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cancer headlines
UF Health virtual human intervention allows for colorectal cancer screening from home
A new University of Florida Health intervention gives patients who qualify access to colorectal cancer screening information and tests from the comfort of their own homes.
Two recent UF studies in Psycho-Oncology and the Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces examine new ways to effectively reach all patients with a new communication tool using a virtual health assistant, or VHA, to deliver a colorectal cancer screening program. READ MORE
UF researchers developing new cancer immunotherapy drug
University of Florida Health Cancer Center researchers have found a potential new way of targeting this population of immune-suppressive T cells that could possibly benefit a large population of cancer patients, including those who will not respond to other immunotherapies. READ MORE
Novel CD33 Antibodies Unravel Localization, Biology, and Therapeutic Implications of CD33 Isoforms
Angel Sampson, Ph.D., and Andria Doty, Ph.D., recently teamed up with Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D, M.Sc., in the department of pharmacotherapy and translational research in the UF College of Pharmacy, in an effort to further understand the therapeutic relevance of various forms of the CD33 protein as it relates to the antibody-drug therapy. CD33 is expressed on malignant cancer cells in nearly all patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and there has been a long-standing interest in the development of CD33-directed monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of AML. READ MORE
Research reveals non-Hispanic Black patients disproportionately left off liver transplant waitlists
A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shed light on key factors as to why non-Hispanic white patients get placed on liver transplant waitlists at disproportionately higher rates than non-Hispanic Black patients.
“Most studies in transplant disparities look at a transplant centers at a nationwide level,” said Ali Zarrinpar, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery, said. “And some individual centers do a better job than others in being representative of their area. I wanted to know: What distinguishes those from those centers that are not?” READ MORE
Announcements
Going Virtual: The 51st Annual Research Seminar
The 2021 UF Radiation Oncology Spring Seminar is virtual! Access the latest research from the UF Department of Radiation Oncology, wherever you are, Feb. 19 through June 30. READ MORE
UFHCC Biostatistics and Quantitative Sciences Shared Resource invests in HiPerGator
The UF Health Cancer Center Biostatistics and Quantitative Sciences Shared Resource (BQS-SR) in the Division of Quantitative Sciences (DQS) has made an investment in UF’s Research Computing high-performance computer, HiPerGator. This newly updated compute cluster consists of over 66,000 processing cores and over four petabytes of ultra-high-performance storage.
The UF Health Cancer Center BQS-SR has purchased 32 processing cores (with 128 GB RAM). This also allows us access to 288 cores and 1.1 TB RAM for compute jobs with run times up to 96 hours. We have also purchased five TB of ‘blue’ storage and 20 TB of ‘orange’ storage. Blue storage is high-performance storage designed to handle large groups of independent tasks performing read and write operations simultaneously. This is primarily used for intensive analyses of large datasets. Orange storage is designed for long-term storage of large files which require regular read/write access. UF Health Cancer Center members are encouraged to reach out to Drs. Ji-Hyun Lee (Director) and Jason Brant (Unit Leader of Bioinformatics) regarding research collaborations utilizing this resource.
Robotic surgery allows GI surgeons to achieve maximum results using minimally invasive techniques
On top of allowing physicians to apply minimally invasive techniques to a variety of different procedures, the use of robotic surgery means surgeons can operate on even the most complex of cases without compromising technical precision and flexibility.
“We’re seeing robotic technology on the rise for a number of reasons,” said Alexander L. Ayzengart, M.D., M.P.H, F.A.C.S, an assistant professor in the division of gastrointestinal surgery. “But at the end of the day, they can all be linked back to one thing—improvement in how we deliver patient care.”
Although surgical specialties utilizing robotic surgery run the gamut from thoracic surgery to urology, gastrointestinal (GI) surgery is uniquely suited to benefit from the innovation that robot-assisted procedures can provide, Ayzengart said.
In many GI surgeries, like colorectal procedures, the confined space of the pelvis makes certain movements and execution of surgical technique much harder. With the addition of a robot, however, surgeons can visualize the space they are operating in 3D, and exert more control over their movements. READ MORE
In memoriam
Remembering Joseph Simone, M.D.
We are saddened to share the news that Joseph V. Simone, M.D., former UF Health Cancer Center director and pioneering clinical investigator, passed away Jan. 21, 2021, at the age of 85. READ MORE
Remembering Rodney R. Million, M.D.
Rodney R. Million, M.D., renowned radiation oncology pioneer, Professor Emeritus, and former Chair of the UF Department of Radiation Oncology, died Jan. 29, 2021 in Gainesville. He was 92. READ MORE