- March 3 – Spring award application deadline
- April 4 – Undergraduate Cancer Research Awards Banquet
- April 5 – Spring Advisory Council meeting
Author: marcia
Greetings!
It’s a busy time here at the cancer research center! Besides our regular fall activities–like our biannual advisory council meeting and award application deadline (Oct. 1)–it’s almost Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when many people reflect more on cancer and how they can help fight it. In addition to awarding research funds soon, we’re looking forward to several outreach, fundraiser and academic events…at which we hope to see many of you!
In this issue:
- Research News
- Golf, boogie or tailgate with us!
- Show your pride with our t-shirt!
- Best Pink Rodeo Yet
Proud to contribute to K-State’s success
The university recently announced that it netted record research funding in FY 2013. The news release recognized that “some of the largest grants have helped Kansas State University work to improve breast cancer survival rates and develop tests to detect cancer at its beginning stages.” The funds we’ve awarded our researchers to build their programs in recent years have been leveraged to about 25 times as much in outside funding. We thank our supporters for making that possible!
Subscribe to our e-newsletter by emailing cancerresearch@k-state.edu.
Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Research News
Kudos!
A few of our researchers in the Division of Biology recently had papers published in scientific journals!
Stella Lee and team’s paper “The Role of N-Glycosylation in Folding, Trafficking, and Functionality of Lysosomal Protein CLN5” was published in PLOS ONE.
Jeroen Roelofs and team’s paper “The proteasome-associated protein Ecm29 inhibits proteasomal ATPase activity and in vivo protein degradation by the proteasome” was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Govindsamy Vediyappan and team’s paper “Gymnemic Acids Inhibit Hyphal Growth and Virulence in Candida albicans“ was published in PLOS ONE.
New research affiliate
David Poole, in both kinesiology and anatomy & physiology, studies oxygen transport with respect to vascular and microcirculatory control and the matching of oxygen delivery to the energetic requirements of tissues in health and disease.
Seminar with Biology Sept. 27
We are cosponsoring a seminar featuring an expert on mitogen-activated protein kinases. Dr. Melanie Cobb, an endowed professor in the pharmacology department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, will present “MAPKs as mediators of nutrient signals” at 4 p.m. Fri., Sept. 27, in 120 Ackert Hall. More info is in this news release.
Golf, boogie or tailgate with us!
There are fun ways to celebrate K-State’s fight against cancer this fall! These and more activities are on our Upcoming Events webpage.
For you golfers, Fri., Oct. 11, is the Rob Regier Memorial Golf Tournament at the Manhattan Country Club. Rob was a K-State pre-dentistry student who passed away from cancer at age 26. His family has been hosting this tournament in his memory since 1998. Players and sponsors are welcome!
For you partiers, Fri., Oct. 18, is Dave Lewis’s Pink & Purple Polyester Party at the Houston Street Ballroom. Get your groove on with live music from Disco Dick & the Mirrorballs, of Kansas City! Also offered will be heavy hors d’oeuvres and dessert, cash bar, photo booth, and the “Off the Hook” bra art contest. Come party with your friends without doing any work!
For you football fans, Sat., Oct. 26, is our Tailgate Party in Cat Town at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Continue reading “Golf, boogie or tailgate with us!”
Show your pride with our ‘Fighting for a Cure’ t-shirt!
The K-State Fight Song‘s exclamation that we’re “fighting ever fighting for a Wildcat victory” is as true for cancer research as it is for football.
Show your pride for K-State cancer research and support breast cancer awareness by wearing this shirt!
And, if you’re going, wear it to the Oct. 12 football game! (October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.)
They’re available in both ladies’ and unisex styles. A few are still available from our center ($20) and they are also being sold at Varney’s and varneys.com, with $5 a shirt being donated to our center.
Best Pink Rodeo Yet
The 7th annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink Rodeo July 26 was more spectacular than ever! Rodeo spectators, participants and even horses wore pink! A pink balloon launch and cancer survivor recognition ceremony honored all who have ever faced cancer. The Silver Buckle Drill Team from McPherson did a special breast cancer awareness performance. And Nicki the pink fire truck visited from Wichita!
In Manhattan for their first time, the Guardians of the Ribbon, a group of firefighters and their families and friends, brought Nicki to help raise awareness of breast cancer and K-State cancer research. Continue reading “Best Pink Rodeo Yet”
Greetings!
Welcome to our first electronic newsletter! We’re excited to share our achievements, efforts and events with you in this more efficient and cost-effective format.
In this issue…
- We awarded $228,400 this spring!
- Not to brag, but…
-Spotlight: Biochemist improving breast cancer treatment
-Faculty, student & alumni achievements - Welcomes & farewells
- Upcoming events
You can learn more about our center on this newsletter’s About Us page and on our website, and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. To subscribe to our e-newsletter, send an email with the subject “newsletter” to cancerresearch@k-state.edu.
Also check out our annual magazine Conquest!
What are you up to?
We love hearing what our past students and other friends are up to! Please share your news or favorite memories or photos by emailing Marcia Locke at marcia@k-state.edu.
We awarded $228,400 this spring!
Thanks to our generous donors, we invested $228,400 in K-State cancer research and education this semester! We awarded faculty $105,960 for innovative research projects and $28,000 for laboratory equipment, and we awarded graduate students $88,240 in summer stipends and $4,200 for travel to present their research at scientific meetings. The awardees are listed on our Faculty and Student Award Winner webpages.
In total this school year, we’ve awarded $466,600. (K-State news release)
This is money well-spent! Many awardees leverage our support into national funding and prestigious honors for their research, helping advance K-State to a top 50 public research university by 2025.
We were also pleased to recognize 50 undergraduate student researchers at our annual Cancer Research Awards Banquet on April 19. It was a fun and moving night, as we honored the students, their families and faculty mentors, and the donors that made the awards possible. A photo gallery of the banquet is on our website.
To help K-State fight cancer, please visit our Join Us page, where you can print a donation form or give online. Private donations make it possible for our center to advance cancer research at K-State, promote excellence among our faculty and students, and achieve our vision to take a leading role in conquering cancer in our time.
Not to brag, but…
We must share the many achievements of our faculty, students and alumni!
SPOTLIGHT
Biochemist’s Research Improving Breast Cancer Treatment by Targeting Tumor-Initiating Cells
A K-State professor’s research on breast cancer stem cells may help improve survival rates by preventing cancer recurrence and metastasis — the major causes of death among patients.
Anna Zolkiewska, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, has received a four-year $1.245 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study a promising breast cancer marker called ADAM12. The grant is titled “ADAM12 in breast tumor initiating cells.”
Read the full story from K-State Communications & Marketing.
MORE FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS
Brian Lindshield, human nutrition, was recognized for co-writing a top 5 most-cited article of 2009-2011 in Archives of Biochemistry & Biophysics: “Are the health attributes of lycopene related to its antioxidant function?”
Jeroen Roelofs, biology, and colleague published “Reconfiguration of the proteasome during chaperone-mediated assembly” in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. (K-State news release)
Dorith Rotenberg, plant pathology, has been awarded the Kansas State University Distinguished Faculty Award for Mentoring of Undergraduate Students in Research. (K-State news release)
Susan Sun, grain science & industry, leads a research team that won a $5.08 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture for biofuel research. (news story)
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Jenny Barriga, Dodge City, junior in biochemistry and chemistry working in Stefan Bossman‘s lab in chemistry, has won a prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship. She plans to get a PhD in biochemistry and do research on cells and cell function. (K-State news release)
Phuoc Bui, Dodge City, senior in microbiology working in Mark Weiss’s lab in anatomy & physiology, is the recipient of the Kansas State University Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Student in Research. (K-State news release)
Brianne Pierce, Wichita, junior in microbiology and pre-medicine working in Jeroen Roelof‘s lab in biology, earned an Honorable Mention in the national Barry Goldwater Scholarship competition. She plans to earn an MD/PhD in oncology & conduct research & medical care. Brianne was also one of only 10 students selected to represent K-State at the Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol in Topeka.
Christine Spartz, Ellington, Conn., sophomore in chemistry working in a crystal engineering lab with Christer Aakeroy, chemistry, was nominated for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Brandon Pfannenstiel, Olathe, junior in microbiology working in Richard Todd‘s lab in plant pathology, won third place in the undergraduate poster presentation competition at the K-State Research Forum.*
Terrahn Wall, Olathe, senior in biology and pre-pharmacy working in Masaaki Tamura‘s lab in anatomy & physiology, won second place in the undergraduate oral presentation competition at the K-State Research Forum.*
Damien Downes, Australia, doctoral student in the interdepartmental genetics graduate program working in Richard Todd‘s lab in plant pathology, won first place in session two of the biological sciences oral presentation competition at the K-State Research Forum.* Damien, who studies genetics using a fungus, also won a Student Poster Prize at the 10th International Aspergillus Meeting and a Best Student Poster Award in the Functional and Comparative Genomics and Gene Regulation category at the 27th Fungal Genetics Conference.
Naomi Ohta, Japan, master’s student in biomedical sciences working in Masaaki Tamura‘s lab in anatomy & physiology, won third place in the biological sciences poster presentation competition at the K-State Research Forum.*
Prashant Wani, India, doctoral student in biochemistry mentored by Jeroen Roelofs in biology, won first place in the biological sciences poster presentation competition at the K-State Research Forum.*
Emily Archer Slone, Manhattan, doctoral student in microbiology working in Sherry Fleming‘s lab in biology, won first place in session one of the biological sciences oral presentation at the K-State Research Forum.
ALUMNI
Josh Umbehr, MD, Wichita, has been named a 2013 Top Doc in Concierge Medicine by Concierge Medicine Today, which selects only a few U.S. physicians in the concierge medicine and/or direct pay business model environment each year for this honor–only 15 this year. Josh graduated from K-State in human nutrition in 2003 and then attended KU School of Medicine. While at K-State, he was a Cancer Research Awardee and studied the effects of vitamin A on lung cancer. In 2012, he received the College of Human Ecology’s Young Professional Award.
Please report achievements to Marcia Locke at marcia@k-state.edu.
*The 18th Annual K-State Research Forum included oral and poster presentations from more than 89 graduate students and 18 undergraduate students from across disciplines.
Welcomes and farewells
We bid farewell to our assistant to the director Jan Galitzer, who is retiring in June. Jan joined the center in 1997, when it was directed by Dr. Terry Johnson, who passed away just four years later. She was very instrumental in building the center’s success…and even its current facility. She successfully managed its operations and transition to a new director after Dr. Johnson’s death. Her dedication to the center has been very evident and her years of valuable service much-appreciated.
Jan says she looks forward to spending more time contributing to community organizations and with family. We wish her a wonderful new phase of life!
We welcome our new associate director of development David Spafford. David went to high school in Belleville, Kan., and graduated from K-State in political science & social science in 1990. He has been a fundraiser at multiple universities, including at K-State from 1994 to 2000. He and his wife Bryanna (’99) have six children and a farm. They are active with their church and enjoy outdoor activities like going to the lake and K-State football games.
David replaces Tracy Robinson, who is now the director of development for university programs at the KSU Foundation.
We are also pleased to welcome new faculty researchers Michael Veeman and Yuntao Zhang, biology, and Lawrence Davis, biochemistry & molecular biology, and advisory council members Hank Doering, MD, Manh.; Lynn Wagner, Dodge City, Kan.; and Nancy Wolfe, Monument, Colo.