will commence for the 2021-2022 academic year on September 9 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

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

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.

Last month our Cancer-focused Summer Undergraduate Research (CanSUR) scholars presented group research projects as reverse lectures, where the students became the teachers! It was a fun experience capped by an ice cream social with Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream.

Click the button below to view photos.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) invites institutions to apply for funding through this Request for Applications (RFA): NIH Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) Program: FIRST Cohort (U54 Clinical Trial Optional). Applications are due September 24, 2021.

Although progress has been made to increase the participation of historically underrepresented groups in biomedical research trainee populations, faculty diversity remains an ongoing challenge. These groups include underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, individuals with disabilities, and women.

 The NIH Common Fund’s FIRST program is providing support through this RFA to institutions to recruit diverse groups or “cohorts” of early-career research faculty and prepare them to thrive as independently funded researchers.

 This RFA aims to facilitate institutions in building a community of scientists by recruiting and supporting a cohort of early-career faculty who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusive excellence. “Inclusive excellence” refers to cultures that establish and sustain scientific environments that cultivate and benefit from a full range of talent. This program seeks to positively impact faculty development, retention, progression, and promotion and develop inclusive and sustainable environments.

 All biomedical research areas within the NIH mission are invited to apply for this funding opportunity. The FIRST program is expected to fund 12 awards in total from the three cohort RFAs, contingent upon the availability of funds.