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Johnson Cancer Research Center Newsletter

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

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Faculty
Dr. Brad BehnkeBehnke named associate dean for research and graduate studies for College of Health and Human Sciences

Brad Behnke, kinesiology, has been named associate dean for research and graduate studies for the College of Health and Human Sciences. Behnke studies cardiovascular function as it relates to aging, muscle disuse and cancer, and works to improve clinical treatments like radiation or chemotherapy.  read more

 

Dr. Ho Leung Ng

Ng publishes paper in chemical biology journal

Ho Leung Ng, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, published a paper in the journal, RSC Chemical Biology. His team has identified new inhibitors of the breast cancer drug target, aromatase. These inhibitors may be potential leads for future breast cancer drugs. read publication

 

 

Students
Photo of Anil PantDoctoral candidate in biology receives Sarachek Fellowship

Anil Pant, doctoral candidate in biology working with Dr. Zhilong Yang, has been selected for the Alvin & RosaLee Sarachek Predoctoral Honors Fellowship in Molecular Biology. Pant studies the metabolism of vaccinia virus, which is used as an agent for developing vaccines and cancer therapies. read more

 

Stephen HammondDoctoral student in kinesiology receives statewide recognition

Stephen Hammond is among three K-State graduate students who received statewide recognition for their Kansas-related research at the 18th Capitol Graduate Research Summit, held virtually Feb. 18-25. Hammond works with JCRC member Dr. Carl Ade studying adverse cardiovascular responses to the chemotherapy drug 5-Fluorouracil, which is used to treat cancers that are common in Kansas. read more

 

Carmen Del Real
Graduating senior recognized with Dean of Student Life Award

Carmen Del Real, senior in biology and Spanish and former Cancer Research Awardee in Dr. Jocelyn McDonald‘s lab, is among 12 Dean of Student Life Outstanding Graduating Senior Awardees being honored for making significant contributions to student life during their time at K-State. read more

 

 

Megan Campbell receives award from Bill Muir

Megan Campbell, senior in microbiology and 2019-2020 Cancer Research Awardee in Dr. Lorena Passarelli‘s lab, was selected for the Michael E. Brown Alpha Tau Omega Mortar Board Leadership Scholarship recognizing great leadership and contribution to student life at K-State! read more

 

 

 

Graphic for Undergrad Research Showcase 2021

 

Many Cancer Research Awardees will present at the Undergraduate Research Showcase April 20-22!

The event website goes live April 20.

 

 

Alumni
Promo image for Dr. Jamie Ball's presentation for K-State Distinguished Young Alumni SeriesFormer Cancer Research Awardee delivers inspirational presentation

Jamie Ball, MD, ’10, was recently honored by the K-State Alumni Association as a Distinguished Young Alum. On Feb. 23, she gave an inspirational keynote presentation as part of that series. Dr. Ball shared her personal journey of becoming a pediatrician through extreme challenges as well as her appreciation for K-State’s role in her achievement. Watch the full presentation at https://loom.ly/5TuWFtg.

 

Former Cancer Research Awardees and their faculty mentors publish paper in cancer journal

Haley Smalley, Fernando Nieto, Jazmin ZeledonFormer Cancer Research Awardees Haley Smalley, Fernando Nieto and Jazmin Zeledon were co-authors, with their faculty mentors Drs. Sherry Fleming and John Tomich, on a published paper. The paper, titled “Beta2 glycoprotein I-derived therapeutic peptides induce sFlt-1 secretion to reduce melanoma vascularity and growth,” was published in the journal, Cancer Letters. The team demonstrated that peptides derived from a normal protein in the blood regulate the growth of blood vessels, which are required by tumors to thrive. This suggests therapeutic potential of the novel peptides to slow tumor growth. view publication

 

JCRC Awards $138,439 to faculty and students this spring

Thanks to our supporters, we were able to invest $138,439 in K-State cancer research and education this spring! We awarded $95,439 in Graduate Student Cancer Research Awards to support summertime work, and $43,000 in Innovative Research Awards to faculty. Linders Family Cancer Research Expansion Awards, for faculty to expand the cancer focus of their research, are still pending. Awardees are listed on our Faculty and Student Awardee pages.

VIRTUAL CEREMONY TO HONOR STUDENT AWARD RECIPIENTS AND DONORS APRIL 23

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Screenshot of Zoom meeting with student awardees
2020-2021 Undergraduate Cancer Research Awardees at virtual Cancer Research Orientation in November

Cancer Research Award recipients will be honored at a virtual ceremony Fri., April 23. Student awardees, faculty mentors, donors and other guests will gather on Zoom for a presentation recognizing the award recipients and benefactors. Awardee Hawa Dembele will be our guest speaker.

Undergraduate awards promote student participation in research and encourage students to consider research as a possible career. Awardees receive research training and $1,500 awards. Last fall, 22 students were selected. Graduate awards provide summertime support of advanced research that contributes to the laboratory’s success.

Video of the recognition will be shared on our 2021 CRA Recognition page.

UPCOMING EVENTS INCLUDE 5Ks IN APRIL AND JULY

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Pink Up the Pace 5K & Honor Walk April 24

Grab a pink tutu, tube socks or whatever you like and join the fun at the 4th annual Pink Up the Pace 5K & Honor Walk in Downtown Manhattan April 24! Celebrate afterward with pizza on AJ’s patio!

 

2021 You'll Never Run Alone logo

You’ll Never Run Alone 5K & Fun Walk July 24

Honor pancreatic cancer fighters and Manhattan’s beloved youth soccer coach, the late Frank Alonso, at the 3rd annual You’ll Never Run Alone 5K & Fun Walk July 24. Help turn Anneberg Park purple!

 

 

Mark your calendars for these fall events!

Rob Regier Memorial Golf Tournament – Fri., Sept. 17

Brad Heyka Memorial Golf Tournament – Fri., Oct. 15

K-State Fighting for a Cure Day – Sat., Oct. 16

 

K-State Open House went virtual April 8-10!

For K-State’s annual Open House, April 8-10, the Johnson Cancer Research Center offered a virtual laboratory visit with student researchers. John, Davante and Molly did a great job helping us show how K-State is fighting cancer and training future scientists. Video is on our Open House page.

John Tumberger

 

John Tumberger, junior in biology, pre-medicine & leadership studies, talks about his work in Dr. Brad Olson‘s lab, currently focused on cell-cell adhesion and how things stick together.

student researcher at hood

 

Davante Hammer, senior in microbiology & pre-medicine, talks about working in Dr. Sherry Fleming‘s lab, which includes splitting cells in the tissue culture hood.

 

 

 

Molly Leyda, senior in biology, pre-medicine & anthropology, talks about working in Dr. Sherry Fleming‘s lab, which includes setting up tumor protein assays at the bench.

GREETINGS FROM THE DIRECTOR

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Dr. Sherry Fleming headshotDear Friends,

With the arrival of 2021 and more vaccine availability, everyone is dreaming of the return of “normal.” Students have returned for spring semester and most of our cancer research laboratories are open, albeit with reduced staffing to meet social distancing regulations. Even in the midst of this pandemic, our outstanding researchers continued to work and be recognized. The Johnson Cancer Research Center also hosted a couple of events last fall, and we hope to have more this spring. The pandemic cannot stop our fight to cure cancer!

Take care and stay safe!

Sherry

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

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Faculty

Dr. Jocelyn McDonald, biology, received a $938,885 National Science Foundation award to support her study, “Coordination of collective cell migration in complex tissues.” Dr. Brad Olson, biology, is co-principal investigator. The award will also support workshops for secondary school girls and K-State engineering students.  read more

 

 

Dr. Raelene Wouda holding cat

Oncology professor elected to national role

Dr. Raelene Wouda, clinical sciences, is appointed Certification Liaison for the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.  read more

 

 

 

Dr. Mary Lynn Higginbotham with dogVeterinary oncologists share pet cancer information

In recognition of Pet Cancer Awareness Month in November, K-State veterinary oncologists, including Dr. Mary Lynn Higginbotham, pictured here, shared information on cancer in pets. The story discussed common types and signs of cancer.  read more

 

 

 

Bruce SneadRadon expert honored with lifetime achievement award

Bruce Snead, director of Engineering Extension and National Radon Program Services, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Mentorship from the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists.  read more

 

Dr. Amir BahadoriEngineering professor serves on radiation risk panel

Dr. Amir Bahadori, mechanical & nuclear engineering, was selected to serve on a radiation risk expert panel at the 2020 American Nuclear Society (ANS) winter meeting. read more

Following that, he was an invited panelist for the ANS nationally-broadcasted program, “Talking about Low-Dose Radiation,” which addressed how to best communicate risks and benefits of radiation.  read more

Biochemist selected as 2020 AAAS fellow

Dr. Phillip Klebba, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, was selected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest scientific society.  read more

 

 

 

Alumni

Jamie Ball, MD

Former cancer research student named Distinguished Young Alumna

Former undergraduate Cancer Research Awardee Jamie Ball ’10, MD, was selected to receive a K-State Alumni Association Distinguished Young Alumni Award. Dr. Ball participated in our CRA program as a freshman under the mentorship of Dr. Laura Armbrust, clinical sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine.  read more

 

Image for Good For K-State Magazine that includes photo of Elshaddai Abamegal and text that says The Next Problem Solver

Former cancer research student featured in Good For K-State magazine

Elshaddai Abamegal, a 2016-2017 Cancer Research Awardee in mechanical & nuclear engineering, was featured in Good For K-State magazine. Abamegal had several undergraduate research experiences that helped her find her niche in the world. The cancer research she did with Dr. Amir Bahadori involved estimating secondary cancer risk to patients treated with radiation.  read story

 

$207,500 awarded to faculty and students in Fall 2020

Last fall, the Johnson Cancer Research Center awarded $52,500 in Innovative Research Awards to Drs. Zhilong Yang, biology, Scott Fan, mechanical & nuclear engineering, and Mark Weiss, anatomy & physiology.

We also facilitated a direct gift of $100,000 from the Flossie West Trust to support the breast cancer research of Dr. Anna Zolkiewska, biochemistry & molecular biophysics.

Learn more on our Faculty Awardees page.

Twenty-two undergraduate students were selected to participate in our Cancer Research Award program, which offers faculty-mentored research experiences during spring semester. The students get $1,500 awards and their faculty mentors get $1,000 per student to cover research expenses. Read the news release to see a list of the awardees and their mentors and hometowns.

Learn more on our Student Awardees page, which shows project titles.

Screenshot of Zoom meeting with student awardees
2020 Virtual Undergraduate Cancer Research Award Orientation
Spring award applications now open

The Johnson Cancer Research Center offers competitive funding to its faculty members and their students every semester. This semester, we’ll offer faculty Innovative Research Awards, Travel Fellowships, Cancer Research Collaboration of Excellence Awards, and the new Cancer Research Expansion Awards for associate members. For students, we’ll offer Graduate Cancer Research Awards and Travel Awards. Applications are due March 1.

Learn more on our Award Programs page.

A LOOK BACK AT FALL 2020

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Pink Power Luncheon goes virtual!

More than 80 people attended our virtual 11th Annual Pink Power Luncheon Oct. 23. Keynote speaker Liz Benditt, a four-time cancer survivor and the president of Balm Box, gave the presentation, “The Finish Line is the Starting Line.” She shared her inspirational story of going from cancer patient to “cancer-preneur” and demonstrated that the finish line does not have to be the end of the journey; it can represent a new beginning.

This free event, co-sponsored by Susan G. Komen Kansas & Western Missouri, usually offers lunch. We couldn’t do that this time, but we did still distribute health information and door prizes.

An event highlight video is available on the Pink Power Luncheon page.

 

7th Annual Fighting for a Cure campaign raises funds and awareness
two supporters wearing the Fighting for a Cure shirt
Lisa and Terrah, breast cancer survivors and best friends from Junction City, Kan., show their support of K-State’s fight against cancer.

Our thanks to everyone who bought Fighting for a Cure shirts and united in wearing them Oct. 24 to raise awareness and funds for K-State cancer research! More than $9,000 was raised, despite the challenges of the pandemic! Thanks also to our retail partner 1419 Mercantile, in Manhattan, and to the K-State Cancer Fighters for helping sell events.

See photos of shirt campaign supporters, including Coach Bill & Sharon Snyder, Voice of the Wildcats Wyatt & Karen Thompson, K-State Band Director Dr. Frank Tracz, several radio personalities and business owners, and more on our Facebook.

Watch for a new shirt design this year!

JEAN BRIDGES RETIRES AFTER 21 YEARS

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Jean BridgesAfter 21 years of service at K-State, Jean Bridges has retired as an office specialist at the Johnson Cancer Research Center.

Bridges joined the center in 2002 after two years at the Eisenhower Hall Copy Center. Her last day on campus was Dec. 23.

Bridges showed great dedication to the Johnson Cancer Research Center, eagerly helping however needed while also carrying out her main duties of managing its internal database, processing thank-you letters, answering the phone, and assisting with event coordination and maintenance of the facility, supplies and materials. She is talented in hospitality and took good care of many center guests and supporters. She is known to many as friendly, jovial and full of jokes.

The center would like to recognize Bridges’ 21 years of service to K-State and her commitment to the cancer research center. Colleagues and friends are invited to send farewell cards to the Johnson Cancer Research Center, 1 Chalmers Hall, 1711 Claflin Road, Manhattan, KS, 66506-3901.

GREETINGS FROM THE DIRECTOR

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Dr. Sherry Fleming headshotDear Friends,

These are unprecedented times. Many of our laboratories were shuttered, but they are gradually re-opening with the return of students. Experienced students are continuing their lab work with proper precautions. Importantly, we continue to fight cancer by funding student and faculty research awards, thanks to our supporters.

With football in the near future, we are looking forward to the 7th annual K-State Fighting for a Cure Day Oct. 24. Please get your shirt—sweatshirts are a new option this year! Then, unite in wearing it that day in honor of the K-State family’s cancer survivors and researchers!

Dr. Sherry D. Fleming
Director, Johnson Cancer Research Center

UPCOMING EVENTS: FIGHTING FOR A CURE DAY AND PINK UP THE PACE 5K

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7th Annual Fighting for a Cure Day Oct. 24

Coach Bill Snyder holding 2019 Fighting for a Cure shirtThe K-State Family is fighting, ever fighting, for a cure! Get your shirt and wear it to the football game or anywhere Sat., Oct. 24, for K-State’s 7th Annual Fighting for a Cure Day, in honor of the K-State Family’s cancer survivors and researchers! This fall, in addition to short- and long-sleeve t-shirts, we’ve added sweatshirts! All proceeds support K-State cancer research and education.

Join K-State’s former Head Football Coach and his wife Bill & Sharon Snyder, current Head Football Coach Chris Klieman, actor and alum Eric Stonestreet, former Wildcat and Chiefs football player Kevin Lockett, K-

Fighting for a Cure sweatshirt
New in 2020—sweatshirts!

State President and First Lady Richard & Mary Jo Myers, Band Director Frank Tracz and many others in celebrating K-State’s fight against cancer.

Spread the word! Post photos on social media of yourself and friends wearing the shirt, and use the hashtag #HelpKStateFightCancer! (View 2019 photos.)

Learn more about the shirts on our Fighting for a Cure webpage. Or go straight to our webstore.

 

4th Annual Pink Up the Pace 5K and Honor Walk Oct. 17

Downtown Manhattan will host the 4th annual Pink Up the Pace 5K and Honor Walk Oct. 17. Kick off the race between 3rd and 4th Streets on Poyntz Ave., and celebrate afterward with pizza on AJ’s patio.

Learn more