CURE Childhood Cancer Foundation Awards Multiyear Grant to cc-TDI

We are pleased to announce that the Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute was selected to receive a multiyear research grant awarded by CURE Childhood Cancer foundation of Atlanta, GA.  The grant will help fund our CUREfast Cancer Registry for Familial and Sporadic Tumors.  We have pioneered an approach to the difficult decision that some families make when choosing to donate tissue that provides resources to the scientific community to bring about new knowledge and potential new drug treatments for changed outcomes.  We are excited to work with CURE Childhood Cancer and honored to be selected as one of their grantees.  
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Our thanks to the Shenandoah Sharks!

We are grateful to The Shenandoah Sharks, a Summer swim team in Shenandoah, Texas.  These swimmers and their families recently held a swim-a-thon in memory of Thomas, the brother to a member of the team, Emily.  Thomas had an inconquerable spirit during his battle with childhood cancer.  Fittingly, the motto for this event was Fortitudo: strength-courage-perseverance.  Our thanks go to all the swimmers and their families who made this fundraiser possible, and for remembering Thomas in this way. 
  
[ pictured: Charles holding the Sharks' t-shirt with Thomas' parents, Beni and Cynthia. ]

Welcoming Cora & Adelae

We are excited to welcome our Summer students to the lab this week.

  

Adelae is an incoming freshman at Bates College.  Her project is in our 'skunkworks' of trying to redefine how targeted therapies can be delivered -- by surgeons!  This project involves a lot of 3D printing and robots... the type of experience ideal for Adelae's interest in systems biology and neuroscience.  

  

Cora is a Chemical Engineering student at University of Massachusetts, entering her Junior year this Fall.  Her work will be focused on The Alexa Project, which will define the resources available for drug discovery in NF1-associated Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma (a form of brain tumor).  

    

​[ pictured:  Adelae (left) and Cora (right) ] 

Matt, our newest muscle stem cell biologist

We are excited to welcome Matt to our cc-TDI scientific team.  Dr. Matthew Randolph earned his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 2000 from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. He practiced mixed animal medicine as an associate veterinarian in northeast Georgia for five years. Matthew then pursued a career in cancer research and recently trained as a stem cell biologist at Emory University, in the laboratory of Dr. Grace Pavlath, while earning his PhD in Biochemistry, Cell, and Developmental Biology.  He has joined cc-TDI as a post-doctoral researcher and will investigate novel therapies for childhood cancers, including the cancer of muscle, rhabdomyosarcoma. Matthew and his wife, Casey, enjoy hiking, working with children, and watching science-fiction shows.

rhabdomyosarcoma conference at NCI

Our thanks to Javed Khan for hosting the NCI Targeting Rhabdomyosarcoma Workshop this week in Gaithersburg.  Highlights included the interaction of muscle biologists and those who study rhabdomyosarcoma.  

AACR 2015

The 2015 Annual AACR in Philadelphia meeting concludes today.  It was a particular honor for Dr. Keller to present with his career mentor, 2007 Nobel laureate Mario Capecchi at the session,  Modeling Human Sarcomas: Recent Advances in Organ Site Research.  On Sunday, Dr. Capecchi received the lifetime career award from the AACR.    

Mayo Clinic seminar

My thanks to hosts Drs. Aubrey Thompson and Al Copland for the opportunity to present our work at cc-TDI in their seminar series.  It was a very productive visit - with new collaborations formed, and special traction on the Xp11 RCC effort.  

Purdue Cancer Center seminar

My thanks to hosts Drs. Shihuan Kuang and Timothy Ratliff for the opportunity to present our work at the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research seminar series on February 26.  Purdue has exciting programs in muscle & non-muscle stem cell biology & physiology and tissue engineering, and cancer biology.  It was a pleasure to meet with these accomplished scientists and build new collaborations.  

Nobel medal sold... then given back

To read the improbably story of an altruistic gift to science, followed by another gracious gift, see the story by Daniel Dunaief here.   
  
[ image source is the original news story website ]

Be a Dog's Best Friend

Can finding new treatments for dogs with soft tissue sarcomas also help develop new drugs for children and adults with soft tissue sarcomas?  This possibility is raised by today's publication by collaborator Milan Milovance entitled, Comparative Pathology of Canine Soft Tissue Sarcomas: Possible Models of Human Non-rhabdomyosarcoma Soft Tissue Sarcoma.  Co-authors of this study include Charles, as well as long time collaborator adult sarcoma pathologist, Atiya Mansoor.  [ pictured: undifferentiated sarcoma (also called UPS, or MFH) in dog and human ]  

The Art of Survivorship

This month the collection, "Mother & Son: The Art of a Mom’s Journey through Childhood Cancer with Her Son" will be on display at Tiny’s Coffee 1412 SE 12th Portland, Oregon.  The artist, April, is an advocate for childhood cancer survivorship, her son now thriving after a challenging period with sarcoma.  The mixed media of paint-on-radiograph is accompanied by the history, from a mother's perspective, of the experience.  

Save the Date: Rhabdomyosarcoma & Soft Tissue Sarcoma Conference

The Pablove Foundation is hosting a scientific conference on rhabdomyosarcoma & soft tissue sarcoma November 6-8, 2014 in Los Angeles.  This is a by-invitation meeting for clinician-scientists and researchers from the US and abroad; however, the symposium on Saturday November 8 will be open to the public.  Registration information will likely be available late Summer/early Fall through the Pablove Foundation website.  
  
update:  the website is now open for registration.  

2014 Rhabdomyosarcoma Pico-course

It was an exciting week for the participants of the 2014 Rhabdomyosarcoma Pico-course.  The

goal was to evaluate progress 2000-2014 in cooperative group clinical trials of new agents for rhabdomyosarcoma.  The students concluded that in such trials >525 patients had been planned, at a potential overall cost well exceeding $4.7M (not counting the expense of the drugs themselves).  Many of the results of these clinical trials are still pending.  That said, this was a very hardworking group of students who really came together for a high-level project and did a terrific job.  

a tool for innovation

We are grateful to the Alex' Lemonade Stand Foundation for our new instrument, a Form1 3D printer. With this device we can generate custom tissue culture incubation chambers. This project is pioneered by Kirsten and Richard this Summer.  stay tuned!

Welcoming Kirsten

We are excited to have Kirsten on our team this Summer.  Kirsten is an orthopedic surgery resident with a keen interest in tissue engineering.  

" I graduated from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine in 2011 with my MD and BA in Biology through the combined MD/BA program.  Shortly, thereafter I moved to Portland to start my 5 years of residency training in Orthopaedic Surgery at OHSU.  My interests in the field include joint reconstruction and orthopaedic oncology.   I hope to bring the unique perspective of a surgeon scientist to Dr. Keller's lab as we work to develop a 3D in vitro sarcoma model system.  In my free time I enjoy playing disc golf and spoiling my cats.  Kirsten "

...on accelerating the development of new treatments for childhood cancer

Welcoming Richard

We are privileged to have engineering undergraduate student, Richard, join our team as a Summer intern.  

"I am a sophomore at The University of Notre Dame. This opportunity at the Keller Laboratory excites me because it gives me a chance to challenge myself and develop a deeper understanding of how research is conducted. As an individual who has been affected by the loss of loved ones to various forms of cancer, the implications of the research at The Keller Laboratory are especially important to me as well as thousands of others who are personally affected by cancer."

Welcoming Renae!

We are excited to have on our team Renae, a Summer student investigating EphB4 and EphrinB2 in childhood cancers.  
  
"I will be starting my second year at Pacific University in the Fall where I am studying biology and will graduate in 2016. After graduating I hope to enroll in a MD/MS program in the hope that it will allow me to build a future career working both in the lab and with patients. I became interested in pediatric oncology in high school and am grateful to now have the opportunity to be working in a lab that is so focused on discovering new and better treatments and hope to do the same in the future."

lemon wishes

we are grateful that the ALSF and its supporters have shared with us some of the 'lemon wishes'.  For the ALSF Spring newsletter, click here.  

Banbury Conference on Rhabdomyosarcoma

This past week the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory held a special Banbury Conference to critically examine scientific and translational progress in rhabdomyosarcoma.  Through the kind sponsorship of members of the community, an international group of clinicians, cancer scientists and muscle biologists met to discuss driving clinical & biological problems in pediatric, adolescent and young adult rhabdomyosarcoma.  From this meeting will come a "white paper" describing prioritizes areas for further development - and collaborative opportunities.  We are grateful to the CSHL Banbury staff, as well as the CSHL leadership, for making this very unique meeting possible.