There is a lot to celebrate this time of year. The beginning of summer, preK/high school/college graduations, and our very own PhD graduates! Congratulations to Drs. Merrida Childress, Miranda Sowder Clements, and Joshua Thompson!

Also, this time of year the Program would like to welcome our new graduate students:

• Brad Davidson (Mentor: Ben Ho Park, MD, PhD)
• Adam Miranda (Mentor: Ben Ho Park, MD, PhD)
• Carlos Detres Roman (Mentor: Mary Philip, MD, PhD)
• Melissa Wolf (Mentor: Kim Rathmell, MD, PhD)
• Wendy Bindeman (Mentor: Barbara Fingleton, PhD)
• Logan Northcutt (Mentor: Marjan Rafat, PhD)
• Alexandar Silver (Mentor: Michael Savona, MD)
• Natalie Bennett (Mentor: Julie Sterling, PhD)

We wish all of you a fantastic research journey and we look forward to seeing you soar!

“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” -Christian D. Larson

Kim Dahlman

Getting to Know You…

Faculty Spotlight

Anna Vilgelm, MD, PhD
Research Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

The overall focus of Dr. Vilgelm’s research program is on design and pre-clinical evaluation of novel therapeutic strategies for treatment of metastatic cancers, including breast cancer and melanoma. She is also interested in exploring molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the intrinsic and acquired resistance to current therapeutics. The approach is to use clinically relevant tumor models to design rational combinations of novel and emerging cancer therapies, including tumor-targeting and immune-stimulating therapies, to ultimately improve treatment outcomes for cancer patients.

Her current research is focused on pre-clinical development of therapies that stimulate anti-tumor immunity by inducing “hot”, immune-cell enriched, and tumor microenvironment. Her group explores senescence-inducing therapies that activate pro-inflammatory pathways in tumor cells resulting in increased secretion of chemokines that promote immune cell homing into the tumor. Her lab utilizes mouse models of melanoma and mammary cancer, as well as patient-derived models, such as patient-derived organoids and patient-derived xenografts grown in humanized mice.

Trainee Spotlight

Joshua J. Thompson
MD/PhD Candidate (Williams Laboratory)

Joshua was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and earned his B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  His undergraduate thesis work in the lab of Dr. Andrew Dudley focused on the role of PECAM-1/CD31 in tumor angiogenesis and vascular mimicry.  As an MSTP student at Vanderbilt, Joshua completed two years of medical school before joining the laboratory of Chris Williams.  His thesis work focused on the role of Blood Vessel Epicardial Substance (BVES) in intestinal homeostasis and tumorigenesis, with specific focus on how BVES modulates Wnt signaling. Joshua went on to show that BVES interacts with a key Wnt signaling co-receptor, LRP6, and that BVES loss leads to Wnt pathway activation. Furthermore, BVES loss enhanced intestinal tumorigenesis in Wnt driven models of colorectal cancer. Joshua will now return to medical school to finish his clinical training. He ultimately plans to pursue a career as a surgeon-scientist with a clinical focus on surgical oncology and a research program focused on further understanding the molecular underpinnings of colorectal cancer and how these alterations can be exploited therapeutically.

Staff Spotlight

Susan Opalenik, PhD
Senior Research Specialist
Laboratory Manager (Balko Laboratory)

After obtaining her PhD in 1996 from the Department of Medical Genetics at UAB, Susan joined the laboratory of Dr. Phillip Browning in the VICC as a post-doctoral fellow to continue her work studying HIV-associated Kaposi Sarcoma. This fueled her passion for wound healing, and in 1999 she joined the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey M. Davidson in the Department of Pathology where she moved up the ranks to Research Assistant Professor. In addition, she was integrally involved with the Vanderbilt Skin Diseases Research Center led by Dr. George Stricklin, serving 5 years as the director of its Molecular Biology Core Laboratory. Her seminal research described the contribution of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells to wound repair. She obtained independent NIH funding to study this phenomenon serving as a Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research Faculty Fellow.  In 2015, Susan rejoined the VICC in the laboratory of Dr. Justin Balko as laboratory manager.

Susan is now a Research Supervisor in the Balko lab – her many contributions to the lab including running her own research project(s), training incoming students and postdoctoral fellows in molecular biology and animal research techniques, editing manuscripts and grants, and contributing to a happy, productive and inquisitive culture in the laboratory.  Her current research is aimed at understanding the tumor biology and immunologic consequences of 9p24 amplicons in breast cancer. The Balko laboratory attests that the “laboratory would NOT be nearly as successful without her!”

Congratulations to our very own Kim Dahlman, PhD for completing the Boston Marathon  on April 15th, 2019!!  26.2 miles!!

Kim raised $10,805 for Camp Shriver!! These funds make it possible for hundreds of kids with and without special needs to attend a summer camp and play together. Thank you for your support!! Your hearts are large!

Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center 20th Annual Scientific Retreat.
“Signal Transduction in Cancer Initiation, Progression and Treatment”

“More than 60 percent of all lung cancer cases are diagnosed to non-smokers,” Amanda Nerstad and her family have dedicated lemonade stand fundraisers to raise money for lung cancer research, which resulted in nearly 28,000 dollars in funds donated to the LUNGevity Foundation, which aims to change the outcomes of patients with lung cancer through research, education and support.

Although the stage four lung cancer still lives in Amanda’s body, medical advancements have allowed her to undergo non-traditional cancer treatments, such as the chemo pill, allowing her to keep her hair, and avoid the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.

Amanda’s inspiring words at the 2019 VICC retreat reminded us all that we should never take a single day for granted. Amanda is passionate about sharing her journey while inspiring and helping others who are fighting the disease. Amanda and her beautiful family are the reason that we work so hard in the area of Cancer Research.

Thank you Amanda for sharing your story!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE VICC 20th ANNUAL RETREAT:

Two Vanderbilt trainees were honored for their stellar scientific research during the VICC Annual Scientific Retreat held on May 1 at the Vanderbilt University Student Life Center.

April M. Weissmiller, PhD, was named the Postdoc of the Year. The title of her talk was “Inhibition of MYC by the SMARCB1 tumor suppressor”, Dr. Weissmiller works in the Vanderbilt laboratory of William Tansey, PhD.

The VICC Graduate Student of the year award was granted to David Elion who spoke on  “Harnessing RIG-I in the tumor micro environment for therapeutic breast cancer treatment.” David works in the laboratory of Rebecca Cook, PhD.

 L to R: Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD,
Deborah Morrison, PhD,
Channing Der, PhD,
Tony Hunter, PhD,
Ethan Lee, MD, PhD,
Ann Richmond, PhD.

Stellar presentations by our guests were:
–Channing Der, PhD, Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, speaking on “Drugging ‘undruggable’ RAS: mission possible?”
–Tony Hunter, PhD, Renato Dulbecco Chair in Cancer Research and deputy director of the Salk Institute Cancer Center, speaking on
“New signal transduction targets for cancer therapy.”
–Ethan Lee, MD, PhD, professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, speaking on
“A new role for the tumor suppressor APC in the Wnt pathway.”
–Deborah Morrison, PhD, chief of Laboratory Cell and Developmental Signaling and senior investigator and head of the Cellular Growth Mechanisms Section for the National Cancer Institute, speaking on
“New approaches to inhibit Raf kinase signaling: the details DO matter!”

2019 VICC Retreat Poster Winners

The Best overall Poster presentation was a tie between:

1) Lindsay Redman who presented,  ” A Functional Genomics Approach to Determining Mutant p53 Gain of Function Phenotype and Mechanisms in Triple Negative Breast Cancer”. Lindsay works in the Department of Biochemistry, in the laboratory of Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD.

2) Petria G. Thompson presented, “Protection of Abasic Sites in ssDNA Via a Stable Thiazolidine Linkage Promotes Genome Integrity”. Petria works in the Department of Biochemistry, in the laboratory of David Cortez, PhD.

First Place poster winners:

Yaohua Yang, PhD, ” Integrating Genome, Transcriptome and Methylome Data to Identify Novel Genes and DNA Methylation Marks for Lung Cancer Risk: Data from over 50,000 European Participants”.
(Mentors: Dr. Jirong Long and Dr. Qiuyin Cai)

Miranda Sowder Clements, PhD, “PREX1 Drives Spontaneous Bone Metastasis of ER+ Breast Cancer Cells”.
(Rachelle Johnson, PhD Laboratory)

Chi Yan, PhD , “Rigosertib, a Ras Mimetic, Inhibits Melanoma Cell Viability and Synergizes with Anti-PD1 to Promote Anti-Tumor Immune Responses”
(Ann Richmond, PhD Laboratory)

Christi Salisburn-Ruf, “Ripk1 Dependent Necrosis Drives Anemia and Bone Marrow Failure”.
(Sandra S Zinkel, MD, PhD Laboratory)

2019 VICC Retreat 2nd and 3rd place Poster Winners:

Scott Beeler, MSTP Candidate (Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD Laboratory)
Joshua Greenlee, PhD Candidate (Michael R. King, PhD Laboratory)
Cara Lang, PhD Candidate (Young Kim, MD, PhD Laboratory)
Erin Aho,Post Doctoral Fellow (William Tansey, PhD Laboratory)
Jian Zhang, PhD (Cynthia Reinhart-King, PhD Laboratory)
Ying Liu, PhD (Wei Zheng, MD, PhD Laboratory)
Maria Lopez Cavestany, PhD Candidate (Michael R. King, PhD Laboratory)
Sherly Celada, PhD (Xiaofei Wang, PhD & Wei Chen, PhD Laboratory, TSU)

VICC Honorable Mention for their poster presentations:

Ashlyn Blevins, BS (Anna Vilgelm, MD, PhD Laboratory)
Sarah Short, PhD (Christopher S. Williams, MD, PhD Laboratory)
Dalton Greenwood, PhD Candidate (Jeff Rathmell, PhD Laboratory)
Eileen Shiuan, MSTP Candidate (Jin Chen, MD, PhD Laboratory)
Sarah Wessel, Post Doctoral Research Fellow
(David Cortez, PhD Laboratory)
Laura Kim, PhD Candidate(Jin Chen, MD, PhD Laboratory)
Diva Whalen, PhD Candidate
(Amos Sakwe, PhD Lab, Meharry Medical College)
Jaleesa Moore, Post Doctoral Fellow
(Loren Lipworth, ScD and Pam Hull, PhD Mentors, Meharry Medical College)
Jonathan Sheehan, PhD
(Jens Meiler, PhD and Tony Capra, PhD PI’s, Vanderbilt)
Olga Korolkova, Post Doctoral Fellow
(Amos Sakwe, PhD Lab, Meharry Medical College)
Sarrah Widalella, PhD Candidate
(Amos Sakwe, PhD Lab, Meharry Medical College)

Jin Chen, MD, PhD received a T32 training grant funded through the NIH!! One of the rapidly developing frontiers in cancer research is the tumor microenvironment. This renewed T-32 training grant, will focus on training our students and postdoctoral fellows in emerging areas of tumor microenvironment, including single cell approaches to understand the complexity of the microenvironment, bioinformatics and quantitative analysis of large datasets, tumor immunology and immunotherapy, hypoxia and blood vessel normalization, and extracellular vesicles. Training in this critical area of cancer research is necessary to build the workforce required to understand the complexities of the microenvironmental influence on cancer development and progression, and to translate this information into more effective and less toxic approaches to the treatment and prevention of cancer.

Poster_NIH-Cancer-Research-Symposium-2019
Save the date! Are you into cancer research, drug discovery, great music, or all three? Then save the date for the NExT National Cancer Institute (NCI) Chemical Biology Consortium (CBC) symposium, taking place at Vanderbilt University (Nashville) on Wednesday, July 10th. This one-day event will feature talks from leading researchers from the CBC and around the country as well as a poster session, providing ample opportunities to learn about and discuss emerging concepts, novel technologies, and therapeutic strategies in drug discovery and development.

More information about the CBC, this event, and registration (no fee) is at: https://next.cancer.gov

We hope you can join us!

Wishing all of our Vanderbilt University Graduates a prosperous journey in your career and in life. We are very proud of your hard work and accomplishments!!!

Merrida A Childress, PhD

Vanderbilt Class of 2019

Christine M Lovly, MD, PhD, Mentor

Thesis project focused on determining if different ALK kinase chromosomal rearrangements (resulting in oncogenic ALK fusion proteins) confer differential phenotypic cellular and oncogenic changes as well as differential sensitivity to targeted therapies and cytotoxic chemotherapies. The overall goal is to identify characteristics of the fusion that will allow us to create different classifications of ALK fusions in order to provide the specific pre-clinical data needed to more precisely direct clinical treatment as well as potential innovative treatment strategies for ALK positive cancers. In addition, these studies may have potential implications for other kinase fusion-driven malignancies.

Send us your news

Have a suggestion for a Cancer Biology newsletter item? Do you have an announcement or an upcoming event you want to share with the Cancer Biology community?

E-mail: kerry.w.vazquez@vanderbilt.edu

Newsletter header photo credit to Dr. Anna Vilgelm, “DNA Comets”.
“Summer” image credited to choresnj.com. Clip art photo credit to google images. VICC Annual Retreat pictures credit to Tommy Eron Wilemon from VUMC