The University of Toledo Cancer Research Symposium

Symposium Schedule

Friday, Dec. 7, 2018

Mahogany Ballroom at the Radisson Hotel
University of Toledo Health Science Campus
Beginning at 7:30 a.m. 

PLENARY SPEAKER

Jian-Ting Zhang, Ph.D.

Jian-Ting Zhang, Ph.D.

Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology
Indiana University, School of Medicine
Indianapolis, IN

Dr. Jian-Ting Zhang was instrumental in starting a drug discovery program at Indiana University School of Medicine.  He will reflect on the process and different cycles of fund raising to support the program and then elaborate on the successful project on targeting surviving, which is a member of the Inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) gene family, existing as a homodimer.

The presentation will include perspectives for possibly establishing such a program at UT/ProMedica.

 


Program Objectives: 

To promote the growth of translational cancer research and collaborations by

  1. Providing overviews of the individual research programs of scientists based in multiple colleges at UT
  2. Describing general plans for future cancer initiatives
  3. Increasing awareness of resources available to support cancer research at UToledo and ProMedica

2018 Agenda

Learn more about the schedule for the symposium. *Schedule subject to change.

7:30-8:00 a.m.

***CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST ***

WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS

8:00 a.m.

Welcome
Christopher Cooper, M.D.,Dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences and Executive Vice President for Clinical Affairs

8:15 a.m.

Opening Remarks (Overview of the Cancer Research Program)
Francis Charles Brunicardi, M.D., John Howard Endowed Professor and Chair,
Department of Surgery, Interim Chair, Department of Cancer Biology and Cancer Program Director
Academic Chief of Surgery for the ProMedica Health System

8:30 a.m.

“Unveiling a New Collaborative Precision Cancer Clinical Trials Program,
Born of the Academic Affiliation between the University of Toledo,
College of Medicine and Life Sciences and ProMedica Health System: Overall Vision and Initial Steps”

  • John Nemunaitis, M.D., Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical Director of the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center and Director of Clinical and Translational Cancer Research for ProMedica and
  • Adam Walters, M.D., M.S., Gynecologic Oncology, ProMedica Physicians

SESSION I: CANCER GENETICS AND BIOMARKER DISCOVERY

Moderator:  Cynthia Smas, D.Sc.

9:00 a.m.

Addressing the Proteogenomic Platform in Precision Therapeutics”
Alexzander Asea, Ph.D., Department of Medicine

9:15 a.m.

Genomic sequencing platform using Foundation 1
Tom Blomquist, Ph.D., Dept. of Pathology

 

SESSION II: CANCER THERAPEUTICS I
DISCOVERY OF NOVEL THERAPEUTIC TARGETS

Moderator:   Mahasin Osman, Ph.D.

9:30 a.m.

“Inhibiting Bromodomain Protein 9 (BRD9) in melanoma”
Ivana de la Serna, Ph.D., Dept. of Cancer Biology

9:45 a.m. 

“Targeting NAD and NADP-dependent call signaling for new anti-cancer therapy” 
James Slama, Ph.D., Department of Medicinal Chemistry

10:00 a.m.   

“Novel technologies to overcome drug resistance in cancer”
Amit Tiwari, Ph.D., Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences

10:15–10:30 a.m. BREAK

SESSION III: STUDENT QUICK SHOT PRESENTATATIONS

Moderator:  Kandace Williams, Ph.D.

10:30 a.m.

“SGEF forms a tenary complex with Scribble polarity complex members and regulates E-cadherin based epithelial junction architecture and polarity” 
Sahezeel Awadia, Pre-doctoral Student, Dept. of Biological Sciences

10:35 a.m.

“RKIP-RhoA axis inhibits breast cancer invasion and metastasis by promoting adherens junctions”
Gardiyawasam Kalpana, Pre-doctoral Student, Dept. of Cancer Biology

10:40 a.m.

"Surgical Tumor Samples to Patient Derived Cell Lines: Processing and Culture Techniques" 
Kathryn Becker, MD/PhD Student, Dept. of Cancer Biology

 
10:45 a.m.  “Fine-Tuning Precision Diagnostics for Identification of Clinically Actionable Mutations”
Daniel Craig, Pre-doctoral Student, Dept. of Medicine
 
10:50 a.m.  “The role of Rho GTPase-activating protein ARHGAP17 in invadopodia dynamics”
Gabriel Kreider-Letterman, Pre-doctoral Student, Dept. of Biological Sciences
10:55 a.m.  

“The CXCR4-LASP1 axis in tumor progression and metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer cells” 
Cory Howard, Pre-doctoral Student, Dept. of Cancer Biology

SESSION IV: MECHANISMS OF INVASION & METASTASIS

Moderator: Deborah Vestal, Ph.D.

11:00 a.m.  “Mitochondrial fission regulator 2 (MTFR2) contributes to faithful chromosome segregation”
Yibo Luo, Ph.D., Dept. of Biological Sciences
11:15 a.m.  “Identification of novel regulators of invadopodia formation”
Rafael Garcia Matta, Ph.D., Dept. of Biological Sciences
11:30 a.m. “Targeting the expression of tumor suppressor gene RKIP for cancer therapy” 

Kam Yeung, Ph.D., Dept. of Cancer Biology

11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m. LUNCH

PLENARY LECTURER

12:45 p.m.

Introduction
Lance Dworkin, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Medicine

12:55-1:30 p.m.

Jian-Ting Zhang, Ph.D.
Jian-Ting Zhang, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Andrew and Peggy Thomson Chair in Hematology/Oncology,
Director of Graduate Studies in Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN

“Targeted Drug Discovery Program,
a small business start-up model and perspectives at UT”

SESSION V: CANCER THERAPEUTICS II
SMALL MOLECULE THERAPEUTICS TARGETING CANCER GROWTH, SURVIVAL AND METASTASIS

Moderator: Steve Sucheck, Ph.D.

1:30 p.m.

“Targeting the cytoskeleton and formin machinery to halt tumor cell invasion”
Kathryn Eisenmann, Ph.D., Dept. of Cancer Biology

1:45 p.m. 

“Repurposing of FDA Approved Drugs for Precision BIRC5 Targeted Therapy for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma”
Shi-He Liu, M.D., Dept. of Surgery  

2:00 p.m. 

“The CD3’s Compound Library and Its Direction Toward Anticancer Research”
Paul Erhardt, Ph.D., Medicinal & Biological Chemistry

SESSION VI: RESOURCES TO SUPPORT CANCER RESEARCH

Moderator: Maurice Manning,, Ph.D.

2:15 p.m.

“Kinome array profiling of complex biological samples”
Robert Smith, M.D., Ph.D., Dept. of Neurosciences

2:30 p.m.

“Repurposing drugs and the FDA approved drug library”
Kevin Pan, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Microbiology & Immunology

2:45 p.m.

“Shared Resources Available in the UToledo Integrated Core Facilities to Aid in Cancer Research”
Andrea Kalinoski, Ph.D., Dept. of Surgery and Integrated Core Labs UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences 

SESSION VII: CANCER THERAPEUTICS III
IMMUNOTHERAPY and HORMONE AND CHEMOKINE MEDIATED PATHWAYS REGULATING CANCER GROWTH 

Moderator: Maria Diakonova, Ph.D.

3:00 p.m.

“Restoration of nitric oxide synthase function as a novel immunotherapy for breast cancer”
Saori Furuta, Ph.D., Dept. of Cancer Biology

3:15 p.m.

“A Nuclear Complex of AR and TM4SF3 is a Novel Target for Prostate Cancer Therapy”
Lirim Shemshedini, Ph.D., Dept. of Biological Sciences

3:30 p.m.

“Role of chemokine receptors and their adaptor protein LASP1 in breast cancer”
Dayanidhi Raman, Ph.D., Dept. of Cancer Biology

3:45 p.m.

Concluding Remarks
Francis Charles Brunicardi, M.D., Dept. of Surgery

Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

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Last Updated: 6/27/22