Newly awarded grants are advancing research efforts at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.

Three Seeds of Science small grant awards of $50,000 each were presented March 5 to UAMS cancer researchers at “The Doctor is in” event hosted by the Envoys volunteer advocacy group. The event included a research poster showcase highlighting ongoing cancer-related projects.

Funding for one of the awards was made possible by proceeds from the 18^th annual Village Walk for Cancer Research, held Sept. 28, 2019 in Hot Springs Village. Organized by volunteers, the walk unites the community located one hour southwest of Little Rock, in support of cancer research.

The 2020 walk is scheduled for Sept. 26 at Balboa Pavilion in Hot Springs Village and will include the option to kayak in Lake Balboa.

“We’re a grassroots group that is really passionate about finding a cure for cancer. Over the last 19 years, we’ve raised about $500,000 for research programs at the UAMS Cancer Institute. Knowing the money we raise is used to advance cancer research right here in Arkansas is very satisfying for those of us who organize the walk and participate in it,” said Melanie Pederson, chairman of the walk.

The other two awards were provided by the Envoys, an advocacy group of the UAMS Cancer Institute.

“These grants are extremely important as they support pilot cancer research projects and young investigators as they pursue new ideas,” said Jenny Long, president of the Envoys.

Award recipients were:

• Carolina Schinke, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, and Michael Bauer, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, both in the UAMS College of Medicine

Schinke and Bauer are working to understand the importance of myeloma’s surrounding bone marrow microenvironment in the development of the disease and its role in progression and relapse. They hope the results of their study will lead to new treatments aimed at modifying changes in that microenvironment that contribute to the development of myeloma and its resistance to treatment. This project was supported by a grant from the Envoys.

• Kimberly E. Stephens, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., assistant professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics with a secondary appointment in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Stephens hopes to identify the genomic regions associated with the initiation and progression of chemotherapy-induced nerve damage, which is often resistant to existing treatments and associated with adverse health outcomes in cancer survivors. While substantial advances have been made, current understanding does not explain what causes the development of nerve damage during chemotherapy.  This grant was provided by the Village Walk for Cancer Research.

• Analiz Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Neurosurgery

The aggressive brain tumor glioblastoma has a grim prognosis with a median survival of 15 months and limited treatment options. In her study, Rodriguez hopes to establish a new way to examine molecular characteristics of clinical specimens and rapidly screen different treatment regimens, which could one day help guide clinical management of these deadly tumors. Rodriguez’s grant was supported by the Envoys.

The Seeds of Science program has provided funds to jumpstart small cancer research projects at the Cancer Institute since 2009. The goal of the program is to provide “seed” funding that will allow researchers to make discoveries that can be used to apply for larger federal grant awards.

Congratulations to all of the winners of Student Research Day Competitions!

 

Megan Reed is a 5th year graduate student in the lab of Dr. Robert Eoff. She won first place in the graduate student division as well as second place for the Bhuvan Award for Excellence in Biochemistry Research for her poster entitled “hpol k is essential for maintaining genomic stability in glioblastomas”.

 

 

 

 

Dustyn Barnette is a 5th year graduate student in the lab of Dr. Grover Paul Miller. He won first place for the Bhuvan Award for Excellence in Biochemistry Research for his poster entitled “Dual mechanisms suppress meloxicam bioactivation relative to sudoxicam”

 

 

 

 

Allie Schleiff is a 3rd year graduate student in the lab of Dr. Grover Paul Miller. She won third place for the Bhuvan Award for Excellence in Biochemistry Research for her poster entitled “Bioinformatic, Computational, and Experimental Assessment of the Bioactivation of Structurally Similar Haloaromatic NSAIDs into Reactive Quinones”

 

 

 

Kirk West, Ph.D., an alum of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Justin Wai Chung Leung. He won first place in the postdoctoral division.

Channel 7 News featured UAMS yesterday in their College Week segment.  Duah Alkam, a Ph.D. student in the biochemistry track doing her research in the labs or Mark Smeltzer and David Ussery, participated with the dean of the graduate school, Dr. McGehee. Duah’s project involves DNA sequencing to track outbreaks such as the 2016 mumps outbreak and to find vulnerabilities in infectious agents such as Staphylococcus aureus (staph).

Dr. Grover Paul Miller and Allie Schleiff, a graduate student in Dr. Miller’s lab were separately selected as finalists for the Sternfels Prize for Drug Safety Discoveries.  Congratulations to both!

The Sternfels Prize in Drug Safety Discoveries is an annual award created to foster the reduction of risks associated with the real-world use of pharmaceuticals through recognition of the most novel, clinically relevant and testable idea.

Dr. Miller’s group develops and applies new and powerful strategies to better assess drug liabilities causing significant Adverse Drug Events including cardio- and hepato-toxicity. Insights gained from these studies will generate a strong basis for more informed decision-making in drug development, management and regulation toward safer therapeutic interventions.

Dr. Miller and Allie Schleiff submitted individual proposals on possible projects for the Sternfels Prize.

Dr. Miller proposed determining the mechanistic role of pexidartinib bioactivation in drug-induced liver injury. The adverse outcome is significant enough for black box labeling; however, the FDA still approved the drug last year due to its high efficacy in treating tenosynovial giant cell tumors. The proposed studies would identify the source of that risk for facilitating pharmacovigilance efforts relevant to current clinical use and in the long term, potential insights on ways to engineer out drug liabilities.

Allie Schleiff developed her own proposal from a more generalized perspective reflecting her dissertation research. She integrated bioinformatic, computational, and experimental approaches for rapidly assessing which substituents on a drug scaffold may lead to drug-induced liver injury during metabolism. As a practical test case, she chose to focus on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are both highly prescribed and frequently hepatotoxic, according to the FDA.

 

Alicja Urbaniak has been selected to present in the “Guppy Tank” Translational Science Pitch Showcase at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) meeting.  Alicja is a postdoctoral fellow in Timothy Chamber‘s lab. Congratulations Alicja!

To conduct biomedical research, scientists must be able to identify, analyze and compare proteins in biological samples. This complex process requires facilities – known as proteomics cores – that house the specialized equipment and highly trained staff required for such a task.

The fourth annual Proteomics Facility Staff Symposium on Jan. 29-30 at UAMS brought together 30 proteomics core directors and staff members to learn how best to operate and maintain these facilities at their institutions.

All of the participants came from IDeA (Institutional Development Award) states and Puerto Rico, all of which have been identified by the National Institutes of Health as historically receiving less grant funding for biomedical research than other states.

“The first symposium was in 2017, and it has grown each year since. By getting together on a regular basis, we can learn from each other, share our successes and ensure we all have the support and knowledge to meet the needs of our researchers,” said Alan Tackett, Ph.D., associate director for basic science in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.

Tackett also serves as co-director of the IDeA National Resource for Quantitative Proteomics, a partnership between the Arkansas INBRE (IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence) and Oklahoma INBRE.

The national resource combines the strengths of the two INBREs to guide and assist other IDeA states where core facilities may be underfunded or lack resources.

“At UAMS, our discovery phase proteomic capabilities are very strong, while Oklahoma has a state-of-the-art, targeted validation proteomics program. Together we offer expertise and access to equipment that facilities in other IDeA states may lack,” Tackett said.

Mike Kinter, Ph.D., of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, serves as co-director of the national resource with Tackett.

The INBRE program supports research in public and private four-year colleges by building research capacity and raising awareness about career opportunities in biomedical research. It is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutional Development Award (IDeA), which was established to broaden the geographic distribution of NIH funding for biomedical and behavioral research.

Lawrence Cornett, Ph.D., professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Physiology and Biophysics, serves as principal investigator and director of Arkansas INBRE.

Symposium participants took part in breakout sessions and heard speakers on administrative topics related to operating a proteomics core and establishing a rate structure, as well as information on topics such as sample preparation and data collection. Sessions were led by UAMS faculty Sam Mackintosh, Ph.D.; Rick Edmondson, Ph.D.; and Stephanie Byrum, Ph.D.

“We covered a wide range of topics to help core directors and staff develop and maintain programs that will succeed at their universities,” said Tackett, who also serves as a professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The Proteomics Core at UAMS is one of several core facilities where technology, tools and collaborative services are pooled together and made available on a pay-per-use basis to investigators both within and outside of UAMS who may not otherwise have access to them in their individual labs.

In the Proteomics Core, staff use a process known as mass spectrometry to help researchers identify proteins. The core is a one-stop-shop, where staff not only process the samples but can help researchers design experiments and analyze results.

A Discovery-Phase Proteomics Faculty and Student Workshop is scheduled for Feb. 27-28 at UAMS and will emphasize new approaches that researchers can implement in their own laboratories and how to best use the resulting data to be more competitive for extramural funding.

The American Society for Microbioogy journal mSphere recently launched a new series of commentaries called “mSphere of Influence.” Young scientists were invited to write about how one or more important papers made a substantial impact on their own work and thinking. The paper “A CRISPR-based approach for proteomic analysis of a single genomic locus​” which was a collaborative effort between the labs of Kevin Raney and Alan Tackett was recognized by Lucy Glover in her commentary.

Brian Koss, a graduate student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology track, and Bobby McGehee, Dean of the Graduate School, were interviewed on KARK about graduate school at UAMS. Brian is a student in the lab of Alan Tackett.

Congratulations to Eugene Nyamugenda, who successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Effect of high-fat diet on the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalmus”. Eugene is a student in Giulia Baldini’s laboratory.