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Johnson Cancer Research Center Newsletter

Category: 2018 Fall

Fighting for a Cure campaign offers gift matching opportunity and Bill Snyder commemorative shirts

Coach Bill Snyder holding 2018 Fighting for a Cure shirt

The K-State Family is fighting, ever fighting, for a cure! K-State’s 5th Annual Fighting for a Cure Day is Oct. 13, and this year, you can join the fight in two special ways!

Get the 2018 Bill Snyder commemorative Fighting for a Cure Shirt, which features Coach’s signature, and wear it Oct. 13 for K-State’s 5th Annual Fighting for a Cure Day.

Make a gift now and have it matched! A generous supporter of our center will match gifts up to $10,000 between now and Oct. 13!

On Oct. 13, wear your Fighting for a Cure shirt to the football game or anywhere in honor of the K-State Family’s cancer survivors and researchers. Cheer on the ‘Cats with us at our Tailgate Party in Cat Town and enjoy the Pride of Wildcat Land Marching Band’s special halftime salute.

More info is on our Fighting for a Cure webpage.

Research Spotlight

Faculty Achievements

Annelise Nguyen, diagnostic medicine/pathobiology, was featured in a Kansas City Area Life Sciences “Expert Exchange” video, in which she discussed her research on cell communication and her patented compound that can both stop tumor development and increase efficacy of anti-cancer drugs so that doses can be smaller and thus less toxic.

 

Dr. Amir Bahadori

 

Radiation expert Amir Bahadori, mechanical & nuclear engineering, received the Zeldovich Medal from the COSPAR Scientific Commission F, Life Sciences as Related to Space. read more

 

 

 

Dr. John Tomich's BPACs

A bio-delivery technology invented by John Tomich, biochemistry & molecular biophysics, has been licensed by Phoreus Biotechnology. Tomich’s Branched Amphiphilic Peptide Capsules are a nano-material designed to deliver biomolecules that can improve vaccines and cancer therapies, among other uses. read more

 

 

Stefan Bossmann

 

Stefan Bossmann, chemistry, was named a 2108 Kansan You Should Know. read more

 

 

 

 

Dr. Brad Behnke

 

Brad Behnke, kinesiology, was awarded the College of Human Ecology’s Faculty Research Excellence Award, in recognition of his superior accomplishment in research. read more

 

 

Dr. Punit Prakash

Punit Prakash, electrical & computer engineering, received the Paul L. Spainhour Professorship in Electrical Engineering.

He is currently principal investigator for a five-year study that is expected to lead to a bronchoscopic microwave ablation system for treating lung tumors. The project is funded by a more than $1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute. read more

 

Dr. Sunghun Park

Sunghun Park, horticulture & natural resources, will serve as co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation-supported study to improve plant tissue culture methods for genome engineering. The $2.4 million grant is to improve understanding of the genetic basis underlying the ability of plant tissues to regenerate into whole plants, a process critical for plant genome engineering. Read more

 

 

Spring Awards and Student Recognition Banquet

Thanks to our generous supporters, we invested $125,017 in K-State cancer research and education last semester! We awarded faculty $50,000 for innovative research projects, $19,000 for laboratory equipment, and $2,665 for travel to collaborate or receive training. We awarded graduate students and post-docs $6,250 for travel and $47,102 in summer stipends. The awardees are listed on our Faculty and Student Awardee webpages. Funds were also set aside for a new Center of Excellence in cancer research.

Jazmine Snow receives Regier AwardWe honored undergraduate student cancer researchers at our Cancer Research Awards Banquet April 13. Recognized along with the students were their faculty mentors and families, and the donors who made the awards possible. Photos are available in an album on Facebook.

 

 

Cancer Journal Club

Cancer Journal ClubThe Cancer Journal Club is a forum for K-State students, faculty and friends interested in hot topics in cancer biology. Undergraduate students are especially encouraged to participate. For each meeting, a professor or graduate student involved in cancer research chooses a high-impact research article in the field of cancer biology for all club members to read, and then leads discussion about it at the meeting. Undergraduate students can elect to present papers to improve their oral presentation skills.

The club generally meets every other week. For more information, contact Dr. Katsura Asano at kasano@ksu.edu.

Fun, easy ways to support K-State cancer research

21st Annual Rob Regier Memorial Golf Tournament

Regier FamilyFri., Oct. 12, 2018
Shotgun Start 1 p.m.
Colbert Hills Golf Course
Manhattan, Kansas
Registration Form/Brochure

This tournament is dedicated in loving memory of Les Regier, who passed away from cancer Feb. 10, 2018.

This annual golf tournament honors Rob Regier, a 1988 K-State pre-dentistry alum who died of cancer in 1992, when he was just 26 years old. Hosted by Rob’s family, this 4-person scramble at Colbert Hills, offers prizes and a steak dinner. It was started in 1998 by some of Rob’s Sig Ep fraternity brothers in Kansas City. Rob’s parents Les and Sandy continued it with help from Rob’s twin brother Randy and Randy’s wife Juli.

Sadly, Les passed away February 10, 2018, after a long battle with melanoma. The 2018 tournament is dedicated in loving memory of him. Non-golfers are welcome to the banquet to join in celebrating Les’s life.

We appreciate all the work the Regiers do, and thank them and the participants and sponsors for their generosity and commitment to K-State cancer research.



Dillons Community Rewards now supports K-State cancer research

Spend just a few minutes to register on the Dillons Community Rewards page, and Dillons will donate to us a portion of the amount you spend every time you shop there!

Dillons Community Rewards Program flier

Pink Power Luncheon to feature KU Medical Center breast oncologist Anne O’Dea October 23

Pink Power Luncheon logoThe annual  Pink Power Luncheon for breast cancer awareness, which we co-host with Komen Kansas, offers a free lunch, guest presentations, and information about breast health, healthcare resources and cancer risk reduction, as well as a souvenir item and door prizes.

Dr. Anne O'DeaThe 9th Annual Pink Power Luncheon will be Oct. 23, 2018. Our guest speaker will be breast medical oncologist Anne O’Dea, MD, assistant professor and medical director for breast cancer survivorship at University of Kansas Medical Center.

The event is free to attend, but space is limited and reservations are required. Reserve your spot by contacting Marcia Locke at marcia@ksu.edu or 785-532-6705.

Recent fundraisers

Walk Kansas 5K for the Fight

Walk Kansas 5K for the Fight 2018 participantsThe 3rd annual Walk Kansas 5K for the Fight on May 5, 2018, raised $2,550 for K-State cancer research!

That would not have been possible without K-State Research & Extension/Walk Kansas, Cancer Center of Kansas, many volunteers and the participants! We also thank Sunny 102.5 FM for their major support, as well as the K-State Marching Band, HyVee, Blue Diamond Almonds, Kansas Wheat and Pat Melgares of Manhattan Cross Country Club and LetsGoRun.com.

Results and photos are available on our Walk Kansas 5K for the Fight webpage.

 

American Legion Auxiliary Dinner Theater

Performers at American Legion's mystery dinner theaterThe Auxiliary of Pearce-Keller Post No. 17 The American Legion, in Manhattan, raised $3,870 by hosting a dinner theater February 9! The On the Edge Players presented “Trouble at the Tropicabana,” an audience-participation murder mystery-comedy featuring the characters Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel.

We’re so grateful for the American Legion and their Auxiliary’s decades of support!