Administrative Core Progress
An important goal of the CCRD during the next five years will be the development of a highly interactive research environment that will lead to multi investigator RO1s and PO1 grants. To this end, the five investigators currently receiving support from CCRD were chosen not only for their potential for success but also because of the opportunities for collaboration created by the overlapping aspects of their research. Dr. Chin, the first CCRD full project investigator from the department of surgery, will examine the role of acetylation dependent STAT3 signaling pathways in self-renewal and metastasis of cancer stem cells isolated from human and rat hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. Dr. Chatterjee, a full project investigator who joined CCRD in year five, will focus on raf kinase inhibitory protein (RKIP), a potential biomarker for susceptibility to chemotherapy and an inhibitor of STAT3 mediated metastasis of human colon cancer. Dr. Sanders, a new full project investigator from Brown University, will investigate the mitogenic signaling phenotype of biopotent hepatic progenitors isolated from fetal and adult livers and how these pathways are influenced by the adult liver microenvironment. Dr. Altura, a pilot project investigator who recently joined the department of pediatrics, will examine the role that acetylation plays in the localization, dimerization and activity of surviving as a regulator of cell division and an inhibitor of apoptosis. Dr. Moss, a former full project investigator recently awarded his first RO1, will remain with CCRD as a pilot project investigator and will continue to develop a new line of research centered on the role of gastrokine-1 and 2 in gastric cancer, two novel genes shown in his first cycle of COBRE funding to be altered following H. pylori eradication.
Data Club Presentations
Each of the five investigators and the Proteomic and Molecular Cores will each present their work ata data club scheduled every other month. These presentations will be a forum to present their findings, go over any scientific concerns, talk about any collaborations and talk about any recent conferences they have attended/presented at. The data club will also involve the research development committee and will have guest speakers every other month.
Workshops and Symposia
The COBRE CCRD has been very busy organizing upcoming workshops and symposia. These include a minisymposium on March 11 featuring presentations by John Essignmann, professor of chemistry and biological engineering at MIT, who will speak about his research involving the response of cells to DNA damaging agents, how repair enzymes remove damage from DNA and mechanisms of antitumor drug action (cisplatin). Jean Marie Houghton, associate professor of medicine, division of gastroenterology at UMass Medical School, who will speak about her research immune response to H. Plyori, mechanism by which gastric mucosa switches from a Fas (CD95) mediated apoptotic response to a proliferative response during progression. Ian Taylor will speak about his research on dynamic modularity in protein interaction networks and the ability to predict breast cancer outcome. His work is featured in February’s Nature Biotechnology.
Check back for dates of future workshops.
Web Site
Our web site has recently been updated and will list upcoming events and highlight ongoing research.
Weekly Staff Meetings
Weekly staff meetings are held to discuss long-range planning, personnel and staffing issues and administrative matters.
COBRE Center Meetings
The first meeting will be held on February 17 and will be attended by the directors, assistant directors and administrators of the COBRE Centers for Cancer Research Development, Perinatal Biology and Genetic Genomics. This first meeting will introduce the new director of the RI Economic Development Corporation, Ioanna Morfessis, who will visit the COBRE laboratories.
One Hoppin Street • Providence, RI 02903
Phone: 401-444-2871 • email: esmith6@lifsepan.org
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