Annual Report 2007 3-24-08.pdf - Moffitt Cancer Center

facilities. Researchers will work to
develop drugs that will help break
down the hallmarks of cancer that
include: uncontrolled cell division,
resistance to tumor apoptosis, invasion
and metastasis, as well as angiogenesis,
the formation of new blood
vessels, especially those that supply
oxygen and nutrients to cancerous
tissue. Each of the five projects is led
by two researchers: a biologist and
a chemist, including Jiandong Chen,
Ph.D., Mark McLaughlin, Ph.D.,
Srikumar Chellappan, Ph.D., Nicholas
Lawrence, Ph.D., Dr. Sebti, Hong-Gang
Wang, Ph.D., and Jerry Wu, Ph.D.
• Moffitt researchers led by Moffitt
Research Institute Director Thomas
Sellers, Ph.D., received a $7.3 million
NCI grant to study ovarian cancer
genes. The goal of the five-year grant
is to examine DNA and risk factor
data and identify women who are
at risk for ovarian cancer based on
their genetic makeup. The result may
reveal novel targets for prevention
and treatment. Dr. Sellers says the
novel approach overcomes the limitation
of previous strategies and may
reveal targets never before imagined
to be important.
• A research team led by Dmitry
Gabrilovich, M.D., Ph.D., reported a
discovery that helps explain why
experimental anticancer vaccines are
not as effective as they need to be.
The researchers demonstrated how a
tumor can block the immune response
against itself, and their findings were
reported in the July 2007 issue of
the scientific journal Nature Medicine.
The Jan. 11, 2008, issue of Science
highlighted Dr. Gabrilovich’s contribution
to the field.
• A team of physicians and scientists
led by Nagi Kumar, Ph.D., R.D., F.A.D.A.,
received a $3.6 million grant over five
years from the NCI to study the effect
of Polyphenon E, which is developed
from green tea, in preventing progression
of early stages of prostate cancer.
Their long-term goal is to develop
safe, nontoxic nutrients that can be
consumed safely over long periods
that will prevent progression of prostate
cancer in men at high risk or with earlystage
disease, according to Dr. Kumar.
The Moffitt team includes Drs. Julio
Pow-Sang, Wade Sexton, Loveleen
Kang, Saïd Sebti, Aslamuzzaman
Kazi, Kathleen Egan, Michael Schell,
Gwendolyn Quinn and Karen
Besterman-Dahan, M.A., R.D. Other
participating institutions include the
University of Chicago, Jefferson Medical
Center in Philadelphia and the James
A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa.
• A team of Moffitt physicians played
a key role in the recently published
American College of Chest Physicians
“Evidence-based Guidelines on the
Diagnosis and Management of Lung
Cancer.” Moffitt’s Chief Medical Officer
W. Michael Alberts, M.D., M.B.A.,
chaired the effort and authored the
Introduction and the Executive
Summary. Other Moffitt physicians
who authored sections or served as
chapter editors are Gerold Bepler,
M.D., Ph.D., Jhanelle Gray, M.D., Lary
Robinson, M.D., George Simon, M.D.,
and Craig Stevens, M.D., Ph.D.
• The geographic proximity and large
Hispanic populations in Florida and
Puerto Rico have driven the formation
of an academic partnership between
the Ponce School of Medicine and
Moffitt Cancer Center. The partnership
is funded by NCI through its Minority
Institution/Cancer Center Partnership
program and is led by Moffitt’s W. Jack
Pledger, Ph.D., and Ponce’s José A.
Torres Ruiz, Ph.D. Projects underway
include basic science research studies,
a cancer training and education program,
community outreach programs
From left, M2Gen President and
Chief Scientific Officer Timothy
Yeatman, M.D., Moffitt President/CEO
and Center Director William Dalton,
Ph.D., M.D., Hillsborough County
Administrator Pat Bean, Hillsborough
Board of County Commissioners
Chairman Ken Hagan, Moffitt board
member Stephen Meyers, Moffitt
patient Ron Giovannelli, M2Gen COO
Rick Garrison, and Hillsborough
County Commissioners Rose Ferlita
and Jim Norman broke ground on
the M2Gen site.
4 MOFFITT CANCER CENTER