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The Georgia Cancer Coalition, an independent, not-for profit organization that aims to reduce cancer deaths in the state, has named 14 University of Georgia researchers Distinguished Scholars since the program’s inception in 2001.
The researchers receive $50,000 to $150,000 annually for five years to support their research efforts. The University of Georgia matches the coalition’s investment, with the goal of strengthening the state’s research talent, capacity and infrastructure.
Robert D. Arnold
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Optimal cancer chemotherapy requires exposing tumors to enough of the drug to eradicate them while limiting toxic side effects to other cells. Arnold is using nanotechnology to encapsulate drugs in carriers that deliver them precisely to tumors.
http://pbs.rx.uga.edu/faculty/
Brian Cummings
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Components of cell membranes known as lipids can play critical roles in the processes that turn normal cells into cancerous cells. By understanding the changes these lipids undergo and the key molecules involved, Cummings aims to find new targets for drugs that inhibit the growth of tumors.
http://pbs.rx.uga.edu/faculty/
Steve Dalton
Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Cell Biology
Stem cells have the ability to turn into any type of tissue in the body, and may one day be used to treat degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. But when stem cells go awry, they share distinct similarities to tumors. Dalton is working to better understand these similarities in hopes that they may be exploited to halt the growth of tumors.
http://www.caes.uga.edu/Applications/Personnel/profile.cfm?ID=9656
http://www.gra.org/eminentscholardetail.asp?ID=24
Scott Dougan
Cellular biology
The process by which a fertilized egg becomes a functioning organism is coordinated through a complex series of interactions among cells. Dougan is exploring these basic mechanisms and how miscommunication among cells sets the stage for cancer and birth defects.
http://www.uga.edu/cellbio/dougan.html
Yan Geng
Chemistry
Working at the interface of chemistry and biology, Geng is working to develop targeted and controlled-release delivery systems for chemotherapy drugs. Geng is also focused on developing safe and efficient methods to correct defective genes that are involved in the formation of cancer.
http://www.chem.uga.edu/DoC/ResFacYAG.html
Vladimir Popik
Chemistry
Getting chemotherapy drugs to the right part of the body is crucial to making them work effectively and minimizing their side effects. Popik is working to create new chemotherapy drugs that are inactive in the dark but become active when irradiated by light of a specific wavelength. The goal is to use light to localize treatment to the tissue containing the malignant tumor while sparing the rest of the body from the drug’s toxic side-effects.
http://www.chem.uga.edu/vpopik
Claire Robb
Health Administration, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Breast cancer is more common in women over age 70, yet most of the research into quality of life issues focuses on younger women. Robb is studying the physical and emotional impact of breast cancer on older women in hopes of guiding interventions that help patients and survivors lead fuller lives.
http://www.publichealth.uga.edu/geron/about_geron/directory/affiliated/clairerobb.html
Walter K. Schmidt
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Schmidt is studying an enzyme that modifies and activates proteins, including those commonly associated with cancer development. By understanding the biochemical properties of the enzyme, known as the Ras Converting Enzyme, he hopes to eventually interfere with the ability of those proteins to cause cancer.
http://www.bmb.uga.edu/wschmidt/
John Vena
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Vena is working to better understand the factors that influence the health of populations. He is currently studying occupational and environmental risk factors that impact cancers of the bladder, breast and lungs.
http://www.publichealth.uga.edu/epibio/about_epibio/directory/epidemiology/vena.html
Lianchun Wang
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Georgia Cancer Center Distinguished Scholar
A molecule known as heparan sulfate plays critical roles in tumor growth, metastasis and blood vessel development. Wang is exploring the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which the molecule acts in cancer in hopes of revealing new ways to treat the disease.
http://www.ccrc.uga.edu/world/personnel/templateperson.php?uid=462
Lance Wells
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Pancreatic cancer has the worst 5-year survival rate (1%) of any cancer, primarily due to a lack of early diagnostic tests. Wells is studying proteins and the sugars that adorn them in pancreatic ductal fluid from patients to find early diagnostic biomarkers. These biomarkers also have the potential to be targets for new therapeutic drugs.
http://www.ccrc.uga.edu/world/personnel/templateperson.php?uid=31
Ying Xu
Director of UGA Bioinformatics Institute
Regents-Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and Professor
Xu and his research team are analyzing thousands of tissue samples - both cancerous and non-cancerous - and comparing patterns of gene and protein expression and then using computational methods to predict protein secretion. The hope is to find differences that can be used to revolutionize early diagnostics by creating a blood test that accurately predicts whether a person has cancer.
Jason Zastre
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Cell membrane transporters actively move compounds in and out of cells. Zastre is studying these transporters with the goal of maximizing the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs and reducing their toxic side effects.
http://pbs.rx.uga.edu/faculty/detail.asp?gID=%7B6F5952ED-6B25-422F-9F5B-B5DD454DE60F%7D
Shaying Zhao
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Colorectal cancer is known to have a strong genetic component, and Zhao is working to pinpoint the exact genes that play a role in the development and progression of the disease. Her work may ultimately help patients better understand their risk for colon cancer and may play a role in early detection.
http://www.bmb.uga.edu/home/people/shayingzhao.htm
