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What an incredible event this year’s Gourmet and Grapes was!
If you have attended this signature fundraising event on Kiawah in the past, then you know how much fun it can be. But I think that people particularly appreciated it this year. After COVID forced us to cancel the event in 2021 and 2022, everyone was eager to enjoy an in-person event showcasing the best food and drink in the South and beyond.
The auction was buzzing Saturday as bidders competed to win the items they’d set their sights on. Fourteen people bid on and won trips to Ireland! The night before, Chef Chintan Pandya, the 2022 James Beard Best Chef: New York State, put together a surprise package giving the winning bidders entry to the Unapologetic Foods group of restaurants, where tables are completely booked for months, and it’s impossible to get a seat.
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In the end, we raised a record-breaking $1.27 million this year. We couldn’t have done that without our ardent supporters, strong partnership with The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, and, of course, our stellar Hollings development team. The weekend was great fun, and everyone there understood that they were helping us to achieve our mission. Money raised over the weekend will go toward cancer research, pediatric oncology clinical trials, outreach and prevention efforts.
Thank you for all that you do every day to find ways to beat cancer.
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Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center
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NCI Early-stage Surgeon Scientist Program
Thomas Curran, M.D., was one of 12 surgeon-scientists from across the nation selected for the NCI Early-stage Surgeon Scientist Program (ESSP). This three-year program provides protected research time with the aim of increasing the number of physician-scientists, who have decreased from 4.7% of the workforce to 1.5% of the workforce since the 1980s. Curran's project will investigate why utilization of medications to prevent blood clots after cancer surgery remains low and seek to improve both surgeon and patient adherence to this guideline.
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The team of Richard Drake, Ph.D., Peggi Angel, Ph.D., and Anand Mehta, D.Phil., has been awarded the Hollings Team Science Award for their project “Spatial Omics in Early Liver Cancer.” | |
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Liver cancer is increasing in incidence with high mortality rates worldwide. It is expected to be the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. by 2035 and accounts for close to 5.5% of all cancer deaths in the state of South Carolina. Once liver cancer is diagnosed, there are currently no effective treatment options. The most effective treatments rely on early detection of liver cancer in people at highest risk of developing it.
The proposed project is designed to systematically investigate the underlying cellular and tissue landscape of early liver cancers, as well as in blood samples. New methods developed in the investigator laboratories at MUSC will be used to detect specific effects of sugar changes and organ structure that occur in early liver tumors compared to pre-cancer and normal liver tissue. The studies will identify new diagnostic biomarkers that can aid in the early detection of liver cancer, as well as provide new mechanistic information that could be used in drug development and new detection assays.
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Pre-Clinical and Clinical Concepts Award | |
Evan Graboyes, M.D., and Jennifer Dahne, Ph.D., have been awarded a Hollings Pre-Clinical and Clinical Concepts Award for their project “Evaluation of a Proactive Identification and Digital Mental Health Intervention Approach to Address Unmet Psychosocial Needs of Individuals Living with Likely Incurable Cancer.” | |
Individuals living with likely incurable cancer lack feasible, accessible, and evidence-based treatment for depression. To address this need, the team will conduct a pilot randomized clinical trial to 1) develop automated approaches to identify individuals with likely incurable cancer in the electronic medical record; and 2) compare a self-guided digital mental health intervention to manage depression among these patients versus standard existing treatments. Long term, this research has the potential to expand evidence-based mental health access to a growing population of individuals living with likely incurable cancer. | |
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College of Medicine Research Excellence Awards
Two of the three awardees of the winter 2023 College of Medicine Research Excellence Awards were recognized for cancer-focused work:
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Wenjian Gan, Ph.D., was awarded for his work and article, Arginine methylation of BRD4 by PRMT2/4 governs transcription and DNA repair, published in Science Advances, Dec. 7, 2022, volume 8, issue 49. | |
Silvia Guglietta, Ph.D., was recognized for her work and article, Complement downregulation promotes an inflammatory signature that renders colorectal cancer susceptible to immunotherapy, published in the 2022 Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, volume 10, issue 9. | |
Special Guest at the State of the Union | |
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Did you see her? Darlene Gaffney, a member of the cancer support ministry at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston and of the Hollings Patient and Family Advisory Council, was sitting in the first lady’s box during the State of the Union. Gaffney is on the upper right in the blue blazer.
President Joe Biden talked about the Cancer Moonshot’s goal to decrease cancer deaths by 50% within 25 years and to improve the quality of life for people with cancer and their caregivers.
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Melanie Jefferson, Ph.D., is assuming the role of administrative director of education and training, a position previously held by Pam Roberts, who is assisting with the transition in preparation for her retirement.
In this role, Jefferson will direct, plan, and manage all administrative (financial, marketing, policies, and procedures) activities affiliated with the Hollings Fellowship and Clinical Scholar Programs, as well as various aspects of other Hollings training programs. She will be working in partnership with Benjamin Toll, Ph.D., associate director of education and training.
Jefferson has a long history with Hollings. She first came to the Cancer Control Program within the area of Cancer Disparities in 2008 as a program coordinator, after earning her master’s degree in public health from the University of South Carolina. Jefferson subsequently went on to earn her doctorate in health & rehabilitation sciences at the MUSC College of Health Professions. In 2022, Jefferson became associate director of the newly-formed Social Determinants of Health Shared Resource (SHARE) at Hollings. SHARE supports translational and clinical research at Hollings by integrating patient-reported social determinants of health with external and internal data sources. She will continue in her role at SHARE.
Stay tuned for future announcements about new positions through the Developing Leaders Program.
Welcome to Hollings!
Please welcome these team members to Hollings Cancer Center. Remember – we are hiring. Be sure to check out the Hollings jobs page and share with anyone who you think would be a good fit.
Anita Barry, credentialing and project management
Justin Cardona, regulatory specialist
Whitney Christians, histology technician
Jennifer Draeger, research nurse administrator
Jakarri Godbolt, regulatory specialist
Hannah Kinder, research study coordinator
Spencer Laing, regulatory specialist
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Thoracic Surgery
Ian Bostock, M.D., (pictured) and Kathryn Engelhardt, M.D., presented at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons annual conference. Engelhardt presented on the topic of interacting with star rating groups, explaining the process involved when an outcome measure appears to be biased or in other ways not properly measuring true quality. She also presented to general surgery residents who had won a scholarship to attend the conference about looking for their first jobs.
Bostock gave a presentation on “Strategies to improve compliance with lung cancer screening guidelines in underserved/rural areas: lessons learned in South Carolina.” He highlighted MUSC’s partnerships and community engagement efforts to increase screening.
Blood Cancers
The Hollings team has four posters up for presentation at the Transplantation & Cellular Therapy meetings of ASTCT and CIBMTR:
- Early Cytopenia and Infections following Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell therapy: A Single Center Experience (presenting author: Arash Velayati, senior author: Hamza Hashmi)
- Stem Cell Mobilization for Multiple Myeloma Patients Receiving Daratumumab Based Induction Therapy – A Real World Experience (presenting author: Aswani Thurlapati, senior author: Hamza Hashmi)
- Efficacy of tixagevimab-cilgavimab in preventing SARS-CoV-2 in hematopoietic stem cell transplant and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy recipients (presenting author: Mary McGann, senior author: Hamza Hashmi)
- Impact of Age, Race, BMI, and Cytogenetics on Outcomes after Upfront Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Patients with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma (presenting author: James Davis, senior author: Hamza Hashmi)
In addition, the team has four research proposals up for presentation and vote at the Plasma Cell Disorders Working Committee meeting:
- Predictors of early progression after CAR-T cell therapy for relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (presenting investigator: Hamza Hashmi)
- Outcomes of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation for Multiple Myeloma with plasmacytoma(s) (presenting investigator: Hamza Hashmi)
- Real world experience of Feasibility, Safety, and Outcomes Following anti-BCMA CAR T-cell Therapy for Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma (co-investigator: Hamza Hashmi)
- Safety and efficacy of CAR T-cell therapy for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in areas of unmet need (co-investigator: Hamza Hashmi)
Are you giving a presentation, participating in a panel discussion or speaking at an event? Let us know!
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GrantForward
The Office of Research Development (ORD) will be hosting a series of online workshops in February to introduce the features and capabilities of GrantForward to potential users. GrantForward allows users to create a personal profile that highlights their research achievements and specifies their research interests to receive personalized grant recommendations that match their research funding needs. Questions? Email Wanda Pierce at piercewh@musc.edu.
Remaining Schedule of Online Workshops
Participants are encouraged to create a GrantForward profile before the session.
Feb. 23, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
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2023 Multidisciplinary Hematology Oncology Updates
The Annual Multidisciplinary Hematology Oncology Updates will highlight recent advances in the management of advanced lung and genitourinary malignancies. Led by expert MUSC faculty and nationally known guest faculty, the conference will focus on enhancing participants' knowledge of new evidence and trends in the field.
This conference is designed for clinicians from a variety of backgrounds who help to care for patients with lung and genitourinary cancers including pulmonologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, urologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and trainees. The format of the conference will be formal presentations and multidisciplinary case discussions.
The all-day conference is March 25 at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston.
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The Office of Community Outreach and Engagement is spreading the work of cancer prevention throughout the state. Here’s a look at where the team will be:
Feb. 18 – HPV Vax Van at the Healthy Me - Healthy SC health fair in Blackville (Midlands)
Mar. 4 – SC AMEN event in Greenville (Upstate)
Mar. 11 – HPV Vax Van at Brookland Foundation Annual Community Health Fair in West Columbia (Midlands)
Mar. 11 – SC AMEN event in Gaffney (Upstate)
Mar. 18 – HPV Vax Van at the Healthy Me - Healthy SC health fair in Kingstree (Pee Dee)
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Faculty Awards
Do you know a faculty member who demonstrates excellence in teaching, research, and service to the university? Nominate them for an MUSC faculty award!
Questions? Contact Mack Altman at altmanma@musc.edu.
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Hollings Support Request
Hollings considers requests for support from members and other MUSC faculty. The request could be for funding, space, a new initiative, etc. To submit a request, use the link below. Strong preference is given to requests that will help the cancer center achieve comprehensive status.
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Don’t get locked out!
The transition from CTEP log-in credentials to the federally-mandated ID.me multifactor authentication is now underway. Anyone (staff and clinicians) who currently uses a CTEP-IAM account to access any NCI systems (e.g., CTSU, Rave, OPEN, CTEP-AERS, CIRB, AURORA, etc.) will be required to transition to ID.me by June 30, 2023, or be locked out.
You will create your ID.me account here: https://ctepcore.nci.nih.gov/iam/ The process will take approximately 30 minutes. Users should have the following ready:
- Front and back photos of your driver’s license or state-issued ID (can be taken with a smart phone)
- A selfie (can be taken with a smart phone or computer if it’s equipped with a camera)
- Social Security Number
Users will need to link their new ID.me credentials to their old CTEP credentials to complete the process. Once this is done, you will only use ID.me to log in to NCI/NIH sites.
These links have been provided as helpful tools by the CTEP Help Desk:
Please complete this process as soon as possible to avoid being locked out of your web portals on July 1.
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The MUSC Senior Expo is returning to the community on March 23. Reach Lowcountry seniors and their families with helpful information, screenings, or research opportunities available in your expertise. MUSC clinical and research departments are invited to participate in this community event at no cost. MUSC Scheduling will also be available to help participants schedule appointments. To register or with questions, contact Gwen Bouchie at bouchie@musc.edu.
March 23, 2023
9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
North Charleston Coliseum
Presented in partnership with the Trident Area Agency on Aging
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Lights, camera, action!
Under the leadership of Lisa Saladin, PT, Ph.D., executive vice president for Academic Affairs and provost, the University is launching its first brand awareness campaign. This initiative will elevate the national reputation of our educational and research missions and highlight the amazing work of our educators and innovators.
As part of this initiative, a team from Carnegie, a higher education marketing agency, will be at Hollings later this month filming. We will send updates to the HCC-World listserv as we get more specifics about the schedule.
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Looking for patient stories
Telling our patients' stories helps to raise awareness about the importance of screening, prevention, clinical trials and the cutting-edge treatments that are available at an NCI-designated cancer center. We want to tell the stories of all South Carolinians touched by cancer – men, women, young, old, underrepresented groups, rural and urban residents, veterans and more.
If you have a patient whose story exemplifies one or more of these attributes and who you think would be willing to share, please contact the communications team. Patients are under no obligation to share, and proper consent will be obtained.
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Innovators in Science Award in Cancer Immunology
The purpose of this award is to nominate one early career scientist and one senior scientist in a field of cancer immunology for the 2024 Innovators in Science Award, sponsored by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and administered by the New York Academy of Sciences. Awardees will receive $200,000.
For more information or questions, please contact Mary Shipp-Tabor or visit the award website.
Internal Deadline: March 6, 2023 by midnight
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Hollings Idea Award
The purpose of the Idea Award is to stimulate the development of high-quality, innovative cancer research projects that will move forward to extramurally-funded grant awards. Idea awards provide early funding support for high-risk, high-payoff research for which external grants are difficult to obtain.
Deadline: March 20, 2023 by midnight
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Hollings Pre-Clinical & Clinical Concepts Award
The purpose of this award is for Hollings to provide pilot funding for projects between $5,000-$25,000 that would be used to add preliminary or supportive data for the direct development of a grant submission, grant resubmission, or funded clinical trial. This mechanism is designed for the practical review and rapid funding of proposals, that may be received on a rolling basis with no set deadline or award periods.
Deadline: Rolling – Proposals move forward with review after submission
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Cancer Connections
Kevin Hughes, M.D., director of cancer genetics at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and the McKoy Rose, Jr., M.D. Endowed Chair in Surgical Oncology, will present on the Hollings Hereditary Cancer Clinic on Thursday, Feb. 23.
This lecture is open to the public and has been rescheduled from December. Lecture is at 5 p.m. at Hollings Cancer Center with a cocktail reception to follow. Please RSVP to brownlau@musc.edu.
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Press Conference
Join us at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24 on the lawn outside the Urban Farm for a press conference to showcase the Community Health Van and the Mobile Health Unit! The new and improved Community Health Van, which travels the state offering HPV and other vaccinations, will be making its official debut, and we will be re-introducing the Mobile Health Unit. Our message this National Cancer Prevention Month is that there are steps that people can take to reduce their risk of cancer or to detect cancer early.
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Is there something you need but you're not sure who to contact? This list is a handy guide for who you should reach out to on the Admin team.
Share news (clinical, education or research areas), social media updates, awards and recognitions: Leslie Cantu, cantul@musc.edu
Submit items for web updates or request new webpages: Dan Rinder, rinder@musc.edu
Ask questions about research operations or CCSG: Travis Poole, poolet@musc.edu
Request information on Hollings business and financial information: Mellie Klinger, klingerm@musc.edu
Get information on grants and submissions: Brett Bechtol, bechtolb@musc.edu
Request editing on cancer-related grant proposals and manuscripts: Carl Heltzel, heltzel@musc.edu
Find out about Hollings membership and guidelines: Julia Singleton, singleju@musc.edu
Publicize Hollings seminars and retreats: Taylor Couper, coupert@musc.edu
Find out about fundraising and development: Debbie Bordeau, bordeau@musc.edu
Find out about fundraising/development special events: Megan Baker, bakerme@musc.edu
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