Dog Osteosarcoma Project

We couldn't be more excited about the advocacy of our collaborator, Dr. Jeffrey Tyner, in presenting our multi-institution research program to identify better treatments for pet dogs that develop osteosarcoma.  Jeff is a member of the Druker laboratory, and a key project contributor for this important initiative to understand childhood and canine osteosarcoma.  The video on Fox News can be seen here.  Other collaborators on this project include Oregon State University veterinary faculty Bernard Séguin, Shay Bracha, Stuart Helfand and John Mata; OHSU Epidemiology faculty Thuan Nguyen and Motomi Mori; Doernbecher Pediatric Oncology faculty Suman Malempati; Bioinformatics specialist Ranadip Pal; Druker laboratory member Marc Loriaux; and of course the core team in the KellerLab who drive this Pediatric Cancer Biology Program project: Nicolle Hofmann and Jinu Abraham, with the aid of Elaine Huang and incoming med-peds fellow, Lara Davis. 

McAfee Foundation funds Preclinical Therapeutic Study for Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma

We are grateful to the Joanna McAfee Childhood Cancer Foundation for their unwaivering 3nd grant to our lab in the amount of $15,000 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.  This work is done in the spirit of helping children like Joanna Rae McAfee, who faced the tremendous challenge of this disease and whose memory lives on to inspire research teams and communities to work together in making rhabdomyosarcoma a uniformly curable disease.  

Funding from the JMCCF is raised with such grass-roots efforts as the annual Macy Easom Memorial Charity Golf Tournament.  Macy was a young girl who, like Joanna, lost her battle against childhood cancer. Macy's parents and Joanna's parents (along with help from an amazing community of volunteers) organize this annual benefit to raise awareness and to provide tangible support to families of children currently going through their own treatment.  To see what an amazingly pro-active group the JMCCF represents, visit their Events page for a list of presentations and fundraising activities over the past year.  Simply amazing.  
  
click below to see the results of our prior JMCCF-funded research!

2-29-2012

This is an update of our project funded by JMCCF. Click below to check out our 2010-2011 video report.

Congratulations, Monika!

Many congratulations to Monika, whose publication from earlier work in the Soderling Lab on medulloblastoma migration has recently been released for early electronic publication in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology.  This thoughtful paper on mechanisms of medulloblastoma migration also takes a look towards pharmacological inhibition, a step towards addressing leptomeningeal metastasis. 

Rebecca and Sada Tarshis Endowed Professorship

It is an privilege and honor to be a steward of the Rebecca and Sada Tarshis Endowed Professorship.  These two sisters came from a modest background as children of immigrants from Russia, yet by building careers and living well, though judiciously, created a legacy that continues to benefit the Portland greater community.  I hope that through the work of our laboratory and the Pediatric Cancer Biology Program that we will meet the example of bringing forth tangible change and contributing to the greater good, particularly with respect to outcomes for metastatic childhood cancers. 


-- Charles  
  
[ above right:  Charles with Elaine, who is holding 'the chair'.  For the SOM Newsletter article, click here. ]
  

Visiting Scientist, Tohru Hosoyama

We were honored to have lab alumnist Tohru Hosoyama visit our lab in Portland this past week.  Tohru is now a fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Masatoshi Suzuki at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  Tohru is no doubt a rising star to watch in the muscle stem cell biology field.  
  
[ above right: Tohru with lab members Monika, Charles & Jinu ]

Welcoming Guangheng !

We are excited to welcome surgeon-scientist Dr Guangheng Li the Keller laboratory.  'GH' received his M.D in 1996 from Henan Medical University and his Ph.D in 2002 from the Shanghai Second Medical University. As a member of the Stem Cell Research Center in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at University of Pittsburgh, GH authored or co-authored numberous tissue engineering and stem cell studies that have been published in the Journal of Tissue Engineering, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, Nature Biotechnology, and Arthritis and Rheumatism. His research has focused primarily on using gene therapy, skeletal muscle stem cell and protein therapy to improve bone healing and delay the process of joints disease.  In the Keller laboratory, GH will extend these interests to the study of activated muscle stem cells and muscle cancer (rhabdomyosarcoma). 

Pediatric Cancer Biology Strategic Planning Retreat

We thank the leadership and key members of the OHSU Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, as well as our partners from the Doernbecher Children's Hospital Foundation for attending this Fall's first annual strategic planing retreat for the OHSU Pediatric Cancer Biology Program.  The retreat met yesterday at Skamania Lodge in the Columbia River Gorge.  The event was moderated by Dr. Cory Hallam, Director of Commercialization Alliances and Innovation as well as the Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship (CITE) at the University of Texas at San Antonio.  It was a very productive day, with the only caveat that we were indoors nearly the entire time, whilst it was a beautiful day outside. Still, it was a tremendously valuable activity and will lead to a highly specific strategic plan to be generated in the coming weeks. 

  
[ credits and thanks to Dr. Linda Stork for the Gorge photo ]