The Keller Laboratory at cc-TDI: 01/01/2010

Monday, January 25, 2010

2010 Scott Carter Fellow, Jinu Abraham

Jinu earned his doctoral degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. During the course of his Ph.D, he studied the regulation of Drosophila hematopoiesis by SUMO modification under the guidance of Dr. Soichi Tanda. In the Keller laboratory, Jinu is investigating the mechanisms of resistance to receptor tyrosine-kinase inhibitors in rhabdomyosarcoma. He is also investigating the efficacy of other novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma. Dr. Abraham's future goal is to become an independent scientist in the fields of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Honoring Koichi

Our sincerest appreciation goes to postdoctoral fellow, Koichi Nishijo, who is moving to the next stage of his biomedical career as a clinical trials coordinator for Bayer, Japan. As a postdoctoral fellow in our laboratory, Koichi first-authored papers in Cancer Research as well as The FASEB Journal, and was co-author of 2 other papers in print or in review. Koichi was also recipient of a nationally-competitive Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation Young Investigator Award and was a Scott Carter Foundation Fellow in our laboratory. We will miss you, Koichi, but wish you great successes in your career.

[above right: Koichi (left) and Charles (right) at a going away lunch on Tuesday]

Friday, January 15, 2010

Our thanks to Marathoner Jennifer Rebeles!

Our sincerest thanks go to Jenny, who ran the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Marathon on December 6 in support of the GCCRI Pediatric Preclinical Testing Program. Jenny's family and friends provided a substantial contribution that furthers research on novel compounds that might be one day used in the treatment of childhood cancers. Jenny is also a staff member at the GCCRI, and directing manager of our advanced instrumentation resource facility. It is very kind of her to support our research and programs in childhood cancer research in so many ways. Thank you, Jenny!

[ top right: photos from Jenny's Marathon. We think she must have passed that person in front of her! ]

Friday, January 8, 2010

Sachiko Presents to the Texas Oklahoma Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium

Today Sachiko presented her work on, "The Ubiquitin-Proteasome System as a Therapeutic Target in Medulloblastoma" to the multi-institutional Texas-Oklahoma Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium. Her presentation was well received and considered promising as an approach for a clinical trial. The greatest value, of course, was in the multi-disciplinary exchange between clinicians, clinical researchers and basic scientists.

Congratulations again to Sachiko on an excellent presentation.

McAfee Foundation funds Preclinical Therapeutic Study for Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma

We are grateful to the Joanna McAfee Childhood Cancer Foundation for their 2nd grant in amount of $8,538 to evaluate a novel new compound for efficacy in a genetically-engineered mouse model of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. This study is done as part of the Pediatric Preclinical Testing Initiative at the our institution... an effort to speed discovery of clinically-feasible agents that can be moved to clinical trials for childhood cancer.

To learn more about JMCCF, and Joanna's & her family's story, click here.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Aislynn's Study accepted for Publication

Many congratulations to Aislynn on the acceptance of her medulloblastoma study for publication. Aislynn graduated in May 2009 with a Master's Degree, having worked in our laboratory on neurophysiological assessment of therapeutic response in our genetically-engineered mouse model of medulloblastoma. Her paper will appear in Transgenic Research. As always, this study involved a team effort. Other members of the laboratory who contributed were Sachiko, Aoife, Eri (alumnist), Laura and especially Suresh. Multi-disciplinary collaborators included Thomas Whitney and Dr. Brent Nowak (UTSA Robotics & Intelligent Machines Lab), Bill Morgan and Inkyung Jung (UTHSCSA, statistical analysis), Ai-Ling Lin and Dr. Tim Duong (Research Imaging Institute, MRI), Osamu Tagao (neuroradiology interpretations, UT Southwestern) and Dr. Brian P. Rubin (Pathology interpretations, Cleveland Clinic). Way to go, Aislynn!

[ 01/29/2010: Aislynn's paper is now available online. ]

You Can Participate in our Novel Therapeutics Studies !

One would like to think that tangibly better treatments for rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma and other childhood cancers can be found in a matter of years, instead of tens of years. Finding new treatments starts with research, perhaps even a new research approach to identifying effective new treatments. The Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute focuses on finding molecules in childhood cancers that can be directly turned off or on by drugs so that the tumor stops growing. Behind our novel approach is the use of genetically-engineered mice. Our Pediatric Preclinical Testing Initiative uses mice modified from before birth so that at a certain age, and in a certain tissue, the same mutations found in a child’s cancer are activated in the mouse. These special mouse models of childhood cancer can be used to test a treatment to see whether the tumor growth and spread (metastasis) can be reversed. The specific aspect of these mice having normal immune systems is a real plus, too, because white blood cells play an important role in how tumors evolve and respond to therapy.

Our program is designed around community participation. Through the Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute, you can contribute directly to this grass-roots initiative. Donations through small gifts or grants will assist in studying compounds that may be effective in treating such childhood cancers as alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, or medulloblastoma (the alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma model was featured by Dr. Keller's long time collaborator and former mentor, 2007 Nobel laureate Mario Capecchi, in his Nobel Prize lecture {see 16 minutes onward}.)

For additional information regarding supporting this program please contact Charles Keller at charles@cc-tdi.org. Results obtained through these studies will be shared with the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, as well as the Children’s Oncology Group, which designs clinical trials for childhood cancer.