AACI Informatics Initiative

AACI Informatics Initiative participants. Clockwise from top: Doug Stahl, Ph.D., Joyce C. Niland, Ph.D., both from City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute, Lara Fournier, Oregon Health Sciences University Cancer Institute, Sorena Nadaf, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and Richard Evans, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

AACI is committed to helping cancer centers establish more effective and interactive informatics capabilities. To further progress in reaching these goals, AACI participated in the quarterly meeting for the caBIG Clinical Trials Management Systems workspace on November 16 and 17, at the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute, hosted by Joyce C. Niland, Ph.D., chair of Information Sciences and director of Biostatistics at City of Hope. Dr. Niland has chaired the AACI Informatics Initiative since the first workshop was held in January 2001.

The AACI Informatics Technology Task Force continues to meet via teleconference every other month and has made significant progress in expanding the network of centers that participate in the initiative’s pilot project, the Clinical Trials Search Engine, which allows centers to share publicly available summary protocol information via the Internet. Many participants also attend the caBIG face-to-face meetings and had the opportunity to collaborate on both initiatives at the two-day meeting at City of Hope.

To get involved or obtain more information on the AACI Clinical Trials Search Engine pilot project, please contact Shannon Hatch at the AACI office.

Michael Kastan to Direct St. Jude Cancer Center

Michael Kastan , M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed director of the St. Jude Cancer Center, which is an organizational entity within the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Kastan will coordinate the activities of the Cancer Center programs and chair the Cancer Center Advisory Committee.

Arthur W. Nienhuis, M.D., was both director of the St. Jude Cancer Center and hospital director, Dr. Nienhuis will take a year-long sabbatical, and then return to St. Jude to continue his gene therapy research.

Chief among Dr. Kastan’s goals as new director is to continue building collaborations among St. Jude departments to further the research and treatment of childhood cancer. “It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with the outstanding investigators at St. Jude, both clinical investigators and laboratory researchers, in developing new insights into the cancer problem,” Dr. Kastan said. “I know of no better place to try to coordinate efforts across the spectrum of cancer research than St. Jude.”

The Cancer Center comprises seven programs and has been supported by consecutive grants from the National Cancer Institute since 1977.

Prior to his appointment, Dr. Kastan served as an associate director for the Cancer Center, and was director of the Molecular Therapeutics Division and co-director of the Molecular Oncology Program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He will continue serving as chair of hematology-oncology at St. Jude.

News from the Centers

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston have discovered that malignant melanoma, the potentially lethal skin cancer, can’t grow without a steady supply of a protein that normal cells can do without. The findings, which are published in the December issue of Cancer Cell, suggest that drugs that cut off melanoma cells’ supply of the protein, called CDK2, might curb the growth of the dangerous skin cancer in patients, and with relatively low toxicity. More

Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center/UCLA
In one of the first studies using the RNA in saliva to detect cancer, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center were able to differentiate head and neck cancer patients from a group of healthy subjects based on biomarkers found in their spittle. The study provides a first proof of principle that may result in new diagnostic and early detection tools and will lead to further studies using saliva to detect other cancers. More

Yale Cancer Center
Director Richard L. Edelson, M.D., has appointed Edward Snyder, M.D., to the position of associate director for shared resources.  Dr. Snyder is professor of laboratory medicine at Yale School of Medicine and serves as director of the Blood Bank/Apheresis Service at Yale-New Haven Hospital and director of the Richard Frisbee Hematopoietic Cell Processing Laboratory at Yale Medical Center.  In his new role at Yale Cancer Center (YCC), Snyder will work to enhance the Shared Resources Program at the Center. More

City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute
The Comprehensive Cancer Center at City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute has been awarded a five-year, $11.5 million Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant by the National Cancer Institute for translational research studies for Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Stephen J. Forman, M.D., chair, Division of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, is principal investigator on the grant and Andrew Raubitschek, M.D., director of Radioimmunotherapy, is co-principal investigator. More

Winship Cancer Institute
Jonathan W. Simons, M.D., director of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University was honored with the Avon Foundation’s Medical Advancement Award. The awards presentation in New York City was part of Avon’s Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer Awards Celebration. More

Associate Director for Administration and Finance, OHSU Cancer Institute

The OHSU Cancer Institute is a National Cancer Institute-designated clinical cancer center with a membership of 200 scientists and clinicians, four academic programs and nine core facilities. The Institute is responsible for overseeing cancer research activities of faculty in three schools, 6 Institutes and Centers, and 15 Departments. The Associate Director for Administration and Finance is responsible for all research administrative and financial activities of the Cancer Institute.

Responsibilities include budgeting, monitoring and controlling revenue and expenditures from the University, the University Foundation and federal grants and contracts, including those from the National Cancer Institute and other NIH institutes. The Associate Director supervises Cancer Institute personnel, oversees space utilization, oversees outreach and education activities, serves as the primary point of contact for public relations programs, and collaborates with the Executive Director of Cancer Services in cancer services marketing. The Associate Director recommends and implements Cancer Institute administrative procedures, fiscal policies & other practices, oversees fund-raising activities, participates in capital campaigns and facilitates strategic planning.

Qualifications - Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's Degree in business/public administration or a related discipline is required. Masters Degree or equivalent experience required. Experience and/or training in a biomedical research field preferred. Minimum of five years of research administration experience within a multidisciplinary health care or academic medical setting required. Must have experience with NIH grants management and sponsored project regulations/requirements. Excellent grant writing and communication skills required.

Salary Range $64,200 – $96,300 Commensurate with experience

Please send resume to: Dr. Grover Bagby, Director, OHSU Cancer Institute, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Mail code CR-145, Portland, OR, 97239 OR email Bridget Nickerson-Robles at nickersb@ohsu.edu.

Associate Director, Basic Research
Howard University Cancer Center

The Associate Director for Basic Research at the Howard University Cancer Center will set the overall direction and development of the Cancer Center's basic research program.

Responsibilities: Organize and develop the Cancer Center's basic research program; recognize potential for synergism and effects multidisciplinary collaborations within the Cancer Center; recognize promising areas of research and provide direction to Cancer Center faculty in pursuing research objectives; maintain for evaluative purposes, a portfolio of Cancer Center investigators grant submissions, grant acquisition and publications; recommend investigators for inclusion or exclusion as Cancer Center members; recommend laboratory space utilization assignments; manage shared resource facilities, recommend acquisition of shared resources instrumentation, and the development of new and/or enhanced shared resources; maintain a standard of productivity among Cancer Center basic research investigators with particular emphasis on peer reviewed NIH grant acquisitions; and maintain personal grant portfolio and standards required of other Cancer Center investigators.

Requirements: Professor or associate professor; M.D. or Ph.D. in a scientific discipline; five (5) years experience with demonstrated success in NIH, RO1 grant acquisition and publications in referred journals; and five (5) years experience in basic research and administration (preferred). Excellent grant writing and communication skills required.

Contact:
J. Marc Britton, M.H.A.
Associate Director for Administration
Howard University Cancer Center
2041 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20060
Tel: (202) 806-7697
Fax: (202) 462-8928
E-Mail: jbritton@howard.edu

Associate Director, Experimental Therapeutics
Howard University Cancer Center

The purpose of this position is to promote, adopt, and implement clinical treatment trials within the Howard University Cancer Center and Howard University Hospital. Position reports to the Cancer Center Director.

Principle Responsibilities: Establish a program for Phase I and Phase II clinical trials; promote oncologic clinical treatment trial accruals at Howard University Hospital and Cancer Center, its satellite facilities and community physician offices; evaluate in collaboration with other physicians and adopt oncologic clinical trials for utilization by Howard University Hospital and Cancer Center; evaluate and effect changes that streamline the delivery of clinical trials treatment; recruit patients and maintain acceptable accrual rates to clinical treatment trials; supervise clinical research associate shared resource assuring adherence to protocols while maintaining databases required for clinical trial evaluation; evaluate, import and implement clinical trials with the objective of elevating the level of care of patients; assure adherence to IRB regulatory statutes and clinical trial group cooperative requirement; advise the Cancer Center Director on the adoption of new clinical programs and services; serve as the Cancer Center's media spokesperson on oncologic clinical trial issues and publicize the Cancer Center's clinical trial program; and assist in establishing new oncologic referral streams for the conduct of clinical trials.

Requirements: Full or associate professor academician; medical degree with a District of Columbia license; and three (3) to five (5) years experience in experimental therapeutics. Excellent grant writing and communication skills required.

Contact:
J. Marc Britton, M.H.A.
Associate Director for Administration
Howard University Cancer Center
2041 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20060
Tel: (202) 806-7697
Fax: (202) 462-8928
E-Mail: jbritton@howard.edu