Events and News

Upcoming meetings

• Wednesday, May 21, in 3023 Old Clinic Bldg. at 9:00 am.
  
  Discussion of UCRF grant proposal from the Melanoma Group, led by Dr. David Ollila. Dr. Ollila asks that you please be prepared to bring ideas and be prepared to edit.
  

Determinants of Genome Stability and Human Disease

The Molecular Carcinogenesis Program of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center is co-sponsoring a regional conference to be held at the Friday Center on Saturday, October 13th, 2007. The other co-sponsors are Abcam, Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and North Carolina State University.

The major goals of the conference on "Determinants of Genome Stability and Human Disease" are to foster and strengthen scientific collaborations among biomedical researchers in the region and provide opportunities for students and trainees to interact with invited speakers in a casual setting. Talks by keynote and regional speakers will be complemented by two poster sessions. Participants are encouraged to continue the scientific discussions initiated at these presentations during the lunch period and the evening reception.

Your participation will ensure the success of this conference. I invite you and your trainees to register as soon as possible at www.abcam.com/RTP2007. At this website you will also find the conference program. Please note that submission of poster abstracts is optional. However, if you would like to have your abstract printed in the conference program be sure to submit it by September 28th. In order to secure a poster board, please register no later than the first week of October.

William K. Kaufmann is awarded program project grant

“The System of Response to DNA Damage Suppresses Environmental Melanomagenesis” is composed of three research projects and three cores. The directors of the three research projects are Aziz Sancar, Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry  and Biophysics; William Kaufmann, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; and Norman Sharpless, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Genetics. Core directors are William Kaufmann (Administrative Core); Janiel Shields, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology  and Dermatology (Cell and Molecular Biology Core); and Joseph Ibrahim, Alumni Distinguished Professor of  Biostatistics (Biostatistics and Data Management Core). Marila Cordeiro-Stone, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, is Deputy Director of the Administrative Core. The program project is funded by NIEHS.

Marila Cordeiro-Stone is awarded R01

NIH/NIEHS has funded Dr. Cordiero-Stone's project, Cellular Responses to Environmental Insults and Risk for Melanoma Development.

UNC Lineberger Held Annual Retreat on May 22, 2007

More than 125 faculty, fellows, and students gathered at the Friday Center on May 22 to attend the UNC Lineberger scientific retreat which featured two mini-symposia, an update from director Shelley Earp, and a poster competition.

The first symposium topic was “Melanoma - Translational Research on the Silent Killer.” Speakers included Bob Millikan, David Ollila, Ned Sharpless, and Nancy Thomas. Tied for first place in the poster contest wasthe entry by Kimberly Petermann and Norman E. Sharpless "CD200 is a Novel ERK-regulated Therapeutic Target in Melanoma." Ties for third place was the entry by David Roadcap, Daniel Zedek, Pamela Groben, Anne Lachiewicz, Nickolas Holoweckyj, Nancy Thomas, and James E Bear, “Coronin-1C Regulates Actin Dynamics During Metastasis."

Dr. James Bear Is Awarded New Funding

• Melanoma Research Foundation Junior Faculty Award: The Role of Coactosin in Melanoma Motility and Metastasis
• Carolina Center for Nanotechnology Excellence, NIH, NCI (1U54CA119343-01) R. Juliano, PI - Using A375 cells to look at motility on nanopatterned surfaces

See Dr. Bear's lab website at http://www-cellbio.med.unc.edu/grad/depttest/bear.htm

Dr. Janiel Shields Is Awarded Training Program

Janiel Shields, PhD, is the recipient of an NCI-sponsored Tumor Microenvironment Training Program Grant on "Techniques in the Establishment and Manipulation of Organotypic Model Systems." She will attend a two-week training workshop at the Wistar Institute.

Dr. Nancy Thomas Wins NIH Grant Award

Nancy Thomas, MD, PhD, of the UNC Dermatology Department, has been awarded a 5-year grant to study Melanoma RAS/BRAF Mutation: Heterogenity-Risk-Prognosis.

Dr. Karyn Stitzenberg Wins Lineberger Award

Dr. Karyn Stitzenberg has been awarded the Lineberger Population Sciences Research Award in the amount of $20,000. The title of the project is "Sociodemographic factors impacting stage at diagnosis for patients with melanoma."

Dr. Nancy Thomas and Dr. Robert Millikan are the sponsors.

Dr. Janiel Shields Is Awarded Grant

Dr. Shields was awarded a grant from the Harry J. Lloyd Charitable Trust: "EGFR and Rnd3: Therapeutic Targets in Melanoma."