Case CCC News - August 2, 2019

August 2, 2019

MESSAGES FROM THE DIRECTOR

Stan Gerson, MD

Director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

[email protected]

Remembering Anne Duli

Last week, we notified members of our cancer center

community of the passing of Anne Duli, our friend, champion and former Associate Director for Administration and Finance following a long battle with breast cancer.

Anne's life was truly a blessing to all she encountered. A memorial service will be held for Anne on Saturday, August 17 at 11 am at Harkness Chapel on the Case Western Reserve University campus. Please join us in celebrating her life full of love, laughter and kindness.

Annual Scientific Retreat - Inspiration, Education, Collaboration

What a terrific Annual Scientific Retreat we had this past Thursday and Friday! Congratulations to all who presented, participated and especially to the organizing committee led by Kishore Guda and Jennifer Yu.

The feedback from the TED Talks was almost as enthusiastic as the TED Talks themselves. The

content was refreshing, the messages were stimulating and the lasting impressions, inspiring. I encourage all of you to keep information flow transformation and hololens, leadership skill training, and implementation of effective improvements in wellbeing and patient care top of mind. Recordings of the talks will be forthcoming. We will solicit next year's speakers before you know it, so keep those great ideas coming!

The Scientific Retreat on Friday was buzzing all day, with a wonderful talk from Anil Rustgi, newly appointed director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center on the genetics and progression of pancreatic cancer. Individual presentations covered the full spectrum of our cancer center. Most importantly, attendance at the program breakout sessions were both well attended and very productive with many new ideas for collaborative grants and pilot awards as well as discussion of needed technology. You have given the cancer center much to work on and much in invest in (your good ideas, not ours!).

We are distributing all of the minutes from the breakout sessions to program leaders. If you have a lingering thought, send it along to either the program leaders or me and we will act on them!

Have a great rest of the summer, but remember those next NIH grant deadlines and opportunities to begin a novel clinical investigation!

MEMBER/CENTER HIGHLIGHTS

Researchers Discover New Combination Therapy to Treat Drug-Resistant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia accounts for one in five adult leukemias, and is the most common pediatric cancer in the United States. While new immune therapies have helped improve survival rates, some patients are unresponsive to existing treatment regimens. In addition, drug-related toxicities and drug resistance are rampant for these patients, spurring an urgent need for new therapy options.

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have developed a new combination treatment regimen that enhances the immune system's ability to kill leukemias that do not respond to standard treatments. The regimen includes a therapeutic antibody designed to draw natural killer immune cells to cancer cells. The antibody attached specifically to acute lymphoblastic cancer cells as early as 30 minutes after treatment, and remained attached for two days, serving as a flag to attract natural killer immune cells. The researchers were able to maximize the antibody's efficacy by adding a second, anti-tumor molecule to the regimen.

Results published in Cancer Immunology Research describe how the antibody attaches to a specific protein on the surface of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells (B-cell Activating Factor, or BAFF-R). Once the antibody attaches to a cancer cell, natural killer cells also attach to the antibody and this antibody acts like a bridge connecting cancer cells to natural killer cells, where it quickly gets to work destroying the cancer cell. The antibody connects with natural killer cells through a second protein commonly found on their surfaces (CD16).

The researchers, Reshmi Parameswaran, PhD, assistant professor in the Department


	Vicioso and Parameswaran

of Medicine and MD/PhD student in her lab and th e

Department of Pathology,

Yorleny Vicioso , created a new acute lymphoblastic leukemia mouse model for the study. They used mouse models with growing, drug-resistant cancer cells collected from human patients. Then, they tested treatments over the course of disease progression-starting with the antibody alone.

The custom BAFF-R antibody is currently being tested as a therapy to treat autoimmune diseases and rheumatoid arthritis in two clinical trials. The TGF-beta inhibitor was recently tested in a first-in-human clinical trial for treatment for advanced-stage solid tumors. The new mouse model study provides critical preclinical data to support combining the two treatment in human trials. more>

Eng Awarded $1.6M for Breast Cancer Research

The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC)

extends congratulations to Cleveland Clinic researcher and Case CCC member, Charis Eng, MD, PhD as she was recently awarded a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the Gray Foundation.

The award will support investigation of how the breast microbiome interacts with the immune system to influence breast cancer growth and progression. Eng will be joined by two additional Case CCC Members, Stephen Grobmyer, MD and Jacob Scott, MD, DPhil in the multidisciplinary collaboration. more>

Graduate Student Award for Excellence

Congratulations to Tyler Alban, a graduate student in

Justin Lathia, PhD's lab as he received the Graduate Student Award For Excellence from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute earlier this week. The award recognizes his work on immunophenotyping myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in gliomas.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

6th Annual Data Science in Life Sciences and Engineering Symposium

August 5-6, 8a | Tinkham Veale University Center

Next week, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine along with the School of Engineering will be hosting faculty members and students from Tohoku University (Sendai, Japan) for a 2-day data and life science symposium at the Tinkham Veale University Center.

The symposium brings together researchers from CWRU

and Tohoku University to discuss and share ideas on data science in engineering and life science. Symposium sessions will include topics on systems biology and biomedical informatics as well as immunology and metabolomics. A poster session will feature data science research from students, postdocs and faculty of CWRU and Tohoku University. Monday's program includes a keynote from Zhenghe (John) Wang, PhD, Vice Chair for Faculty Development, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences and Co-Leader of the GI Cancer Genetics Program at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The event is free, but registration is required. View the full program and register>

Cancer-focused Summer Undergraduate Research (CanSUR) Symposium

August 7, 9a-12p | WRB Auditorium

The CanSUR Program Symposium will be held

Wednesday, August 7 from 9 am to 12 pm in the Wolstein Research Building auditorium. Please join us as our 32 CanSUR scholars present their research as short, 3-minute "elevator pitch" presentations.

Following the presentations, a luncheon will be held as we close out the first year of our program. If you would like to attend the luncheon, please RSVP to Gena Richmann ( [email protected]).

Cancer Center Guest Seminar

August 12, 2p | WRB Auditorium

All are welcome to join us on Monday, August 12, 2019 in the Wolstein Research Building Auditorium, 3-136 at

2pm for a guest seminar featuring Boaz Tirosh, PhD. Dr. Tirosh is the David Eisenberg Chair in Pharmacy at the Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr. Boaz will present, "Pharmacological Induction of Selective Endoplasmic Reticulum Retention as a Novel Strategy for Cancer Therapy."

State of Chronic Disease Disparities in the African American Community Conference

August 16-17, 2019 | DoubleTree Beachwood

Join the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition (NEOBHC), hundreds of public attendees and scholars from across the country as they present the State of Chronic Disease Disparities in the African American Community: Getting to the Root through Education, Advocacy & Empowerment Conference. The conference will convene on August 16-17, 2019 from 8 AM - 4:30 PM, at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel Beachwood East, 3663 Park East Drive, Beachwood, Ohio 44122.

Designed to examine how political and social policies have contributed to chronic disease disparities, the conference will examine the past, present and future and the roles of policies in the elimination of chronic disease disparities. Some of the topic areas highlighted at the conference include:

Cancer Care
Community Engagement
Cultural Competency
Diabetes Prevention and Control
Environmental Health
Healing and Empowerment
HIV/AIDS
Holistic Health/Naturopathy
Infant Mortality
Mental Health
Opioid Crisis in the African American Community
Physical Activity and Nutrition
Religion and Chronic Disease
Sickle cell

Registration for the two-day conference is $100 and includes breakfast, lunch and program materials. For more information, please contact Yvonka Marie Hall, Executive Director at [email protected]. Register and purchase tickets>

Multidisciplinary Colorectal Oncology Course

Oct 18-19, 2019 | Naples, FL

The 6th Annual Multidisciplinary Colorectal Oncology Course will take place October 18-19, 2019 at Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club in Naples, FL. The national symposium will focus on providing an in-depth and up-to-date review of the multidisciplinary management of colorectal cancers. Oncologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, and nurses with an interest in the management of patients with colorectal cancer should attend this course.

Various continuing education credits are available for the course. The deadline for registration is 5 pm (PST), Sunday, October 13, 2019. Learn more and register>

Early Bird Registration: Artificial Intelligence in Oncology Symposium

Oct 24, 2019 | Tinkham Veale University Center

On October 24, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center will host the inaugural Artificial Intelligence in Oncology Symposium: Advancements in Policy at Case Western Reserve University.

The symposium will bring together experts in AI and machine learning as well as clinical, industry and federal agency experts in pathology, radiology, oncology and immuno-oncology to speak on research developments, regulatory policy, reimbursement and ethics surrounding AI.

Symposium Highlights:

Focused panel discussions
Networking opportunities
Exhibitions available throughout the day

Be sure to register by August 30, 2019 to secure our discounted early bird registration. A discounts for students and trainees who wish to attend is available. We look forward to seeing you in October! Save your seat>

Innovators in AYA Cancer: Driving Science and Policy toward a Brighter Future for Teens and Young Adults with Cancer

Nov 14-15, 2019 | Tinkham Veale University Center

Registration will be opening very soon for the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center's AYA Oncology Symposium taking place November 14-15, 2019 at Tinkham Veale University Center at Case Western Reserve University! Sign up to receive updates>

FEATURED PROFILE: STAFF

Melanie Prestage, Training and Education Program Administrator

In March of this year, Melanie Prestage joined the Case

Comprehensive Cancer Center administration team as Education and Training Program Administrator. Prior to that she worked in the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Engineering for nearly five years as an assistant to the Chair of Materials Science and Engineering.

In her current role, Melanie develops, directs and manages a variety of training and education programs in the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) and the National Center for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM), including the Master's of Science in Regenerative Medicine & Entrepreneurship (RGME). You can find her in the Wolstein Research Building, office 3-520.

Melanie earned her Bachelors of Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace College. In addition, she also has a certificate in Communication and Professional Skills from CWRU Weatherhead School of Management.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Therapeutic Development Initiative (TDI) - Funding for High-Impact Pediatric Cancer Research

Proposals are accepted and reviewed continuously

Solving Kids' Cancer (SKC) is a nonprofit organization

with a track-record of funding novel clinical research for children diagnosed with high-risk solid tumors specifically neuroblastoma, brain tumors and sarcomas.

The Therapeutic Development Initiative (TDI) is SKC's platform for the implementation of our research agenda. The TDI's goal is to support innovative early phase clinical studies that are high on the risk/reward spectrum. Priority is given to proposals that introduce novel therapeutic agents and modalities and have a strong potential to improve treatment outcomes.

Awards range from $50,000 to $500,000. Learn more>

NSF: Advanced Computing Systems & Services: Adapting to the Rapid Evolution of Science and Engineering Research

LOI Deadline: August 23, 2019

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is requesting proposals to provide advanced CI capabilities and/or services to support the full range of computational- and data-intensive research across all of S&E.

NSF strongly urges the community to think broadly, NSF logo

including such considerations as ease of access to proposed systems/services by new communities in S&E; new capabilities that will enable new methods and paradigms for S&E discoveries; and opportunities for leveraging the increasing availability and capabilities at the network edge (including campuses) and via commercial cloud services.

A successful proposal must clearly demonstrate how the proposed resource will support transformative discoveries in S&E. This may be done through a combination of analytical models projecting the anticipated performance of the proposed resource, appropriate benchmark results, and compelling empirical evidence validating that the resource will be a valuable scientific instrument for S&E discovery; and opportunities for leveraging the increasing availability and capabilities at the network edge (including campuses) and via commercial cloud services.

Awards range from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000. Visit the Office of Research and Technology Management for more information>

IN THE NEWS

U.S. News & World Report Again Names University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center Among Nation's Best Hospitals

Newswise - July 30, 2019

UH Cleveland Medical Center's Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center ranked in the Top-30 nationally in cancer.

Cleveland Clinic No. 1 in Heart Care for 25th Consecutive Year

Cleveland Clinic Newsroom - July 30, 2019

Cleveland Clinic, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, ranked in the Top-10 nationally in cancer.

Anixa Biosciences, Cleveland Clinic enter license agreement for breast cancer vaccine technology

Crain's Cleveland - July 17, 2019

Cleveland Clinic researcher and Case CCC member, Vincent Tuohy, PhD has been developing a method to vaccinate women against contracting breast cancer, focused specifically on the most lethal form of the disease: triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).