The AACR-Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Fellowship in Clinical Cancer Research is open to postdoctoral and clinical research fellows working at an academic, medical or research institution who will be in the first five years of their postdoctoral training at the start of the grant term. Proposed research projects may be in any area of clinical and/or translational cancer research.
2011 GRANTEE
Randall J. Kimple, M.D., Ph.D.Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Human Papilloma Virus Modulation of Head and Neck Cancer Radiation Response
"I am honored to be a recipient of a 2011 AACR-Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Fellowship in Clinical Cancer Research. As a radiation oncologist and budding virologist, my interests lie in understanding why patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck cancers have better outcomes than those with traditional head and neck cancers. We hypothesize that increased sensitivity to radiation underlies these improved outcomes and that fundamental genetic profiles underlying HPV-positive tumors will enable selection of optimal therapy for patients with HPV-positive, and potentially HPV-negative, head and neck cancers.
A growing number of head and neck cancers are related to infection by human papillomavirus. Patients with HPV-positive cancers have an improved prognosis compared to those with HPV-negative cancers, but improvements in treatment can still be made. We are developing a number of HPV-positive human tumors grown in immunocompromised mice to enable us to study how HPV-positive head and neck cancers respond to various treatments. My work involves using both HPV-positive cells in tissue culture and these mouse models of HPV-positive head and neck cancer to understand the molecular and genetic responses to radiation, a standard therapy for many patients with head and neck cancer.
In addition, we will use our mouse models to run "co-clinical" trials testing whether HPV-positive cancers derive similar benefit to epidermal growth factor inhibitor-based therapies as HPV-negative cancers. This will allow us to better understand how these cancers respond to standard therapy and we hope will help identify new treatment options to improved outcomes of patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer."
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2010 GRANTEE
Sameek Roychowdhury, M.D., Ph.D.Fellow, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Gene Fusions in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms
"I am a fellow in hematology/oncology interested in myeloproliferative neoplasms which include polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia and myelofibrosis. I am thrilled to be supported by the AACR-Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Fellowship in Clinical Cancer Research as I follow my passion for research in myeloproliferative neoplasms. My mentors include Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., an expert in gene fusions and next generation sequencing, and Moshe Talpaz, M.D., an expert in myeloproliferative neoplasms. We are using a rare bank of clinical samples from patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, and high throughout nucleic acid sequencing and bioinformatics for discovery of genetic aberrations in these diseases. We will characterize the biologic function of novel genetic aberrations through experimental biology and correlate our findings with disease subsets and outcomes. These discoveries will provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of myeloproliferative neoplasms. Further, biologically relevant genetic aberrations may represent novel sites for targeted therapy development. The proposed studies will have broader impact by disseminating this approach for study of other cancers and potentially other diseases. I would like to extend my thanks to AACR for this fellowship award and to my mentors, Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., and Moshe Talpaz, M.D., for their career guidance and support."
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