See also our related blog for the Pediatric Preclinical Testing Initiative.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Koichi named 2008 Scott Carter Fellow at GCCRI

We are grateful to the Scott Carter Foundation for sponsoring Dr. Koichi Nishijo, MD, PhD, as the 2008 Scott Carter Fellow at GCCRI. Scott Carter combined his love of sports and sports memorabilia collecting with a passion for accelerating childhood cancer research. Sadly, Scott lost his battle against osteosarcoma in 1993 at the age of 13. The Scott Carter Foundation continues his mission of promoting childhood cancer research through fundraisers and the sharing of Scott's collection, which is currently on display at Disney's Wide World of Sports. We feel privileged to contribute to Scott's goal of finding new treatments for childhood cancers, particularly pediatric sarcomas.

about Koichi Nishijo, MD, PhD
Dr. Koichi Nishijo began his postdoctoral research fellowship in Dr. Keller's laboratory in April 2006. Dr. Nishijo completed his M.D. and Ph.D. from Kyoto University, Japan. During his PhD course, he studied the biology of osteosarcoma under instruction of Dr. Junya Toguchida at Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University. Dr. Nishijo is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon with 7 years clinical experience in Japan. Dr. Nishijo's work primary research interests are the in vivo mechanisms of sarcoma development and progression. As a member of the Keller laboratory, he will study the process of rhabdomyosarcoma metastasis. Dr. Nishijo's future goal is to become an independent physician scientist in the field of musculoskeletal oncology.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Laura Hampton joins our team!


Please join us in welcoming Laura Hampton. Laura will be joining our laboratory as a research assistant with primary responsibilities in mouse husbandry and preclinical therapeutics. She comes to us with a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology from West Texas A&M University. She has undergraduate research experience in microbial genetics and wheat genetics, clinical work experience in EMG and EEG, and medical diagnostic experience in veterinary genetics. Her future goals may include graduate school at UTHSCSA and a project in our lab.

We are so excited to have her on the team. Welcome, Laura!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

New techniques making advances in cancer research

New imaging techniques combined with genetics research is providing scientists with an entirely new way to tackle cancer and birth defects. This cover article art was created by Lisa's husband, Derek Mayhew.

Click here to read more.


Wendy Rigby. "New techniques making advances in cancer research", KENS Channel 5 News (CBS Affiliate, San Antonio plus CBS National Newsfeed), May 23, 2008. [interview, video]

Monday, May 12, 2008

Eggs, Ingenuity enlisted in batter on cancer in kids

An article about Beverly, Aislynn, Corrine, and Charles' use of ordinary chicken eggs as a platform for screening drugs already on the market (or experimental laboratory compounds) to see if they are active against children’s muscle cancers and brain tumors. This work is being funded by a 2 year Innovation Award from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. Click here to read more.

Cindy Tumiel. "Eggs, ingenuity enlisted in batter on cancer in kids", San Antonio Express News, Metro Section first page, May 12, 2008.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

MicroCT of skeleton can ID even the subtlest birth defects

Will Sansom, "MicroCT of skeleton can ID even the subtlest birth defects", HSC News (UTHSCSA), May 8 2008 [interview]

Monday, May 5, 2008

Welcoming Michelle Brady!

We would like to Welcome Michelle Brady to the GCCRI as the new Technical Director of the GCCRI Mouse Histology Facility. This resource facility, managed jointly by Michelle and Charles, provides specialized pathology resources for preclinical mouse models of childhood cancers. Michelle brings to this enterprise over 23 years professional experience in Histology and Immunohistochemistry. We are so lucky to have Michelle on our team!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Nobel Laureate Mario Capecchi, Ph.D., visits HSC

Charles' mentor visits our university.

Staff writer, "Nobel Laureate Mario Capecchi, Ph.D., visits HSC", HSC News (UTHSCSA), April 23, 2008 [interview]