A Time for Respectful Discourse

Greetings on a cool autumn afternoon. Given all the tumult in the world around us, it has been a deceptively peaceful weekend, following a busy, productive week of work. But, I worry.

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Computer Models Fill Critical Knowledge Gaps To Help Reduce Cancer Disparities



Reducing health disparities in incidence and mortality for major types of cancers can be aided by sophisticated computer modeling efforts, according to a new, wide-ranging perspective by researchers at Georgetown Lombardi and colleagues. A collection of new studies in the November 8, 2023, special issue of JNCI devoted to cancer disparities modeling outlines a path forward. The issue was co-edited by Georgetown Lombardi’s Jeanne Mandelblatt, MD, MPH. Read more about the work featured in the special issue.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK:

Luminary Awards in GI Cancers

Join the Ruesch Center for this year’s Luminary Awards in GI Cancers on Thursday, November 16, 2023, at the Westin, Washington, DC, from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, Luis A. Diaz, MD, Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr., Edith Peterson Mitchell, MD, and Martha Raymond, MA, will be honored for their GI cancer research and advocacy achievements. View event honorees and more information. For questions, email rueschcenter@georgetown.edu.

14th Annual Ruesch Center Symposium: Innovations in GI Cancer

Register for the 14th Annual Ruesch Center Symposium: Innovations in GI Cancer, held in person at 2115 Wisconsin Avenue, NW on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17 and 18 at 2115 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. Topics include the microbiome and biological basis of early onset GI cancers, young adult cancer survivors' unique needs, and developing prevention strategies for early onset GI cancers.

Presented as part of the symposium: Thomas R. Schafer Memorial Lecture, Friday, Nov. 17, 1:50 - 2:40 p.m., featuring Luis A. Diaz, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, presenting “Immunotherapy and Mismatch Repair Deficiency.”

Registration is free for Georgetown staff and trainees with the promo code HCP23. Learn more at bit.ly/Ruesch2023.

Virtual Symposium ‘Connects the Dots’ Between Diabetes and Cancer

The Fourth Annual Diabetes and Cancer Interface Symposium: Connecting the Dots, hosted by City of Hope, brings together researchers and clinicians who are building expertise along the interfaces of overweight, obesity, carcinogenesis, diabetogenesis and complications of treatment. This year’s online event takes place Tuesday, November 14, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST, and features keynote speaker Deirdre Kay Tobias, ScD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and additional invited speakers including Georgetown Lombardi member Barry Hudson, PhD. Learn more and register for this symposium.

Center for Metabolomic Studies Seminar Series: “A Manifold Approach to Clustering Multiple -Omics Datasets”

Monday, November 13

2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Presented by Debashis Ghosh, PhD, professor and chair, Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, University of Colorado and Colorado School of Public Health.

Join this seminar via Zoom.

CDI Seminar: “Cell Therapy for HPV-Associated Cancers and Other Solid Tumors”

Tuesday, November 14

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Presented by Christian S. Hinrichs, MD, chief of cancer immunotherapy and co-director, Cancer Immunology and Metabolism Center of Excellence, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Join this seminar via Zoom.

Bhussry Seminar Series: “Measurements and Standards in the Development and Manufacturing of Biopharmaceuticals”

Tuesday, November 14

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Presented by Michael J. Tarlov, PhD, chief of the Biomolecular Measurement Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology. Sponsored by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology. Seminar presented in-person in Basic Science Building 341 with Zoom option.

Department of Microbiology & Immunology Seminar Series: “Using the AirID Proximity-Based Biotinylation System to Detect Novel HDV-Host Protein Interactions”

Tuesday, November 14

12:15 - 1:15 p.m.

Presented by Susannah Stephenson-Tsoris, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, T. Jake Liang Lab, Liver Diseases Virology Section, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH. Join this seminar in Med-Dent NE301 and via Zoom.

MHRI-GHUCCTS Monthly Statistical Seminar Series: “Time-to-Event Models”

Friday, November 17

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Presented by Paul Kolm, PhD, associate director in the Department of Biostatistics and Biomedical Informatics at MedStar Health Research Institute. Sponsored by GHUCCTS. Register for this Zoom seminar.

GUFaculty360 Class - Updating Your Profile

Monday, November 20

2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Learn how to upload your CV, add your personal website information, upload a syllabus, publications and more. Register for this class held via Zoom.

Phase 1 Study of Hypofractionated Proton Beam Radiation Therapy in Adjuvant Pancreatic Cancer (PROTON-PANC)

Depressive Symptom Trajectories in Older Breast Cancer Survivors: The Thinking and Living With Cancer Study

Association of Metabolic Syndrome Conditions With Risk of Second Primary Uterine Cancer in Breast Cancer Survivors

Clinical and Molecular Characterization of Long-Term Survivors With Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated With First-Line Atezolizumab Plus Carboplatin and Etoposide

How Complete Are Tobacco Sales Data? Assessing the Comprehensiveness of US Tobacco Product Retail Sales Data Through Comparisons to Excise Tax Collections

Trends in Physical Functioning in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Survivors Across Three Decades

Pharmacogenomic Testing in Oncology: A Health System's Approach To Identify Oncology Provider Perspectives

Parent Quality of Life After Disclosure of Pediatric Oncology Germline Sequencing Results



The Chemotherapeutic Agent Doxorubicin Induces Brain Senescence, With Modulation by APOE Genotype

MedPage Today Claudine Isaacs, MD, on the Limitations of At-Home Genetic Tests for Hereditary Breast/Ovarian Cancers

OncLive Dr. Marshall on the FDA Approval of Fruquintinib in mCRC

SurvivorNet Digital Guide: Next-Generation Sequencing for Lung Cancer

The Hoya Spotlight: Georgetown Honors Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The ASCO Post Computer Models May Help Reduce Cancer Disparities



Medical Xpress Computer Models Fill Critical Knowledge Gaps to Help Reduce Cancer Disparities and Advance Health Equity

DEADLINE TODAY (11/13): Request for Applications — American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant Pilot Project Grants

Up to three American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (IRG) Pilot Project Grants will be funded to help launch promising new projects by early career faculty members. These are one-year, non-renewable $30,000 research grants that are funded through Georgetown Lombardi’s IRG, which is sponsored by the American Cancer Society. Open to early career faculty (e.g. assistant professor or equivalent), who are eligible to apply for independent national competitive research grants (e.g. NIH R-level grants, ACS Research Scholar Grants, and similar), but who do not currently hold and have not previously held such a grant, with the exception of an R00, which is allowed. View full eligibility criteria, application, and submission instructions. Application deadline: Monday, November 13, at 11:59 p.m. For scientific or eligibility questions, contact Dr. Rebecca Riggins (PI of the ACS IRG), rbr7@georgetown.edu. For application download or upload questions, contact Denise Harley, flessatd@georgetown.edu, or Karen Howenstein, khowenst@georgetown.edu.

Federal Grants Digest: Colleges & Universities Edition

A weekly curated digest of federal funding opportunities of interest to colleges and universities to support programming, research, infrastructure and other efforts, provided by Thorn Run Partners. View current issue (for Nov. 8, 2023).

AACR Clinical Oncology Research (CORE) Training Fellowships Program

The AACR Clinical Oncology Research (CORE) Training Fellowships Program is designed for early career clinical scientists who hold a medical degree (MD, DO, or MD/PhD) and are interested in acquiring the knowledge and skills related to clinical trial design and execution from the perspective of the pharmaceutical industry. Each fellowship provides $100,000 over one year for the fellow to work on site at the facility of one of the AACR’s pharmaceutical industry partners. Application deadline: 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 30. View more information, including eligibility requirements, program guidelines and application instructions.

Cancer Research Institute Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program Grants

The Cancer Research Institute offers Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program (CLIP) grants to qualified scientists who are working to explore clinically relevant questions aimed at improving the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies. These grants support preclinical and translational research that can be directly applied to optimizing cancer immunotherapy in the clinic. Applicants must hold a faculty appointment as a tenure-track assistant professor (or higher rank) at the time of award activation. Funding: up to $150,000 per year for two years. LOI deadline: Friday, December 1. Full application deadline: March 1, 2024. View more information and application guidelines.

Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award

The Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award supports computational scientists who are deeply connected to biology labs so that they can bring their computational skills to bear on important biological questions, particularly in cancer. The proposed mentored research training must reflect the individual's potential to develop into a productive, independent cancer research scientist. (Note: Applicants must not have been in their mentors’ labs for more than 24 months prior to the application deadline date.) The award provides up to $240,000 over three years in stipend and expense allowances for the award recipient. Application deadline: 4:00 p.m. on Friday, December 1. View more details and application guidelines.

Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award

In an effort to confront the growing dearth of physician-scientists, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has created this award program, which is designed to recruit outstanding U.S. Specialty Board-eligible physicians (MD/DOs only) into cancer research careers by providing them with the opportunity for a protected research training experience under the mentorship of a highly qualified and gifted mentor after they have completed all of their clinical training. The award will provide up to $460,000 over four years in financial support for the award recipient. In addition, the Foundation will retire up to $100,000 of medical school debt still owed. Application deadline: 4:00 p.m. on Friday, December 1. View more information and application guidelines.

Mary Kay Ash Foundation Innovative/Translational Cancer Research Grant

The Mary Kay Ash Foundation, a funding source for cancer research, is currently accepting applications for innovative grants for translational research for cancers affecting women, including but not limited to ovarian, uterine, breast and/or cervical cancer. Principal Investigator must be appointed a full-time assistant professor or higher at the time of application submission and commit a minimum 5% effort. Grants will be awarded in the amount of $100,000 over a two-year period. View more information. Please submit grant documentation to Sharon Levy (sgl5@georgetown.edu) by Friday, Jan. 19, 2024.

8:00 AM | Division Weekly Update Meeting | Podium A / Microsoft Teams

8:30 AM | Monday Morning Oncology Report | Inpatient Oncology Fellow | Podium A / Microsoft Teams

9:00 AM | Breast Research Meeting | Podium A / Zoom (dial 646-558-8656; Meeting ID: 528 212 194)

11:00 AM | GU/Melanoma Research Meeting | Podium A / Zoom (dial 646-558-8656; Meeting ID: 796 253 566)

4:00 PM | GU Tumor Board (on 1st/3rd Mondays of the month) | Podium A / Zoom (dial 646-558-8656; Meeting ID: 869 742 463)

9:00 AM | Hematology Path Conference - Inpatient Heme fellows + Outpatient Heme + BMT fellow | Podium A / Microsoft Teams (CME code: 80737; phone: 202-796-7323)

4:00 PM | Liver Tumor Board | Microsoft Teams

5:00 PM | Breast Tumor Board | Podium A / Zoom (dial 646-558-8656; Meeting ID: 937 7707 3374; CME code: 80044)

8:00 AM | Thoracic Tumor Board | Podium A / Zoom (dial 646-558-8656; Meeting ID: 993 7680 5192; Passcode: 4231; CME 86693)

12:00 PM | Melanoma Tumor Board | Podium A / Microsoft Teams (CME: 80988)

5:00 PM | GI Tumor Board | Podium A / Microsoft Teams

9:00 AM | Cancer Research Data Meeting - None | W302 New Research Building or Zoom

9:30 AM | Head and Neck Tumor Board | Microsoft Teams

12:30 PM | GI Research Meeting | WebEx (dial 844-302-0362, Meeting Number (access code): 712527865, HOST PIN: 5514)

5:00 PM | Lymphoma Tumor Board - every other week | Microsoft Teams

5:00 PM | Myeloma Tumor Board - every other week | Microsoft Teams

7:00 AM | CNS Tumor Board | Microsoft Teams (Meeting ID: 298 285 483 265, Passcode: rJWpmU)

12:00 PM | Oncology Grand Rounds Lecture Series | None | New Research Building Auditorium / Zoom

12:00 PM | Dr. Ashai - Metastatic Breast Cancer - HER2+ | Podium A | Teams Conference Link (Text In Code: 81202 or 81203 / Text In Telephone: 202-796-7323)

1:00 PM | Dr. Mainor - Metastatic Breast Cancer - TNBC | Podium A | Teams Conference Link (Text In Code: 81202 or 81203 / Text In Telephone: 202-796-7323)

1:00 PM | Pancreas Tumor Board | Microsoft Teams (Meeting ID: 299 996 740 910, Passcode: z7j7Rc)

2:00 PM | Dr. Gallaghar - Locally Recurrent Breast Cancer | Podium A | Teams Conference Link (Text In Code: 81202 or 81203 / Text In Telephone: 202-796-7323)