The Keller Laboratory at cc-TDI

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Welcoming Matthew!

Matthew joined our laboratory in May with the major responsibility of implementing

the Rally Foundation-sponsored childhood cancer tumor repository. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Illinois in 2007. Following completion of his undergraduate degree, Matthew enrolled in a Paramedic Certification program at Malcom X College in Chicago, IL where he was privileged to complete his field internship with the Chicago Fire Department on ambulances serving the South Side of Chicago. Matthew is interested in pursuing a career as a Physician-Scientist in the future.

epub now available: review of rhabdomyosarcoma differentiation

a review by collaborator Denis Guttridge and our lab addressing approaches to cellular differentiation in rhabdomyosarcoma now appear in the FEBS Journal.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

sarcoma infographic

From the community by way of the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative comes this sarcoma infographic.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Noah, the 2013 Scott Carter Fellow

Our warmest welcome to Noah, who recently graduated from Texas Tech University with a Masters degree in engineering and will be the 2013 Scott Carter Fellow. We are grateful to the Scott Carter Foundation, who make possible Noah's fellowship to define computational approaches to drug combinations for sarcoma therapy.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

cancer math (for personalized medicine)

Many congratulations to Noah, a graduate student in the laboratory of our collaborator, Dr. Ranadip Pal, on his recently accepted paper in BMC Bioinformatics. This paper builds upon the laboratory-based and computational pipeline for solid tumor combination therapy we are studying for dogs (and eventually, humans) with sarcomas. Noah's paper is the successor to his original published study, Pubmed ID 22174290.

Co-authoring the study is veterinary surgical oncologist Dr. Bernard Seguin at the Flint Animal Cancer Center, Colorado State University.

Lemonade Days!

To see a Portland family's lemonade stand for childhood cancer research, click here for the story and video.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

congratulations again, Mat!

Mat recently won first place in the basic science project presentation for his residency program retreat. nicely done, Mat! Charles

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.