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UF cancer researchers win millions in state support

February 15, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — UF cancer researchers have garnered more than $2.1 million in state research funding through a new legislative appropriation.

The work of nine scientists representing nine academic departments and the UF Shands Cancer Center is set to benefit from the monies, part of the Florida Department of Health’s Bankhead-Coley Cancer Research Program. The program encourages a coordinated, collaborative approach to preventing, treating and curing cancer-related diseases.

Thirty-three grants totaling more than $8.1 million were awarded in two categories to research scientists from Florida-based universities and research institutions. The grants go into effect this month.

Seven UF researchers received funding intended to provide interim support for promising cancer-related research projects that have been highly rated in recent federal competitions, such as those conducted by the National Institutes of Health, but have not been funded due to budgetary constraints.

Two UF researchers received funding aimed at supporting Florida investigators who are conducting cancer-related research by improving access to state-of-the-art research instruments that can only be justified on a shared-use basis.

The following UF research investigators received one-year grants:

  • Kevin Brown, Ph.D., of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology, was awarded $52,500 to study the role of the ATM protein in breast cancer suppression. Studies are planned to determine the ATM gene’s role in breast cancer in an animal model and in humans.
  • W. Stratford May, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UFSCC and chief of the division of hematology/oncology, was awarded $200,000 to study the molecular mechanisms of the RAX protein, which controls cell growth and protein synthesis and may be vital for averting cancer, sustaining the accurate composition of bone marrow cells and fueling the body’s response to infectious agents.
  • Rolf Renne, Ph.D., of the department of molecular genetics and microbiology, was awarded $200,000 to continue studies of a herpesvirus that causes Kaposi’s sarcoma and other diseases such as primary effusion lymphomas, looking at a new class of gene expression regulators called microRNAs that appear to contribute to the development of certain cancers and tumors.
  • George Sarosi, M.D., of the department of surgery, was awarded $105,000 to study whether bile salts play a role in promoting a precancerous condition triggered by chronic heartburn, Barrett’s esophagus. Since 1974 the incidence of esophageal cancer increased sixfold and today it is the sixth leading cause of cancer deaths.
  • Dietmar Siemann, Ph.D., of the department of radiation oncology, was awarded $200,000 to conduct preclinical studies combining radiation therapy with anticancer drugs targeting the blood vessel network that supports tumor growth to see whether the approach maximizes antitumor activity.
  • Arun Srivastava, Ph.D., of the department of pediatrics, was awarded $499,980 to purchase a Becton-Dickinson FACSAria fluorescence-activated cell sorter to fractionate and isolate large numbers of purified cell populations, and to study live cells within individual populations.
  • Stephen Sugrue, Ph.D., associate director for basic science and shared facilities at the UFSCC and chairman of the department of anatomy and cell biology, was awarded $499,693 to purchase a Leica TCS SP5 AOBS confocal microscope with tandem scanner to study living cell populations. This new microscope ensures that researchers can record brilliant, high-resolution images of cancer cells, tumors and the tumor microenvironment, and monitor high-speed dynamic processes within cancer cells.
  • Weihong Tan, Ph.D., of the department of chemistry and the UFSCC, was awarded $157,500 to study small cell lung cancer in an effort to develop early detection methods and targeted therapies for lung cancer patients.
  • Naohiro Terada, M.D., Ph.D., of the department of pathology, was awarded $200,000 to explore how the drug azacitidine helps treat a hematological disease common among the elderly called myelodysplastic syndrome, which often turns into acute leukemia.