Research Newsletter

Awards, Appointments and Announcements

Robert Hickey, PhD, associate professor of medicine and breast cancer researcher for the cancer center, is the recipient of the Fiscal Year 2006 Synergistic Idea Award from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) of the Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). He is also the recent recipient of a Walther Cancer Center grant to develop a nanofiber biosensor to identify circulating caPCNA, a novel cancer-associated isoform of the protein, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), recently identified in the Malkas-Hickey Laboratory. Dr. Steve Beaudoin, an electrical engineer at Purdue University, is co-investigator. In addition, a grant from the Friends for the Earlier Detection of Breast Cancer will also allow Hickey toexamine the ability ofthe new caPCNAspecific antibody to distinguish between individuals diagnosed with atypical ductal hyperplasiaof thebreast andwho remain disease free after biopsy,fromthose individuals receiving the same diagnosis but who subsequently develop either in situ breast cancer or invasive breast cancer. He will conduct this study with a colleague, Dr. Louise Jones, at the Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry in London.

Yong Luo, PhD, IU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is the recipient of the IU Simon Cancer Center’s Lung Cancer Working Group (LCWG)’s first Lungs for Life Postdoctoral Fellowship. Luo works inDr. Zhong-Yin Zhang's laboratory on a project targetingnovel proteins and pathwaysfortreating lung cancer.The fellowship is made possible by the generous support from Lung for Life Inc, an Indiana based nonprofit that, like the LCWG, aims to improve lung cancer treatment through research.

Kathy Miller, MD , associate professor of medicine and breast cancer researcher for the cancer center, has received the Young Investigator Award from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), a network of researchers and clinicians that conduct multi-center cancer clinical trials. ECOG presents the award each year to recognize outstanding contributions to research in the cooperative group, which is one of the largest clinical research organizations. The award was presented at the ECOG’s June 2007 meeting in Washington, DC.

Pamela Perry, director of public and media relations for IU School of Medicine, is newly elected to the NCI Public Affairs and Marketing Network’s steering committee. NCI-PAN is an association of communications professionals working in cancer research and clinical organizations. It works in close association with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Office of Communications to further public awareness of cancer research, prevention, detection and treatment. Leadership was announced at its April 2007 annual meeting, hosted at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center.