Colorado cancer researchers awarded funding

The University of Colorado Cancer Center recently awarded $480,000 in pilot and seed grant funding to Colorado cancer researchers. The funding comes from four programs: the center's National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant, its American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant, private donations and its Breast Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence developing program, funded with donations from Safeway Foundation.

Each project was selected following a competitive review by a committee of peer researchers. These grants will help kick-start new research projects. Often pilot- and seed grant-funded projects go on to receive large federal and private grants based on data collected during the pilot-funded research.

The recipients are:

ACS Institutional Research Grants

• Jingshi Shen, Ph.D., assistant professor, molecular, cellular and developmental biology, University of Colorado Boulder: $30,000 for "Cytotoxic T lymphocyte Exocytosis in Cancer Immunotherapy"
• Chad G. Peterson, Ph.D., assistant professor, cell and developmental biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus: $30,000 for "The Role of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Unregulated Protein ADR16 in Centriole Assembly and Ciliogenesis"
• Isabel Rubio Schlaepfer, Ph.D., instructor/fellow, endocrinology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $30,000 for "Metabolic Therapies for Breast and Prostate Cancer"
• Monique A. Spillman, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, OB/GYN, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $30,000 for "Targeting Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers as Small Animal PET-CT and MRI Imaging Agents"
• Gerrit J. Bouman, Ph.D., assistant professor, biomedical sciences, Colorado State University: 30,000 for "Exosomal MicroRNAs in Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells"
• Laurie Carr, M.D., assistant professor, oncology, National Jewish Health: $30,000 for "Clinical Characterization and Molecular Analysis of Diffuse Idiopathic euroendocrine Cell Hyperplasia"

Cancer Center Support Grant Funding

• Shi-Long Lu, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, otolaryngology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $20,000 for "Characterization of Disseminated Tumor Cells in Head and Neck Cancer"
• Rebecca Schweppe, Ph.D., assistant professor, endocrinology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $20,000 for "Focal Adhesion Kinase as a Therapeutic Target in Thyroid Cancer"

CU Cancer Center Gift Fund Grants

• Kimberly R. Jordan, Ph.D., fellow, surgery, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $10,000 for "The Immunosuppressive Effects of Human Melanoma-Induced Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells" (Martin McCarter, M.D., sponsor)
• Ndiya Ogba, Ph.D., fellow, endocrinology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $10,000 for "An Estrogen Receptor (ER)-Negative Cell Subpopulation of Luminal Breast Cancer Pioneers Metastasis" (Kathryn Horwitz, Ph.D., sponsor)
• Joshua Klopper, M.D., assistant professor, endocrinology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $20,000 for "Combination VDR Activation and MAPK Inhibition in Thyroid Cancer"
• Caroline A. Kulesza, Ph.D., assistant professor, microbiology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $20,000 for "Analysis of Polycomb Complex Function in Cytomegalovirus Infections"

Breast SPORE Pilot Awards

• Thomas Anchordoquy, Ph.D., associate professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado School of Pharmacy, Anschutz: $50,000 for "Targeting Her-2 Overexpressing Tumor Cells Using Immunoliposomes and a Tw0-Component Strategy"
• Xuedong Liu, Ph.D., associate professor, chemistry, CU-Boulder, and S. Gail Eckhardt, M.D., professor and head, medical oncology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz:  $50,000 for "Identification of Predictive Markers and Genomic Classifiers for Largazole and Paragazole in Breast Cancer"
• Steven Anderson, professor and vice chair of research, pathology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $50,000 for "Synthetic lethal screen for targets that synthesize with metformin"
• Jennifer Richer, Ph.D., assistant professor, pathology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $25,000 for "A new anti-androgen: potential therapeutic utility in breast cancer"
• Bolin Liu, M.D., M.S., assistant professor, pathology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $25,000 for "ErbB3 augmentation of erbB2-mediated paclitaxel resistance in breast cancer"