Case Comprehensive Cancer Center: Weekly Newsletter

March 10, 2008

MARK YOUR CALENDARS– Midwest Blood Club Annual Meeting

April 3, 2008
Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

The VI Midwest Blood Club meeting will take place on Thursday, April 3 at the Biomedical Research Tower of the Ohio State University. There will be exceptional keynote speakers, including Stan Gerson from CWRU, Merv Yoder from Indiana University, and Scott Armstrong from Harvard. There will also be an afternoon poster session where you will have the opportunity to review many research updates. For those of you interested in submitting an abstract, it is acceptable to submit an abstract/poster you have utilized in another venue within the past six months. The abstract deadline is Friday, March 14. The final meeting agenda will be available by mid-March.

To view the Abstract Submission form click here. To view the Meeting Registration Form click here.

A block of rooms is reserved at the Blackwell Inn on the campus of Ohio State University. Please call 614-247-4000 for reservations. The cost is $129 per night. You may want to take advantage of also attending the International Society for Cellular Therapy meeting that will take place on April 4-5 at the Biomedical Research Tower.

The Midwest Blood Club is comprised of a group of faculty, postdocs, and students from academic institutions in the region and it holds an annual meeting. Since 2003, this regional meeting has been organized with the intention to create a forum where investigators and their groups can meet and share ideas and data. Last year the meeting was particularly well attended by post-docs and students. The previous meetings have been held in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Lexington and have been quite successful. In 2008, it will be held for the first time in Columbus, Ohio at the OSU campus. The Club is especially interested in gaining participation from sites not previously represented at the meeting such as CWRU and Cleveland Clinic.

COLORECTAL GENE STUDY

A study entitled, Identification of Susceptibility Genes for Cancer in a Genome-wide Scan: Results from the Colon Neoplasia Sibling Study, was published in the March 7 issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics. This study identified genetic links to an increased risk of colon cancer. It is the work of a CWRU team of investigators, including Case CCC members, Drs. Robert Elston, Sanford Markowitz, Georgia Wiesner, and Joseph Willis.

To view the full article, please click here.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY– American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is accepting applications for the following funding opportunities:

Research Scholar Grants in Basic, Preclinical, Clinical, and Epidemiology Research: Support for research projects in basic, preclinical, clinical, and epidemiology research. Investigators must be in their first 6 years of independent research career or faculty appointment.

Research Scholar Grants in Cancer Control and Prevention: Psychosocial and Behavioral Research: Support for investigator-initiated research projects in psychosocial and behavioral research, including epidemiologic approaches to psychosocial and behavioral research. Investigators must be in their first six years of independent research career or faculty appointment.

Research Scholar Grants in Cancer Control and Prevention: Health Services and Health Policy Research: Support for investigator-initiated research projects in health services and health policy research. These grants are open to investigators at any state of their career.

Postdoctoral Fellowships: Support for the training of researchers who have received a doctoral degree to provide initial funding leading to an independent career in cancer research (including basic, preclinical, clinical, cancer control, psychosocial, behavioral, epidemiology, health services and health policy research).

Mentored Research Scholar Grants in Applied and Clinical Research: Support for mentored research by full-time faculty, typically within the first four years of their appointment, with the goal of becoming independent investigators in clinical, cancer control and prevention, epidemiologic, psychosocial, behavioral, health services and health policy research.

Research Professorships: Awards to outstanding mid-career investigators who have made seminal contributions that have changed the direction of cancer research. Furthermore, it is expected that these investigators will continue to provide leadership in their research area. In general, applicants will recently have attained the rank of full professor.

Research Scholar Grant in the Role of Healthcare and Insurance in Improving Outcomes in Cancer Prevention, Early Detection and Treatment: Supports projects that investigate how healthcare costs, healthcare system structure and capacity, socioeconomic factors (including insurance status), personal characteristics (such as race and ethnicity), and delivery of healthcare services affect outcomes related to cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment. The purpose is to stimulate research on the effects of the US healthcare system structure and the role of insurance on access to screenings and treatment.

Deadline for all above opportunities: April 1

For more information, please click here.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY– Human Frontier Science Program

The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) is currently accepting Letters of Intent for Interdisciplinary Research Grants. There are two types of grants:

Young Investigator's Grants: for teams of scientists who are ALL within five years of establishing an independent lab and within 10 years of obtaining their PhDs
Program Grants: for independent scientists at all stages of their careers, although participation of younger scientists is especially encouraged.

Grants provide three years support for two to four members, with not more than one member from any one country, unless critical for the interdisciplinary nature of the project, which is an essential selection criterion. Awards are dependent upon team size and successful teams will receive up to $450,000 per year. The principal applicant must be located in one of the member countries (Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, the UK and the US), but co-investigators may be located in any country.

Pre-registration for password via web site deadline: March 21
LOI Deadline: April 2

For more information, please click here.

RACE FOR THE PLACE

The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center has created a team for the Race for the Place, a fundraiser that benefits the Gathering Place in Beachwood, Ohio.

For those of you that are not familiar with the Gathering Place, it is a support center providing programs and services free of charge for individuals and families touched by cancer.

Each year, the first Sunday in June (June 1, 2008) is National Cancer Survivors' Day. On this day, The Gathering Place hosts a 5K / 1 Mile event called Race for the Place. This event helps to raise the money that allows The Gathering Place to offer all of their services free of charge.

If you want to join the Case CCC team, please click here or email gillian.irwin@case.edu. Family and friends are also welcome to join our team! It really is a great experience for everyone who is involved.

EVENTS

**All events are open to anyone interested in attending

March 10

Cancer Genetics/ Biology Journal Club
Jonathan Kenyon
Graduate Student–Gerson Lab
Division of Hematology/Oncology
CWRU/ UH
Topic: DNA Repair is Limiting for Haematopoietic Stem Cells During Aging
AND
Pat Weitzel
Graduate Student–Laughlin Lab
Division of Hematology/Oncology
CWRU/ UH
Topic: Imaging Hematopoietic Precursor Division in Real Time
12:00 pm WRB 2-136

Skeletal Research Center Seminar
Paul Lin
Graduate Student, Biology
CWRU
Topic: Cell Replacement Therapy for the Cure of Osteogenesis Imperfecta
4:00 pm 123 Millis

Physiology & Biophysics Seminar
Mark Daniel Parker, PhD
Senior Research Associate, Physiology & Biophysics
CWRU
Topic: Reassessing the Molecular Function of a Reported Na+ Driven CI-HCO3 Exchanger from Neurons
4:00 pm SOM E531

March 11

Cancer Biology Seminar
You-Wei Zhang, PhD
Senior Research Associate
The Salk Institute
Topic: Manipulating the Replication Checkpoint in Cancer Therapy
11:00 am NC1-202 Cleveland Clinic

March 12

Grand Rounds
Ajita Narayan, MD
Fellow, Division of Hem/Onc
CWRU/ UH
Topic: Hepatocellular Cancer
8:00 am Lerner B-151

Visual Sciences Research Center Seminar
Tara Alexander Young, MD
Jules Stein Eye Institute
UCLA
Topic: Choroidal Melanoma: A Modern Approach to Cancer
11:00 am Institute of Pathology Rm. 109

CSCRM Seminar
Kenneth Cooke, MD
Associate Professor, Pediatrics- Hem/Onc
CWRU/ UH
Topic: Insights into the Biology of GVHD Allogeneic Hematopoietic Bone Marrow Transplantation: Toward Changing the Standard of Care
4:30 pm WRB 1413

March 13

Taussig Cancer Center Core Curriculum Series
Robert Wesolowski, MD
Taussig Cancer Center
Cleveland Clinic
Topic: Radiation Therapy in Hodgkin's Disease
12:00 pm R3-002 Cleveland Clinic

Aging-Cancer Research Seminar
Jaroslaw Maciejewski, MD, PhD
Professor, Hematology & Medical Oncology
CWRU/ Cleveland Clinic
Topic: DNA Damage as Predisposition to Chromosomal Breaks in MDS
4:00 pm BRB 732

Neurosciences Seminar
James Surmeier, PhD
Professor, Physiology
Northwestern University
Topic: Calcium and Selective Vulnerability of Dopaminergic Neurons in Parkinson's Disease
12:10 pm BRB 105

March 14

Hematology/Oncology Fellows
Paolo Caimi, MD
Fellow, Division of Hem/Onc
CWRU/ UH
Topic: TBA
8:00 am Wearn 137

Taussig Cancer Center Grand Rounds
Karen Marcus, MD
Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology Harvard/ Children's Hospital Boston
Topic: Spare the Rad, Don't Spoil the Child; Improving Outcomes in Pediatric Radiation Oncology
8:00 am R3/002-003 Cleveland Clinic

Cancer Center Seminar Series/ Blood Club
Mimi Yu, PhD
Professor, Medicine- Hematology, Oncology & Transplantation
University of Minnesota Cancer Center
Topic: Should Women Eat Soy, Drink Green Tea, and Sleep More for the Sake of Breast Cancer Risk Reduction?
12:00 pm BRB 105

more

For a complete listing of LRI seminars click here.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

UPCOMING CANCER CENTER SYMPOSIUMS

**For more information on these symposiums, please contact Christine Rhoads.

Geriatric Oncology and Primary Care: Promoting Partnerships in Practice and Research
April 3-4
Dively Center
Course Directors: Nathan Berger, MD and Julia Rose, PhD
Brochure and Registration

Update on Cervical Cancer Prevention: New Technology, New Evidence, and New Recommendations
April 18
Ritz Carlton Cleveland
Course Directors: Stephen Waggoner, MD and Kristine Zanotti, MD
Brochure and Registration

Annual Update on Breast Cancer: Highlights of the National Meetings
June 13
Hilton Cleveland East, Beachwood
Course Directors: Janice Lyons, MD, Halle Moore, MD, and Paula Silverman, MD

NCI CANCER BULLETIN

Featured Article
ALTTO Trial Seeks to Define Best Therapy for HER2 Breast Cancer

Cancer Research Highlights
Cancer Risk Persists After Ending Hormone Therapy

Hormone Therapy Interferes with Breast Cancer Detection

Study Confirms Clot, Mortality Risks with Anemia Drugs

Sentinel Node Dissection Safe in Early Vulvar Cancer Treatment

Smoking Threatens Pregnant Women in Developing Countries

Director's Update
Keeping Recent Mortality Figures in Perspective

MARK YOUR CALENDAR– AACR Annual Meeting 2008

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting is scheduled for April 12-16 in San Diego, CA. More than 17,000 participants from 60 countries will gather to discuss an estimated 6,000 abstracts and to hear more than 500 invited presentations on new and significant discoveries in basic, clinical, and translational cancer research. Scientific award lectures, grant writing workshops, networking events, and educational sessions will round out the comprehensive program.

Advance registration deadline is Friday, March 7. For registration information and for more information, click here.

If anyone is presenting at the Meeting, please let us know. As always, we are happy to publicize any news you have, such as major presentations, publications, awards, etc.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS – ISCT Regional Meeting

The International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) will be holding a regional meeting on April 4-5 at the Ohio State University Biomedical Research Tower in Columbus, Ohio. This meeting is targeted towards laboratory practitioners and technicians working in cellular therapy, and anyone interested in networking with cell therapy practitioners at a small, technically focused, reasonably priced meeting.

For more information, click here.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS–AACR Accelerating Anticancer Agent Development and Validation Workshop

June 18-20, 2008
North Bethesda, MD

This is a postgraduate workshop for clinical and translational investigations focused on strategic planning to develop and validate new anticancer and cancer prevention agents and pathways. This is an intensive and interactive workshop in how to design effective strategies– from clinical trial initiative, to enabling trials, to pivotal efficacy trials– to develop new anticancer and prevention agents, taught by a distinguished faculty from across the academic, industry, consumer, and government (FDA) sectors.

For more information, click here.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS– AACR Cancer Biostatistics Workshop

July 13 - 19, 2008
The Lodge at Sonoma
Sonoma, CA

Applications are now being accepted for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Cancer Biostatistics Workshop, July 13-19, 2008 in Sonoma, California.

This is an intensive one-week workshop in statistical methods in oncology and collaborative interactions between biostatisticians and clinical oncologists. It is designed to update the expertise and increase the number of biostatisticians working on oncology-related problems to improve their ability to use new biological information, develop valid research designs for new therapies, and increase the number and quality of clinical trials.

Application Deadline: March 24

For details, please click here.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS– International Symposium on Targeted Anticancer Therapies

Registration is now open for the International Symposium on Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT) in Bethesda, Maryland, March 20-22. For details and registration information, click here.

The scientific program of TAT 2008 will cover many types of targets and new drugs in early-phase clinical development, and will focus on clinical and translational research. The 2008 program will also cover clinical trials of combinations of targeted agents which are being conducted in increasing numbers. TAT 2008 will thus provide a glimpse of the future of cancer therapy.

TAT 2008 is organized by the NDDO Research Foundation in partnership with NCI and the European Society for Medical Oncology.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS– AACR/ASCO Workshop

AACR/ASCO are currently accepting applications for their workshop Methods in Clinical Cancer Research, August 2-8 at Vail Marriott Mountain Resort in Vail, Colorado.

This event is described as "an intense workshop in the essentials of effective clinical trial designs of therapeutic interventions in the treatment of cancer for clinical fellow and junior faculty clinical researchers in all oncology subspecialties, including radiation and surgical oncology and radiology".

Application Deadline: March 17

For more information, click here.

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

FUNDING UPDATES: NCI report to March 3 meeting of the Cancer Center Administrators Forum; Cancer Letter of February 8, 2008

Budget information from the NCI continues to be somber. For this fiscal year (FY08) NIH received a 1.1% increase over FY07. After the Global AIDS transfer, this increase was actually .46%. The budget for NCI was $4.89B, a miniscule .15% over FY07. The results of the doubling of the NIH budget have essentially been eliminated.
NIH is managing the budgetary constraints by reducing the number of grants to be awarded and giving institutes greater flexibility in managing noncompeting grants. Most of the NCI grants for the last several years have absorbed decreases between 4% and 6%; for FY08 NCI will award a 1% increase to all of its noncompeting research project grants. Noncompeting P30 awards will be funded at the FY08 committed levels.
Competing renewals (categorical budgets and modular grants requesting more than 7 modules) will receive a 3% increase; modular grants requesting fewer than 7 modules (up to $175,000) will receive a 5% increase. New applications will be cut by about 17%, rather than the 24% average over the last several years.
NCI expects to fund 1,283 competing research project grants in FY08, compared to the 1,312 funded in FY07. The average cost of competing research project grants will increase 3% over last year, however.
The payline for NCI R01s is at 12th percentile, compared to the 15th percentile in FY07. New investigator (star R01 program) payline will be at the 19th percentile, rather than the 21st. The payline for large R01s (over $700,000) will be at the 14th percentile for the first and second rounds, and P01s will be determined on a case-by-case basis. It is expected that R03 applications up to 210 priority score will be funded, and that the R21 payline will be at the 14th percentile.
NCI is imposing 3% reductions across each division, office, and center, and downsizing or eliminating a number of programs. For example, accrual to the Community Clinical Oncology Program trials will be reduced by almost 800 patients.
Programs that have been eliminated include the Integrating Aging and Cancer Research Program, which was co-funded with the National Institute on Aging (loss of $4 to $5M). (Members will remember that this P20 award to Dr. Nate Berger resulted in the successful establishment of the Aging-Cancer Research Program of the Comprehensive Cancer Center). Also eliminated have been the supplements for Imaging Response Assessment Teams ($2M), the CTEP Interdisciplinary Research Teams for Molecular Target Assessment ($1.4M), and the Cancer Imaging Program's Development of Contract Imaging Drugs and Enhancers ($1.6M).
White House budget request this year recommends a $4M increase (0.1% over FY08). The NCI annual report "The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research" to the President and Congress asserts that a FY09 budget of $5.2B is required for NCI to sustain its current level of activities; a proposal to accelerate progress would require $6B. NCI's appropriation in FY07 was $4.8 B.

NIH Bulletin – Notices and Funding Opportunities

Notice of Amendment to the Number of Applications per Applicant Organization and Clarification of Page Limitation for RFA-OD-08-001 "Rare Diseases Clinical Research Consortia (RDCRC) for Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (U54)" (NOT-OD-08-051)

Registration Open for the Tenth Annual NIH SBIR/STTR Conference (July 22-23, 2008)(NOT-OD-08-053)

NIH Implementation of Trafficking in Persons Award Term (NOT-OD-08-055)

Hot Topics for Institutional Officials – March, 2008 in Atlanta, GA (NOT-OD-08-056)

Notice of Public Meeting: Seeking Comments on Implementation of the NIH Public Access Policy (NOT-OD-08-057)

Administrative Supplements for Gene Identification Efforts: Replication and Fine-Mapping Studies for The Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI) (NOT-CA-08-011)

Correction to Notice-HG-08-002, Administrative Supplements for Making Knockout Mice (NOT-HG-08-003)

Functional Links between the Immune System, Brain Function and Behavior (R01) (PA-08-097)

Functional Links between the Immune System, Brain Function and Behavior (R21) (PA-08-098)

Produced by:
Gillian Irwin
11100 Euclid Avenue, Wearn 152
Cleveland, Ohio 44106-5065
216-844-8317 phone
216-844-7832 fax
gillian.irwin@case.edu

Janice Green
11100 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44106-5065
216-844-1862 phone
216-844-7832 fax
janice.green@uhhospitals.org

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