June 29, 2015
ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC RETREAT
Network, Talk Science and Form New Collaborations

Thursday, July 9 from 4:30-8:30 pm in the Wolstein Research Building Auditorium and Atrium, CWRU Campus AND

Friday, July 10 from 7:45 am-7 pm at Corporate College East (4400 Richmond Rd, Warrensville Heights 44128)  

Register: Click here

 

The Cancer Center Annual Scientific Retreat is an event that we look forward to all year. As one member recently put it, this is one of the few events where our entire Center gathers together in person to share great ideas. This statement pretty much sums up the sentiment of the retreat, and the reason why we hope all of you will make every effort to attend. 

 

Highlights of this two-day event include:

  • Keynote address by Dr. Crystal Mackall, Chief, Pediatric Oncology Branch at the National Cancer Institute, on immunotherapy trials. Dr. Mackall will also participate in Friday's events. 
  • Talks by Cancer Center members focusing on new areas of research and interaction within our Center including Immunotherapy, Cancer Disparities, Metabolism & Cancer, and Melanoma Research.
  • Presentations by Cancer Center Pilot Award winners highlighting some of the freshest and most exciting projects.
  • Poster presentations by students, postdocs and fellows - the next generation of cancer researchers.
  • Chance to catch up with fellow researchers and hopefully form some new collaborations. We are pleased to have many new attendees registered this year. 
Also, remember each Program will have a lunchtime breakout session. This is your chance to have your voice heard! During these meetings, your Program Leaders to review with you key elements about your program such as:
  • Focusing the strategic plan on your program activities, initiatives and needs. As the Cancer Center develops initiatives, makes investments, and approves pilot grants, alignment with the strategic plan is critical. 
  • Pilot awards process. This year the program leaders will forward your requests, as they align with the program strategic plan, to Center leadership for approval. Each program will have funds to spend supporting your research, but you need to be engaged to benefit!!
  • Discussion about how to relate our science - within your program- to our catchment area. This is a critical NCI grant review criteria and we need to brainstorm about the process. We have great examples but we need your help with the links all of you are already working on!
VELOSANO
Be Part of the Movement to Raise Funds for Cancer Research

Excitement is building as we draw closer to the weekend of July 17-19 and the VeloSano bike ride. We are proud to be part of the event, and hope you will join us as a rider, volunteer, cheerleader, or fundraiser! 

 

Last year VeloSano successfully completed its inaugural year, raising nearly $2 million that was directly awarded to cancer research. This year, funding will be distributed across all Case CCC institutions, with attention paid to fair distribution based on funds raised. All awardees must participate as riders, volunteers or organizers for the ride.  

 

Want to know more about VeloSano and why people are participating? Talk to any of the riders and ask them- they would love to tell you why they support the ride and why it is important. In fact, the Case Daily recently sat down with Bill Schiemann, captain of the Schiemann subteam, to discuss VeloSano and why he is riding. Read what he had to say

 

So how can you help? There is still time to join our team as a rider or virtual rider, or create your own subteam. We will help you train by offering advice and organizing practice rides.

 

Sign up to be a volunteer at our Cheer Station in the green space on Adelbert Road.  Our cheer team will cheer on VeloSano riders by ringing cowbells, holding signs and making noise to keep everyone motivated. All volunteers will receive a t-shirt. Service hours will be awarded, so encourage your kids to join in the fun. 

 

Finally, we need help with fundraising! Donate to our team or encourage others to donate. We are also selling 50/50 raffle tickets where the profit will support our team and riders. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Tickets can be purchased in the Cancer Center admin office at Wearn 152 or from Tracy Rehl on Wolstein 3. You may also email [email protected] to make purchase arrangements. 

 

More information about VeloSano and our team is available on the Cancer Center website. You can also contact Team Captain Caroline El Sanadi ([email protected]) or Megan Kilbane ([email protected]).

Case CCC IN THE NEWS
5 questions with...cancer researcher, VeloSano rider Bill Schiemann
Case Daily- Jun 26, 2015
Bill Schiemann, Co-Leader of the Breast Cancer Program at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and Professor in the Division of General Medical Sciences at CWRU, has devoted years to studying breast cancer-specifically, metastasis, or cancer's spread to other parts of the body, which is the cause of more than 90 percent of cancer deaths. Since joining Case Western Reserve University in 2009, Schiemann's lab has produced several breakthroughs in this area...
University Hospitals' proton therapy center nears completion with treatment system delivery
Crain's Cleveland Business- Jun 26, 2015
The heart of University Hospitals' $30 million proton therapy center is expected to be delivered Saturday, June 27, marking a significant development in the long-awaited project that would pit the health system as the first in the state with the cancer-fighting technology...Traditional therapy systems can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and typically are the size of a football field, but the machine employed by UH - the Mevion S250 - requires less space and resources to operate, according to Dr. Nathan Levitan, president of UH Seidman Cancer Center and member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. The accelerator itself weighs 15 tons, with the white tube housing it weighs an additional 40 tons.
Red5 Pharmaceuticals receives exclusive license to two technologies developed at Case Western Reserve University
Crain's Cleveland Business- Jun 24, 2015

A Cleveland startup company called Red5 Pharmaceuticals has received an exclusive license to two technologies developed at Case Western Reserve University: a kit that can quickly determine whether a cancer patient will respond to a particular chemotherapy program, and an experimental cancer drug.

The kit likely will be the company's first product. It's designed to tell oncologists whether patients with leukemia, lymphoma or solid tumors will respond to a particular treatment, within 24 hours. The KRun kit contains patented chemicals that are used to test samples from the patient...Red5's technology was developed by cofounder Anthony Berdis while he was an assistant professor of pharmacology at the university's medical school. Today, Berdis is chief scientific officer at Red5 and an assistant professor in the department of chemistry at Cleveland State University. Berdis is also a member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
Researcher Discovers Metabolite of Prostate Cancer Drug More Effective at Treating Aggressive Tumors

Dr. Nima Sharifi Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered for the first time that a metabolite of an FDA-approved drug for metastatic prostate cancer, abiraterone (Abi), has more anti-cancer properties than its precursor. The research was published online June 1 in Nature.

 

Nima Sharifi, MD, co-Leader of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center GU Malignancies Program, found that abiraterone, a steroid inhibitor, is converted into the more physiologically active D4A (Δ4-abiraterone) in both patients and animal models with prostate cancer who take the drug. Furthermore, they found that D4A is more effective than abiraterone at killing aggressive prostate cancer cells, suggesting that some patients may benefit from direct treatment with D4A.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Pfizer 2015 ASPIRE Breast Cancer Research Awards Program
Pfizer is pleased to announce the 2015 ASPIRE Breast Cancer Research Awards ProgramThe mission of this ASPIRE Awards program is to support clinical research of palbociclib in advanced breast cancer through a competitive grants program that advances knowledge of palbociclib in the treatment and disease management of ABC.

Deadline: September 8, 2015

National Institutes of Health - Transformative Research Award Program
The Transformative Research Award, run under the NIH Common Fund, was established to support exceptionally innovative, high-risk, and/or unconventional research projects that have the potential to create or overturn fundamental paradigms or otherwise have unusually broad impact. Such projects, due to their inherent risk, may be more difficult to support using a standard NIH R01 grant, but due to their potential impact, may merit pursuing. Little or no preliminary data are expected, but projects must clearly demonstrate the potential to produce a major impact in a broad area of biomedical or behavioral research.

LOI Deadline: September 9, 2015
Application Deadline: October 9, 2015

American Association for Cancer Research
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is accepting applications for the following opportunities:

AACR Team Science Award
Nomination Deadline: August 5, 2015

AACR-CRI Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology
Nomination Deadline: August 5, 2015


AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award
Nomination Deadline: September 2, 2015

Nomination Deadline: September 2, 2015

Nomination Deadline: September 16, 2015



NIH BULLETIN - Notices and Funding Opportunities
Pre-application: Opportunities for Collaborative Research at the NIH Clinical Center (X02)(PAR-15-286) 

Opportunities for Collaborative Research at the NIH Clinical Center (U01)(PAR-15-287) 
REGISTER TODAY!

 

Case CCC Annual Scientific Retreat 

Jul 9-10, 2015

EVENTS
Tues, Jun 30

Radiation Oncology Grand Rounds

Jill Barnholtz-Sloan,
PhD

Associate Professor, Div. of General Medical Sciences-Oncology

CWRU

Brain Tumors: BIG science in a RARE disease

8:10 am Lerner 151 

 

Translational Hematology & Oncology Research (THOR) Lecture Series

Britta Will, PhD
Cell Biology

Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

Transcriptional Dysregulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Fate Determination during Aging and Myeloid Transformation

1 pm R3-027 Cleveland Clinic 

Mon, Jul 6

Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Focus Group meeting

4 pm Wearn 137

Thurs, Jul 9

Case CCC Annual Scientific Retreat 

4:30 pm WRB

Fri, Jul 10

Case CCC Annual Scientific Retreat 

8:15 am Corporate College East

Case CCC Calendar

 

LRI Calendar

 

UPCOMING CANCER CENTER SYMPOSIUMS & EVENTS

 

Case CCC Annual Scientific Retreat 

Jul 9-10, 2015

 

VeloSano

Jul 17-19, 2015

Details

Palliative Medicine and Supportive Oncology 2015

Jul 23-25, 2015

Marriott Key Center

Details

External Deadline: Jul 13 

 

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Simmons Foundation

Deadline: Jul 28

 

DoD Lung Cancer Research Program Concept Award
LOI Deadline: Jul 28
External Deadline: Aug 11 
 

 

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Accepting Applications for Early Career Fellowship Awards

Deadline: Aug 17
 

Taub Foundation Grants Program for Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Research
Invited Proposal Deadline: Aug 14
 

DoD Lung Cancer Career Development Award

Deadline: Sep 16 

 

DoD Lung Cancer Clinical Exploration Award

Deadline: Sep 16

 

DoD Lung Cancer Idea Development Award

Deadline: Sep 16

 

American Cancer Society Pilot and Exploratory Projects in Palliative Care of Cancer Patients and Their Families

Deadline: Oct 1

 

International Union Against Cancer (UICC) International Cancer Technology Transfer Fellowships

Deadline: Open

 

International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Foundation (IWMF) Research Grant Program
Deadline: Open

 

Deadline: Open

 

Deadline: Open

Case Comprehensive Cancer Center 
11100 Euclid Avenue, Wearn152
Cleveland, OH 44106-5065