(Press-News.org) Alana Welm, Ph.D., senior director of basic science at Huntsman Cancer Institute and professor of oncological sciences at the University of Utah (the U), received the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research.
“Dr. Welm is an exceptionally talented and internationally-recognized scientist, applying her discoveries to the development of improved breast cancer therapies,” says Neli Ulrich, Ph.D., MS, chief scientific officer and executive director of the comprehensive cancer center at Huntsman Cancer Institute and professor of population health sciences at the U. “She has a highly productive research program widely known for its creativity and impact. Dr. Welm is a valued contributor to the community through her leadership, generosity, and collaboration; she is firmly established as a thought leader in breast cancer research.”
Welm’s research focuses on metastatic breast cancer. She is being recognized by the AACR for her translational research discoveries that could lead to better treatments for breast cancer. Welm has created breast cancer models for individual patients that can be placed in a living organism, replicating how the disease metastasizes and responds to therapies. This shows researchers how breast cancer responds to medications in real time and allows physicians to create better treatment plans.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award on behalf of my dedicated lab members, who work so diligently to advance breast cancer research,” says Welm. “I am grateful to my many co-investigators at Huntsman Cancer Institute who exemplify a true collaborative spirit – especially Bryan Welm and the Varley, Marth, and Gertz groups, along with Christos Vaklavas, Cindy Matsen, Saundra Buys, and the rest of the clinical breast team and patient advocates. Our challenging translational research studies simply would not be possible without integration across disciplines, and it’s one of the things that makes Huntsman Cancer Institute such a rewarding place to be.”
Welm will give an award lecture on Friday, December 8 at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
This research is supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute including P30 CA042014 and Huntsman Cancer Foundation.
###
About Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) is the National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center for Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Wyoming. With a legacy of innovative cancer research, groundbreaking discoveries, and world-class patient care, we are transforming the way cancer is understood, prevented, diagnosed, treated, and survived. Huntsman Cancer Institute focuses on delivering a cancer-free frontier to all communities in the area we serve. We have more than 300 open clinical trials and 250 research teams studying cancer at any given time. More genes for inherited cancers have been discovered at Huntsman Cancer Institute than at any other cancer center. Our scientists are world-renowned for understanding how cancer begins and using that knowledge to develop innovative approaches to treat each patient’s unique disease. Huntsman Cancer Institute was founded by Jon M. and Karen Huntsman.
END
Huntsman Cancer Institute investigator receives award for metastatic breast cancer research
2023-12-20
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Endometrial cancer: New insights into a deadly disparity
2023-12-20
The numbers are stark and deeply troubling.
Endometrial cancer — which develops in the lining of the uterus (womb) and is sometimes called uterine cancer — is on the rise in the U.S. In 1987, there were 35,000 cases annually. That number has nearly doubled in 2023 to more than 66,000 cases.
Deaths from the disease have also grown alarmingly in the same period, from less than 3,000 to more than 13,000 in the U.S. every year. And the trend line is not getting better.
“Endometrial cancer has been increasing at unprecedented levels over the past five years,” ...
Sanford Burnham Prebys continues unprecedented recruitment of early-career scientists
2023-12-20
Continuing its rapid and dramatic recruitment of emerging, top-tier researchers, Sanford Burnham Prebys has hired two more highly regarded early-career scientists: Angela Liou, M.D., a specialist in pediatric oncology and hematology; and Xueqin Sherine Sun, Ph.D., a cancer biologist and genome engineer.
“With Drs. Liou and Sun, we have now hired eight superb young scientists and physicians in less than a year, an achievement that reflects the extraordinary challenges in biomedical research today and our ambitious plans ...
Research offers a reason why diversity in plant species causes higher farming yield, solving 'a bit of a mystery'
2023-12-20
LAWRENCE — A study appearing in Nature Communications based on field and greenhouse experiments at the University of Kansas shows how a boost in agricultural yield comes from planting diverse crops rather than just one plant species: Soil pathogens harmful to plants have a harder time thriving.
“It’s commonly observed that diverse plant communities can be more productive and stable over time,” said corresponding author James Bever, senior scientist with the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research and Foundation Distinguished Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at KU. ...
UM School of Medicine review highlights rise in psychiatric disorders linked to increased cannabis use
2023-12-20
The widespread use of cannabis (marijuana) and its increased potency are associated with a rise in cannabis-related psychiatric conditions, according to a new University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) review article that was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It highlights the urgent need for doctors to screen for and treat patients who are experiencing symptoms of cannabis use disorder, which means they are experiencing significant problems from their use of the drug.
Nearly one in five Americans ages 12 and older used cannabis in 2021, according to the article, and more than 16 million met the criteria for ...
Immune system plays crucial step in creating blood stem cells
2023-12-20
AMES, Iowa – A microbial sensor that helps identify and fight bacterial infections also plays a key role in the development of blood stem cells, valuable new insight in the effort to create patient-derived blood stem cells that could eliminate the need for bone marrow transplants.
The discovery by a research team led by Raquel Espin Palazon, an assistant professor of genetics, development and cell biology at Iowa State University, was published last month in Nature Communications. It builds on prior ...
New grant gives South Carolina life sciences companies a chance to accelerate
2023-12-19
The Medical University of South Carolina is one of nine leading research universities across six states partnering with Innosphere Ventures on its Regional Life Sciences Incubator. Innosphere Ventures is a Colorado-based life sciences incubator with proven methods for propelling startups to successful market entry. Funding from a $2 million three-year Build to Scale Venture Challenge grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce will create a regional incubator that will offer its partnering institutions and selected startups ...
Predicting prenatal care to improve pregnancy outcomes
2023-12-19
Socioeconomic factors, like education and location, can affect access to life-saving prenatal care services. Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital are taking steps towards implementing strategies that improve access to prenatal care: estimating how many pregnant people attend the recommended number of visits and identifying pregnant people who are at high risk of failing to attend. This could help policymakers allocate resources to populations not getting enough prenatal care and could, in turn, improve health outcomes for mothers and babies.
Led by Grace Chan, M.D., Ph.D., Attending Physician in the Intermediate Care Program at Boston ...
JMIR Medical Education accepted for MEDLINE indexing
2023-12-19
JMIR Publications is pleased to announce that JMIR Medical Education has passed the Scientific Quality Review for MEDLINE and has been accepted for inclusion in MEDLINE, which is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's premier bibliographic database.
JMIR Medical Education was already indexed in PubMed. MEDLINE is a more selective subset of PubMed, consisting of the top 5,200 biomedical journals, and indexing in MEDLINE also means that articles are now also indexed with NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH terms) and other metadata.
Selection for MEDLINE is a result of a thorough review ...
Fish display distinct individual behaviours when swimming to find food
2023-12-19
Fish from the same species can evolve their sense of smell and display individual foraging ‘personalities’ to successfully find food in different habitats, according to new research.
In the study, published today as a Reviewed Preprint in eLife, researchers developed a high-throughput behavioural assay to test spontaneous swimming and differences in the sense of smell of individual Mexican cavefish larvae. eLife editors described the work as important, presenting compelling evidence that the surface and cave morphs of the fish show different olfactory preferences and odour sensitivities, and that individual fish show substantial variability in their spontaneous ...
Protein allows poison dart frogs to accumulate toxins safely
2023-12-19
Scientists have identified the protein that helps poison dart frogs safely accumulate their namesake toxins, according to a study published today in eLife.
The findings solve a long-standing scientific mystery and may suggest potential therapeutic strategies for treating humans poisoned with similar molecules.
Alkaloid compounds, such as caffeine, make coffee, tea and chocolate delicious and pleasant to consume, but can be harmful in large amounts. In humans, the liver can safely metabolise modest ...