Learn more about UFHCC Bridge Grants HERE.

PI: Robert A. Hromas, MD, FACP, Professor & Chair, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine
Project Title: A Histone Code for Replication Fork Repair

PI: Andrew Judge, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Public Health & Health Professions
Project Title: FoxO signaling and skeletal muscle atrophy

PI: Arun Srivastava, PhD, Professor, Division of Cellular & Molecular Therapy, Department of Pediatrics & Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, College of Medicine
Project Title: AAV2 and hepatocellular carcinoma

PI: Lizi Wu, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, College of Medicine
Project Title: Long noncoding RNA and human lung cancers with inactivated LKB1 signaling

PI: Lusine Yaghjyan, MD, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, College of Health & Health Professions & College of Medicine
Project Title: Urinary estrogens and gut microbiome composition in healthy postmenopausal women

PI: Yehia Daaka, PhD
Project Title: Arginine Vasopressin Receptor 1a (AVPR1a) Antagonism as a New Treatment Paradigm for Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Learn more about the UFCHCC Pilot Project Awards HERE.

Special Focus: Triple Negative Breast Cancer
This funding opportunity has been made available through generous philanthropic support to the UF Health Cancer Center (UFHCC).  It recognizes that i) the study of TNBC is underrepresented in academic and industry research portfolios, and ii) there exists a great need to advance our understanding of the genetics and biology of TNBC and for implementing new strategies for clinical trials.

PI: Carlos Rinaldi, PhD, Professor & Interim Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
Project Title: Targeted nanomedicine to induce lysosomal death pathways in triple negative breast cancer

PIs: Christopher D. Vulpe, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine & Coy Heldermon, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine
Project Title: In vivo CRISPR to identify druggable genes required for TNBC proliferation

Special Focus: Cancer Genome & Epigenome Integrity

PIs: Christopher Fisher, PhD, Research Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, College of Medicine & David C. Bloom, PhD, Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, College of Medicine
Project Title: Control of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Genome Persistence in Cells

PIs: Alexander Ishov, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, College of Medicine & Carlos Rinaldi, PhD, Professor & Interim Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering.
Project Title: Nanoscale Hyperthermia to Reverse Antimitotic Resistance

PIs: Daiqing Liao, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, College of Medicine & Yehia Daaka, PhD, Haskell Hess Professor & Chair, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, College of Medicine
Project Title: HDAC3 in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Biology and Therapy

Special Focus: Cancer Microbiota & Host Response

PIs: Volker Mai, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, College of Health & Health Professions & College of Medicine; Lusine Yaghjyan, MD, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, College of Health & Health Professions & College of Medicine; Harvey W. M. Chim, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine; Jaya R. Asirvatham, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Immunology & Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine & Mattia Prosperi, MEng, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, College of Health & Health Professions & College of Medicine
Project Title: Correlations between breast microbiota and tissue methylation pattern

PIs: Ryan M. Thomas, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine & Raad Z. Gharaibeh, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine
Project Title: Microbial role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma development

Special Focus: Cancer Therapeutics & Immuno-Oncology
PIs: Coy Heldermon, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine & Mansour Mohamadzadeh, PhD, Professor, Departments of Medicine, Infectious Disease & Pathology, and Dermatology, College of Medicine

Project Title: Microbiome-Mediated Immune Modulation and Metabolism Effects on Breast Cancer Development and Progression

Learn more about the FACCA Research Development Program HERE.

PIs: Gwendolyn Quinn, PhD (MCC), Matthew Schabath, PhD (MCC),Merry Jennifer Markham, MD (UF), Amanda Hicks (UF) & Julia Seay, PhD (SCCC)
Project Title: Developing Provider-Focused LGBT Communication Skill Building for Oncologists

PIs: Anna Giuliano, PhD (MCC), Elizabeth Shenkman, PhD (UF), & Patricia Jones, MD, MSCR (SCCC)
Project Title: Florida Increases Rates of Screening and Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus (FIRST HCV)

PIs: Elias Sayour, MD, PhD (UF) & Eli Gilboa, PhD (SCCC)
Project Title: Preventative vaccination against neoantigens in MRD and premalignant settings

PIs: Jennifer Permuth, PhD, MS (MCC), Mokenge Malafa, MD, FACS(MCC), Jose Trevino, MD (UF) & Nipun Merchant, MD (SCCC)
Project Title: The Florida Pancreas Collaborative: A Partnership Dedicated to the Early Detection and Prevention of Pancreatic Cancer

Julie Bray, Graduate Student (Mentor: Thomas Schmittgen, Ph.D.)
1F31CA220937-01
The Novel Role of Rest in the Development of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=9396926&icde=36174885

Arun Srivastava, Ph.D.
1R21AI131328-01A1
AAV2 and Hepatocellular Carcinoma
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES
https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=9317567&icde=36175007

Andrew Judge, Ph.D.
2R01AR060209-06A1
Foxo Signaling and Skeletal Muscle Atrophy
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ARTHRITIS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DISEASES
https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=9309426&icde=36175048

Matthew Cascio, M.D.
An Immunological Strategy to Osteosarcoma: Reconditioning the Immune System with  Adoptive CAR-T Cells and Reversal of Regulatory Pathways
2017 HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS Young Investigator Grant
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hyundai-hope-on-wheels-to-award-150000-research-grant-to-the-university-of-florida-health-shands-childrens-hospital-in-honor-of-national-childhood-cancer-awareness-month-300513919.html

Folakemi Odedina, Ph.D.
1R25CA214225-01
Florida Cancer Retool Program for Underrepresented Minority Students
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES
https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=9278359&icde=36175903

Diana Wilkie, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN
1 R01CA207026-01A1
Evaluating the Tablet-based Turkish- PAINReportIt® for Assessing Pain of Lung Cancer Patients Post Thoracotomy in Turkey
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=9383202&icde=36326962

Catherine T. Flores, Ph.D.
Evaluating the use of hematopoietic stem cells in overcoming immunosuppression within the brain tumor microenvironment
AMERICAN BRAIN TUMOR ASSOCIATION
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abta-awards-18-research-grants-to-support-early-career-investigators-and-high-impact-collaborative-brain-tumor-research-300497638.html

Ting-Yuan (David) Cheng, Ph.D., was selected in the National Cancer Institute’s TREC (Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer) 2017 fellow cohort.
http://trectraining.yale.edu/

Carla L. Fisher, Ph.D., is an m-PI on an R21 funded by the NIH / NIEHS (Breast Cancer and the Environment Communication Research Initiative. She is the University of Florida PI and the m-PI is at George Mason University, her previous institution. They will evaluate the effectiveness of using targeted social media (mommy blogs) to disseminate breast cancer environmental risk information to women and their family members, particularly daughters.

Ramzi George Salloum, Ph.D., was accepted into the AAP Tobacco Consortium as a member for the 2017-2018 term.
https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Richmond-Center/Pages/Tobacco-Consortium.aspx

Steven J. Hughes, M.D., has received a two-year, $300,000 translational research grant from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, or PanCAN. Hughes and his colleagues believe that measuring levels of protein signals called cytokines and chemokines that are secreted by scar tissue surrounding a pancreatic cancer tumor might lead to a less invasive, more sensitive way to test for the disease.
https://ufhealth.org/news/2017/grant-will-help-researchers-create-better-test-pancreatic-cancer