Kansas State University

Thanks for taking time to read our Winter 2016-17 Newsletter! I am Stephen Keith Chapes, a professor in the Division of Biology, and I am excited to serve as interim director of the Johnson Cancer Research Center. As a former associate director of the center, I am familiar with many of its activities. But as I learn more about it, I grow increasingly impressed by the generosity of its supporters. Thank you for helping K-State fight cancer!

As many of you know, Rob Denell, the Johnson Cancer Research Center‘s second director, retired from K-State at the end of October. We hosted a retirement party for him at the Alumni Center Nov. 7. Many of his colleagues and former students joined in celebrating his successful career. Here he is pictured (third from left) with past members of his lab. more photos

Dr. Denell had a major impact on the center, on the Division of Biology where he was a university distinguished professor, and on the university as a whole. He will be greatly missed. You can read more about him in our next annual Conquest magazine, due out in April.

Please read on to learn more about our research, achievements and activities.

Subscribe to our e-newsletter by emailing cancerresearch@k-state.edu.
Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Send us your stories and photos related to K-State cancer research.

The Pink & Purple Polyester Party, presented by CivicPlus, will be at 7 p.m., Fri., April 7, at the K-State Alumni Center.

Dress 60s, 70s or 80s style and “shake your booty” with Disco Dick & the Mirrorballs of Kansas City! Vote for your favorite “Off the Hook” bra and enjoy hors d’oeuvres and late-night munchies, libations and a fun photo booth! Best costume wins $100!

In conjunction with the party, Gaia SalonSpa is sponsoring the “Off the Hook” Bra Crawl in downtown Manhattan at 6-8 p.m. March 28. Enjoy food and drink specials at AJ’s, Blue Moose, Hibachi Hut, 4 Olives and Della Voce while getting an advance peek at the “Off the Hook” bras that will be competing at the party. Stay tuned to our Party webpage for developing details.

Party and sponsorship information, past party photos and online reservations are all available on our Party webpage. Get fun updates from the Pink & Purple Polyester Party Facebook page.

Downtown Manhattan, Inc., presents Manhattan’s first breast cancer foot race at 8 a.m. Sat., April 22! A portion of the proceeds will be donated to our center. Walk or run up Poyntz Ave. to Sunset Zoo and then back to AJ’s for the Pink Party! Wear a pink bib in honor of a cancer survivor. Get a free cancer screening sponsored by the Kansas Masonic Foundation. More info is on Downtown Manhattan’s website.

The statewide Walk Kansas program will hold its 2nd Annual Walk Kansas 5K for the Fight and 1.5-mile fun walk Sat., May 6. This year’s event will include a kids’ fun run and other fun activities. It is open to everyone, not just Walk Kansas program participants. Make walking or running this 5K your goal as you work towards better health! Exercise reduces cancer risk! Our website has details.

All Upcoming Events

Mystery Dinner Theater presented by American Legion Auxiliary Unit 17 – Sat., Feb. 11, 2017, at American Legion, 114 McCall Rd., Manhattan

Panda Express Fundraiser with K-State Cancer Fighters – Fri., March 3, 2017, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., K-State Student Union (more details soon)

K-State Open House – Sat., April 1, 2017

Off the Hook Bra Crawl to support Pink & Purple Polyester Party – Tue., March 28, 2017, downtown Manhattan

Pink & Purple Polyester Party – Fri., April 7, 2017, at K-State Alumni Center

Cancer Research Awards Banquet – Fri., April 21, 2017, at Four Points by Sheraton

Race to Save 2nd Base 5K presented by Downtown Manhattan – Sat., April 22, 2017

Advisory Council Spring Meeting – Sat., April 22, 2017

Walk Kansas 5K for the Fight – Sat., May 6, 2017, K-State Manhattan campus

K-State Fighting for a Cure (Shirt) Day – Sat., Oct. 14, 2017

Tailgate Party in Cat Town – Sat., Oct. 14, 2017, Cat Town at Bill Snyder Family Stadium

Rob Regier Memorial Golf Tournament – Fri., Oct. 20, 2017, Colbert Hills Golf Course, Manhattan

Bascom Lecture on HPV vaccine for cancer prevention

Michael Hagensee, MD, PhD, Dept. of Medicine, Section of Infectious Disease, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, presented “HPV vaccination: from laboratory to…bedside?” Nov. 3 for our Bascom Lecture Series for the K-State and greater Manhattan community.

Dr. Michael Hagensee discussed the development of the current HPV vaccines, from laboratory benchtop to clinical application. He described the problems with the low HPV vaccination rates as well as a possible solution. And he spoke about ongoing issues with HPV-related diseases in the vaccine era. A video is available on our website.

Dr. Waddle travels to Armenia!

Our A Day With Dr. Waddle book, written by center staff in 1988, has been translated into Armenian to help counselors at Muratsan University Hospital’s Chemotherapy Clinic, in Armenia, explain cancer to children.

Dr. Waddle’s important lesson is now available in English, Spanish and Armenian! Books are available directly from our center. Learn more about Dr. Waddle on our website.

K-State Fighting for a Cure Day

Wildcats aplenty wore their Fighting for a Cure shirts to the home football game and elsewhere in celebration of K-State Fighting for a Cure Day Oct. 8. First lady of K-State Football Sharon Snyder and the Snyder family and many other friends showed their pride by wearing their shirts.

Around 520 people bought the new K-State Fighting for a Cure shirt in 2016, raising about $6,750 for K-State cancer research. That brings total shirt proceeds to more than $26,000!

You can see photos of our shirt campaign supporters on Facebook, including Emmy Award-winning actor and K-State alum Eric Stonestreet, former K-State and Kansas City Chiefs football player Kevin Lockett, University President and First Lady Richard and Mary Jo Myers, and band director Dr. Frank Tracz.

A highlight of the day was when the K-State Marching Band, decorated in pink ribbons, formed the words “BEAT CANCER” on the field during halftime! See the photo above. We also enjoyed our annual Tailgate Party in Cat Town.

We are grateful to N Zone, our media partners and many others who have supported this effort!

The 2017 Fighting for a Cure Day will be Oct. 14. Get your shirt!

7th Annual Pink Power Luncheon

We had our biggest Pink Power Luncheon yet, on Oct. 21, with close to 190 attendees! Dr. Annelise Nguyen, toxicologist in Diagnostic Medicine & Pathobiology in K-State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, presented “Understanding the Origin of and Therapies for Breast Cancer.” Co-sponsored by Komen Kansas, this special event offers free lunch, breast cancer-related information, exhibits by local health-related resources and door prizes.  More info is on our website.

19th Annual Rob Regier Memorial Golf Tournament

The 19th Annual Rob Regier Memorial Golf Tournament was Oct. 7 at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan. It raised more than $23,000 for K-State cancer research!

The tournament honors Rob Regier, a K-State grad in pre-dentistry who died of cancer at age 26. It is hosted by the Regier Family, of Overland Park. We are so grateful for their support! Thanks also to premier sponsor Grand Mère Development.

Mark your calendars for the 20th tournament Oct. 20!

IN THE NEWS…

Richard Rosenkranz, in the department of food, nutrition, dietetics & health, was featured in the K-State news story, “Winning the war: How to persuade children to eat more veggies.”

Raquel Ortega, senior in chemistry working with Dr. Stefan Bossmann, was featured in the K-State news story, “Undergraduate research helps Ortega find opportunities to advance, refine career goals.”

FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS

Christer Aakeroy, chemistry, was selected for prestigious Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Award. read more

Rollie Clem, biology, awarded the Joan S. Hunt Distinguished Mentoring Award by the Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Program, or K-INBRE. read more

Emily McLaurin, chemistry, earned a National Science Foundation CAREER award of more than $700,000 to develop a more efficient and safer way of etching semiconductor nanocrystals. read more

David Poole and team’s paper “Critical Power: An Important Fatigue Threshold in Exercise Physiology,” was published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. read more

Bret Flanders, physics, developed a gold nanowire device that may benefit biomedical professionals and the patients they serve during electrode and organ transplant procedures. read more

Zhilong Yang, biology, is on the team that received an NIH award to establish a research center on chemical biology of infectious disease, an NIH Center for Biomedical Research Excellence.

Yang also published “Ribosome Profiling Reveals Translational Upregulation of Cellular Oxidative Phosphorylation mRNAs During Vaccinia Virus-induced Host Shutoff” in the Journal of Virology. read article abstract and scientific importance

Masa Tamura, anatomy & physiology, and team received a $150,000 NIH phase 1 business development grant for aerosolized platinum nanoparticle chemotherapy for lung cancer.

Annelise Nguyen, diagnostic medicine & pathobiology; Raelene Wouda and Mary Lynn Higginbotham, clinical sciences; and Mark Weis, anatomy & physiology, were featured in Seek, K-State’s research magazine. Read “Dog’s best friend: Humans are fetching up new ideas to improve health of canine companions”

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

Vaithish Velazhahan, junior in microbiology and medical biochemistry working with Dr. Kathrin Schrick, received a $500 Outstanding Student Scholarship from Mortar Board. read more

Molly Zych, junior in biology working with Dr. Erika Geisbrecht, Ruben Shrestha, doctoral student in chemistry working with Dr. Ping Li, and Velazhahan (above) were honored for their biomedical research presentations at the K-INBRE Symposium in January. read more

Kathlyn Gomendoza, senior in biology working with Dr. Lorena Passarelli, and Velazhahan (above) are among 40 Kansas students selected to present their research at Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol Feb. 15.

Zheng Zhao, doctoral student in biological & agricultural engineering working with Dr. Mei He, was selected to present at Research and the State. read more

Bo Hao, graduate student in chemistry working with Dr. Duy Hua, was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. read more

Luke Kicklighter, senior in microbiology working with Dr. Sherry Fleming, was selected to serve as a K-State Undergraduate Research Ambassador. He and five other students offer presentations about the benefits of undergraduate research and how to get involved. read more

ALUMNI NEWS

Jorge Mendoza, a 2010 graduate in biology and Cancer Research Award recipient in ’08 and ’09, was recognized with the K-State Alumni Association Student Alumni Board’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award. He will give a presentation on campus Feb. 28. read more

We’d love to hear from alumni impacted by our programs! Please get in touch with Marcia Locke at marcia@ksu.edu. And watch for our Alumni Survey going out soon!

Thanks to our generous supporters, including a special directed gift from Les & Virginia Clow, we were able to invest $336,093 in K-State cancer research and education last fall! Our competitive awards foster excellence among K-State cancer research faculty and students, and help advance the most promising research projects. Awards are offered each semester. Spring award applications are due March 1.

Faculty Awards

We awarded $114,000 in Innovative Research Awards for six research projects spanning four departments and $24,768 to support three laboratory equipment purchases. View full list of faculty awardees.

Student Awards

Forty-seven outstanding students were selected for our undergraduate Cancer Research Award program, which offers faculty-mentored laboratory research experiences and $1,000 awards to each student.

The students co-wrote research proposals with center-affiliated faculty and are conducting their studies this semester. Faculty mentors receive $1,000 per student to cover research expenses. We’ll have our annual awards banquet to recognize these students April 21.

Travel awards totaling $2,325 were provided to three graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to support their attendance at professional meetings to present their research. View full list of student awardees.