Our three dynamic TED-style talk speakers, Diana Bilimoria, PhD, Serpil Erzurum, MD and Dan Spratt, MD, delivered thought-provoking presentations that set the tone for the rest of the event. Two of the talks are available on our YouTube channel. We encourage you to rewatch them and share them with your colleagues.

Our keynote speaker, Zihai Li, MD, PhD from The Ohio State University, offered great insight into the future of immunotherapy and a glimpse into the efforts behind his center's Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology. In addition, Dr. Li participated in a breakout discussion with our trainees about his career path. Dr. Li was very gracious with his time and answers, leading to a fruitful conversation with great advice and career guidance for the trainees in attendance.

Kimberly Parker: "IncRNA BORG: TRIM28 Complex enhance cancer stem cell properties and drive metastatic progression in TNBC"

Kelly Mitchell: "The WRAD complex represents a therapeutic target for cancer stem cell in glioblastoma"

Sajina Shakya: "Heterogeneous regulations of lipid metabolism in glioblastoma stem and non-stem cells in separate tumor microenvironments"

Larry Changsu Park: "EphrinA signaling leads to immune evasion of breast cancer via attenuation of T cell activation"

Stephanie Kim: "K1 ligand hunting: a journey to identify targets for KSHV-mediated tumor therapies"

Defne Bayik: "Differential expression of adhesion molecules defines myeloid cell infiltration in glioblastoma and comprises a therapeutic target"

Ryan Lingerak: "EphA2 in prostate cancer"

Reshani Perera: "Ultrasound-mediated drug free theranostics for treatment of prostate cancer"

Please continue to interact via Whova. Materials will stay accessible for six months.

If you have any feedback or comments about the retreat please email casecccevents@case.edu.

The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center's partners in clinical care, Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, have once again been recognized in the annual Best Hospitals rankings and ratings. The rankings are designed to assist patients and their doctors in making informed decisions about where to receive care for challenging health conditions or for common elective procedures.

Please see releases from our partner institutions below, who each ranked highly in multiple specialities, where every Top-50 ranking places them in the top 1 percent of hospitals nationally. We are proud to have these institutions as part of our Comprehensive Cancer Center consortium as they work together to further reduce cancer incidence rates, improve treatments and boost survival.

Recent findings published by Cleveland Clinic Department of Inflammation & Immunity researchers in The Journal of Immunology have defined how the protein Myo18A acts as a brake on antibody-mediated immunity. The investigators—led by Neetu Gupta, PhD, who directs the Center of Excellence in Lymphoid Malignancies Research—are the first to examine the function of Myo18A in B lymphocytes of the adaptive immune system, importantly finding that the protein controls the earliest stages of B cell development, as well as anti-viral immunity.

Dr. Gupta and her colleagues began researching Myo18A almost a decade ago, while investigating novel binding partners of another cytoskeletal protein, Ezrin. That initial study, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, provided the first clue that Myo18A may have a regulatory role in B cell immunity.

“We were intrigued by Myo18A because of its potential to interact with specific proteins that control cellular architecture and molecular transport across various cellular compartments,” said Dr. Gupta, a member of the Immune Oncology Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Microscopic fungus may have more to do with oral cancer and aging than first thought, according to new research from Case Western Reserve University.

Researchers from the School of Dental Medicine, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and School of Medicine are hoping a new study could lead to a medical breakthrough in understanding certain types of oral cancer.

Pushpa Pandiyan, PhD, an associate professor of biological sciences at the dental school and member of the Immune Oncology Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, led a team of local researchers studying the function of specific T cells, known as Tregs, during the development of oral cancer in aging mucosa, the moist inner lining of some organs and body cavities, such as the nose, mouth and lungs.

“We think this is the beginning of something important and monumental,” she said.

Their findings recently appeared in Frontiers in Oncology.

The research was funded by the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center’s GI Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) pilot program.

Other researchers involved in the work include: Natarajan Bhaskaran, Sangeetha Jayaraman, Cheriese Quigley and Prerna Mamileti from the School of Dental Medicine; Mahmoud Ghannoum, PhD and Quintin Pan, PhD from the School of Medicine and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center; Aaron Weinberg, DMD, PhD from the dental school and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Jason Thuener, MD from the School of Medicine and University Hospitals.

Congratulations to two cancer center members on their recent professorship appointments.

Justin Lathia, PhD will be appointed the inaugural chairholder of the Reza Khatib MD Designated Professorship in Brain Tumor Research. Lathia is Co-Leader of the Molecular Oncology Program at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and Vice Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences at the Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.

A virtual program celebrating the establishment of the professorship will be live-streamed this Thursday, August 5 at 5:30pm.

Sudha Chakrapani, PhD was appointed to the Joseph T. Wearn MD University Professorship in Medicine. A virtual program celebrating the appointment took place yesterday.

Chakrapani is a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the School of Medicine, Director of the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Core and Director of the Cleveland Center for Membrane & Structural Biology. She is also a member of the Developmental Therapeutics Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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.

National and international nominations are being sought for the 2022 Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine, which honors a physician-scientist who has moved science forward with achievements notable for innovation, creativity and the potential for clinical application. 

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.