Janet Rowley, MD, Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, and Human Genetics, won the Marion Spencer Fay Award and Lifetime Achievement Award for her extraordinary contributions as a pioneer in cancer research--including the creation of the cancer genetics field, which transformed the treatment of cancer--from the Institute for Women's Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine. (Medicine on the Midway, Spring 2007)

Dr. Rick Kittles, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Genetic Medicine at the University of Chicago presented the Pritzker School of Medicine's tenth Bowman Society lecture, Genomics, "Race," and Ancestry: Implications in Biomedical Research on Thursday, November 30 at the University of Chicago Quadrangle Club.

During the two hour lecture, Dr. Kittles explored how the socio-cultural definition of race may mislead biomedical researchers and encouraged the audience to think about how genetic variation is partitioned across human populations. Throughout the presentation, Dr. Kittles drew upon his research work tracing the genetic ancestry of African Americans. (The Forefront, Jan./Feb. 2007, and The Pritzker School of Medicine).

This year the lecture series is entitled “Personalized Medicine for Cancer” and will be given by R. Stephanie Huang, Ph.D. The first two lectures will give an overview of cancer and cancer chemotherapy and point out the success and limitations of current chemotherapy. These lectures will lead into a more molecularly targeted approach and how pharmacogenomics is a paradigm shift. A lecture of current success with candidate genes such as Gleevec and Her2neu will be followed by lectures on how pharmacogenomics is used to identify patients at risk for adverse toxicities. Dr. Huang will then introduce the genomic tools used in pharmacology and will finish with a summary of how personalized medicine is the future of cancer treatment. 

These lectures are addressed to a general audience interested in how modern science is being used to better understand and treat or prevent diverse cancers.  They will help people understand the concept of individualized treatment and the approaches/limitations to achieve personalized medicine. The lectures may be especially informative to cancer patients, their families, and students in the broadest sense, of all ages and backgrounds, who are interested in cancer. (The Forefront, Jan./Feb. 2007 and The Ben May Department for Cancer Research).

The clinical trial that I am directing will assess whether dietary selenite is efficacious in countering the toxicity of chronic arsenic exposure. With the exception of a handful of rural counties in the Southwest, drinking water arsenic is not a health issue in the US. However, several countries, including Bangladesh, India, Argentina, and pockets of Taiwan and Mexico have geologically-contaminated aquifers. Bangladesh's arsenic problem is the largest and most acute in the world. About 40 million inhabitants are exposed to arsenic at concentrations about 50 parts per billion, according to a well respected national survey conducted by the British Geological Survey in 1998. Fifty parts per billion is a "red line" for increased risk of developing signs of arsenical melanosis, arsenical keratosis, and skin, lung, and urinary tract cancers. There is about a 1-2% lifetime prevalence of arsenical cancers in those exposed above 50 ppb, and a much wider prevalence of arsenical melanosis and keratosis, which has a very unique distribution that is sometimes mistaken by villagers for leprosy. Due to Bangladesh's rural poverty, the arsenical cancers are not diagnosed until the terminal stages, most patients die a few months thereafter. (The Pritzker Pulse, Winter 2007)

The National Cancer Institute has awarded a Specialized Programs of Research Excellence grant to the University Cancer Research Center for a series of projects designed to benefit women at high risk for breast cancer. The grant will provide $11.5 million over five years to support innovative, translational research with a global strategy.

The researchers will focus on women with genetic differences that increase their odds of developing aggressive breast cancer at a young age. They will search for better ways to prevent, detect and treat women at increased risk.

Principal investigator Olufunmilayo Olopade, the Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor in Hematology/Oncology and Human Genetics, will work closely with co-principal investigators Gini Fleming, Professor in Oncology/Hematology and Director of the Medical Oncology Breast Program, and Maryellen Giger, Professor in Radiology, to lead a team of 11 basic-clinical and population-science investigators at the University. This integrated effort focuses on developing genetic- and imaging-based approaches to the prevention, detection and treatment of breast cancers in genetically high-risk women. (The University of Chicago Chronicle, December 2006)