Welcome message from the Director of the

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center

Primo "Lucky" Lara Jr., M.D.

The UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center is part of a matrix organization that leverages and translates the best of UC Davis science to generate innovative and novel cancer therapies and discoveries to impact its highly diverse catchment area and beyond. The Center works collaboratively and purposefully to improve the lives and well-being of people with cancer or at risk of developing cancer from ‘bench to bedside’.

As one of only 57 cancer centers in the country to achieve “Comprehensive” designation from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the only NCI "comprehensive" cancer center serving the 6 million people in California’s Central Valley and inland Northern California, the Cancer Center is recognized for its cutting-edge research, community outreach and engagement, clinical trials, and education and training of the next generation of cancer investigators. We care for more than 100,000 adults and children each year, with more than 200 adult and pediatric cancer clinical trials underway. We have received more than $50 million in cancer research funding, supporting more than 320 projects in 2023, and our science was featured in more than 500 cancer-related publications last year. There are nearly 260 members from 43 UC Davis departments and seven schools, including the School of Veterinary Medicine. 

The Cancer Center is a leader in translational research, with achievements in:

• Combinatorial chemistry and novel nanotherapeutics for drug delivery and imaging
• Anti-androgen and other novel therapeutic approaches for advanced prostate cancer
• Basic science in DNA damage and repair and signal transduction
• Glycomics in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and imaging
• Biomedical technologies including EXPLORER, the world’s first total-body PET scanner
• Comparative oncology studies using pet dogs with spontaneous tumors to test novel therapies for human patients

Our Shared Resources (SRs) provide the UC Davis research community with centralized access to specialized scientific expertise, consultation and assistance, infrastructure, and equipment necessary to conduct state-of-the-art scientific research. Through special funding arrangements, Cancer Center members receive subsidies for and/or priority access to utilization of these resources. 

In this issue, we will highlight our three In Vivo Translational Imaging Shared Resource (IVTISR) facilities, share upcoming training and workshop series, and note other important upcoming events. In addition, you can read the Winter 2024 issue of Synthesis, the Cancer Center’s biannual magazine, and see what we have been up to lately. You may also visit our website to learn more about why you should choose the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and see a few creative ideas for how you can join us as we strive to make a difference and ways to make your philanthropic vision a reality. 

Don’t forget to check our Calendar of events to find out what’s happening in the coming months.

We hope you find this issue informative and encouraging. As always, thank you for your support!

Shared Resource Administrator Aruna Chetty attended the School of Medicine Convergence Research Celebration 2024 held at UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center to celebrate innovative and impactful research collaborations at UC Davis.

The celebration included opening remarks by Dr. Simon Atkinson (Vice Chancellor for Research - UC Davis) and Dr. Kim Barrett (Vice Dean for Research and distinguished Professor of Physiology and Membrane Biology - UC Davis School of Medicine). This was followed by TEDx Talks by Dr. Randy Carney, Dr. Leigh Ann Simmons, Dr. Wilsaan Joiner, Dr. Simona Ghetti, Dr. Amir Kol and Dr. Ramsey Badawi. The TEDx Talks were followed by a panel discussion on Best practices for collaborative research moderated by Dr. Amy Brooks-Kayal.

Post event networking

Dr. Ramsey Badawi's TEDx Talk on 'The Importance of Failure'

Panel discussion

The In Vivo Translational Imaging Shared Resource (IVTISR) provides access to a broad range of in vivo imaging technologies. The IVTISR is located in the Health Sciences district of the Davis campus and at the EXPLORER Molecular Imaging Center facility across from the UC Davis Health Midtown Clinic in Sacramento. 

IVTISR provides expertise in planning, executing and analyzing in vivo imaging studies. The resource can support imaging studies in rodent models (primarily at the Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging), larger animals such as cats and dogs with spontaneous cancers (at the Center for Imaging Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine), and in humans (at the EXPLORER Molecular Imaging Center).

Dr. Ashley Hodel (Executive Director for Programs, Planning, and Evaluation), Aruna Chetty (Shared Resource Administrator), and Rachel Rivas (Research Program and Data Analyst) from the Comprehensive Cancer Center visited the IVTISR's three facilities at Davis and Sacramento Campuses to learn first-hand about the range of services and equipment that Cancer Center members can use at a subsidized rate and prioritized status for cancer-related research.

Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging (CMGI) is located at the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility on the Davis Campus and specializes in small-animal imaging from mice to rhesus monkey. Dr. Abhijit Chaudhari is one of the Co-Director's for IVTISR leading CMGI.

CMGI's Imaging Manager, Charles Smith hosted the visit with Doug Rowland, Brad Hobson, and Sarah Tam, and showed the various equipment and services available.

The following is a list of major equipment installed in CMGI:

• Biospec 7T MRI (Bruker) 
• Inveon DPET (Siemens) 
• Focus 120 PET (Siemens) 
• Pi-PET (Brain Biosciences)
• SimPET/MRI (1.5T M7 MRI, Aspect Imaging)
• GNEXT PET (Sofie Biosciences)  
• IVIS Spectrum Optical Imaging (Perkin Elmer)
• Fluorescence Imaging Cryomicrotome (Barlow Scientific)
• MicroXCT-200 (XRadia)
• Phosphor Imager STORM 860 (Amersham Biosciences) 
• Gamma Counter Wallac 1470 (Perkin Elmer) 
• Biomedical Cyclotron RDS 111 (Siemens)
• Radiochemistry facility

CMGI staff assisted imaging services

Rachel Rivas operating the remote manipulators

11 MeV cyclotron (Siemens RDS111)

Shown L to R: Aruna Chetty with Charles Smith examining the Biospec 7T MRI that can image 4 different rodents simultaneously

Center for Imaging Sciences (CIS) is based in the School of Veterinary Medicine and performs large-animal imaging on cats, dogs, horses, and exotic animals. Dr. Allison Zwingenberger is one of the Co-Director's for IVTISR leading CIS.

Veterinary technician Jason Peters showed the CIS facilities including the carbon fiber CT table he designed for use at the UC Davis veterinary hospital for large animal scanning.

The following is a list of major equipment installed in CIS:

• 16 slice Lightspeed Helical CT (General Electric)
• 5G Cone Beam CT (NewTom)
• Omnidiagnost Radiography/Digital Fluoroscopy (Philips)
• Signa Horizon HiSpeed 1.5T MRI (General Electric)
• Aplio i800 and i700 Ultrasound (Philips)
• MiniEXPLORER II PET/CT (United Imaging Healthcare)

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) of a racehorse

Computed Tomography (CT) of a pony

Rachel Rivas with Jason Peters examining the MiniEXPLORER II PET/CT with extended bed for larger animals

EXPLORER Molecular Imaging Center (EMIC) is located at the School of Medicine in the Radiology Department and specializes in human imaging. Dr. Lorenzo Nardo is one of the Co-Directors for IVTISR leading EMIC.

The EXPLORER Molecular Imaging Center houses the first and only Total Body PET scanner approved by the FDA in the United States, developed by UC Davis scientists Dr. Ramsey Badawi and Dr. Simon Cherry.

The Technical Director for EMIC, Dr. Ben Spencer, hosted the visit and explained the various components of the imaging process involving the uEXPLORER Total Body PET/CT scanner.

Dr. Ben Spencer inside the uEXPLORER Total Body PET/CT

The uEXPLORER Total Body PET/CT machine

Dr. Ashley Hodel with Rachel Rivas beside the open uEXPLORER

The uEXPLORER machine (open)

Hong Li, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Public Health Sciences, while also assuming the role of interim co-director of the Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR) at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biostatistics from Brown University in 2009. Before joining UC Davis in August 2022, Dr. Li held the position of Associate Professor of Biostatistics and was a member of the BSR at the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina. From 2010 to 2015, Dr. Li was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Rush University Medical Center, where her research primarily focused on the design, execution, and analysis of behavioral clinical trials, collaborating closely with behavioral scientists.

Dr. Li has extensive experience in collaborative research including clinical trials and other types of clinical research projects, which involved various disease domains, including cancer, chronic disease, infectious diseases, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and Parkinson’s disease.

As a member of BSR, Dr. Li has played a pivotal role in collaborative research endeavors. She facilitated the acquisition and renewal of 20 funded grants, assumed the role of Biostatistics Core Director for 3 P01 grants, and co-mentored 3 K award recipients. At the heart of her responsibilities within BSR is the provision of essential statistical leadership and expertise to cancer center investigators, which encompasses a diverse range of activities spanning various aspects of oncology research, including the design of basic science experiments, early-phase cancer clinical trials, and behavior clinical trials. Additionally, she has been actively involved in tasks such as grant development, study design, and support for investigator-initiated clinical trials. Furthermore, her contributions extend to the analysis of data from laboratories and large-scale epidemiologic databases for both funded and unfunded research projects. Collaborating closely with researchers, she has played a key role in manuscript writing, ensuring that the statistical components are accurately represented and effectively communicated.

Dr. Li's research interests in statistical methodology revolve around several key areas. These include methods for evaluating diagnostic tests, modeling and assessing various types of biomarkers such as imaging and laboratory-based ones, medical decision-making, and personalized medicine for disease diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Her methodological research is driven by collaborations within the biomedical field and holds promise for applicability across a wide range of diseases and clinical scenarios. Currently, Dr. Li's methodological research is focused on several specific areas: 1) developing statistical methods to effectively combine multiple longitudinal biomarkers, 2) formulating methods for multiclass classification and dynamic prediction using both longitudinal biomarker data and time-to-event data, 3) designing methods for the analysis of clinical trials, including cluster randomized trials and individually randomized group treatment trials with partial clustering, and 4) developing statistical analysis tools to maximize the utility of biomarkers in identifying early stages of AD, monitoring disease progression, accurately classifying diseases, and facilitating the evaluation of potential markers, both individually and in combination.

In her free time, Dr. Li enjoys traveling and photography. 

Please email Dr. Li to inquire further about her research interests and potential collaboration opportunities.  

The Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR) provides biostatistical support for clinical, population, and basic science researchers. To better support the study design and data analysis efforts of our members, BSR offers weekly office hours in collaboration with the Clinical and Translational Science Center:

• 1st and 3rd Monday, 1-2 p.m.
• Tuesdays, 12-2 p.m.

For more information, contact Dr. Lihong Qi.

If you need details on the location of the next workshop or want to be added to GSR's email list, please contact them by clicking the button below.

Register now for the Flow Cytometry Shared Resource (FCSR) next online course, June 24-28, 2024. The expert and friendly FCSR staff can assist with experimental design and data analysis of routine and cutting-edge cytometry applications. Learn about their facilities, services, rates and instrumentation here.

Flow Cytometry Training Course: Next offering will be online, June 2024

Did you miss February’s Comprehensive Flow Cytometry Course? The course is designed to teach the fundamental concepts of how flow cytometers work and discuss best practices in sample preparation. 

“This was an excellent introduction to flow cytometry. I was thoroughly impressed by the expertise of the instructors and the thoughtfulness with which they designed the lectures and activities for the course. Thank you!” - Previous Participant

Make sure to register today for our next online course, June 24-28, 2024. Seven scholarships are available for CCC members. Don't miss this opportunity to receive comprehensive flow cytometry training! 

Please contact Bridget McLaughlin for more information.

The UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center Shared Resources (SRs) provide the UC Davis research community with centralized access to specialized scientific expertise, consultation and assistance, infrastructure, and equipment necessary to conduct cutting-edge scientific research.

Want to know how to incorporate SRs into your research? This year’s workshop series will feature faculty who have used one or more SRs for their cancer research projects. 

Register today to learn from Cancer Center members who will share their unique experiences. 

This series will equip you with ways to take full advantage of SRs services and equipment in your research and publications and how to learn strategies for using SRs. As a Cancer Center member conducting cancer research, you are eligible for prioritized status and subsidized rates when using the SRs! Register now and hear what our SRs “super users” have to say!  

Join us at one or more of the workshops scheduled below and learn how SRs can add value to your research:

• September 12, 1 - 2 p.m.
• October 17, 1 - 2 p.m.
• November 14, 1 - 2 p.m.
• January 16, 2025, 3 - 4 p.m.
• February 21, 2025, 1 - 2 p.m.

Biorepository

(BRSR)

Biostatistics

(BSR)

Combinatorial Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCCBSR)

Flow Cytometry

(FCSR)

Genomics

(GSR)

In vivo Translational Imaging

(IVTISR)

Mouse Biology

(MBSR)

Molecular Pharmacology

(MPSR)

Immune Modeling, Analysis, and Diagnostics (IMADSR)

Shared Resources are funded by the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI P30CA093373). Publications that have utilized facility resources, services or scientific data generated using shared resources should acknowledge the shared resource(s) or the assistance provided by their staff and cite the CCSG (NCI P30CA093373). An electronic copy of the publication should also be sent to the directors of the SRs that were used. 

National Institutes of Health public access policy

Contact Shared Resources