HERA Acts as Incubator for New Scientific Talent and Ideas

OSB1 Grant Recipients

Current Investigators: 2010

Bin Guan, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow from the department of Pathology, will use state-of-the-art technologies to characterize a gene, USP25, believed to play a role in ovarian cancer development.

Ana Tergas, M.D., a clinical fellow from the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, will characterize the function of particular immune cells (NKT cells) and how they respond in ascites from ovarian cancer.

Okey Ibeanu, M.D., M.P.H., a clinical fellow on the Kelly Gynecologic Oncology Service, will study sexual dysfunction following primary surgery for ovarian cancer.

Past Recipients

Dr. Yuan Tian, second-time recipient of the HERA OSB1 grant, will continue the identification of markers to discriminate the different subtypes of ovarian cancer and normal ovarian tissue. With the assistance of the HERA Foundation’s grant, she hopes to identify these markers, specifically glycoproteins from ovarian tumor sub-types, and evaluate their utilities to help in the prognosis and diagnosis of ovarian cancer. (2009)

Dr. Dan Lu of the Department of Pathology at Johns Hopkins University studies gynecological tumor immunology and immune evasion. With the OBS1 award, she will identify new molecules recognized by the immune system in ovarian cancer. Lu aims to develop a more efficient screening methodology to identify cell surface molecules as target therapy of ovarian cancer. (2009)

Dr. Marie-France Penet of the Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins University will develop a novel image-guided molecular targeted approach to ovarian cancer treatment. Therapeutic agents called "cationic liposomes" will be designed to contain molecules that reduce specific proteins required for ovarian cancer cell growth. She previously developed similar innovative therapies that target breast and prostate cancer. (2009)

Brant Wang, M.D., of the Pathology Department at Johns Hopkins University examined early detection methods associated with improving the diagnosis value of the CA 125 blood test. (2003)

• Publication acknowledging HERA: Wang, et al. Increased plasma DNA integrity in cancer patients. Cancer Res. 2003 63:3966-3968.  This study showed that larger fragments of free DNA in blood correlates with early signs of cancer.  They conclude this DNA may be a convenient marker for early detection.
  
  
• When Dr. Wang finished at Hopkins, he took a job as house staff at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC.  He continues his studies in Ovarian Cancer.

Dr. Hiroyuki Yoshida in molecular therapeutics at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center studied novel targets for controlling ovarian cancer metastases. (2004)

• Publication acknowledging HERA: Yoshida, et al. Lessons from border cell migration in the Drosophila ovary: A role for myosin VI in dissemination of human ovarian cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2004 101:8144-8149. They show that there are similar processes in ovary development in flies as in human ovarian cancer.  With this correlation they identified a drug target that is unique to high-grade ovarian cancers.
  
  
• Dr. Yoshida previously worked for a HERA board member (Dr. Honami Naora) and is currently doing research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.

Christina Borgeest, Ph.D., in public health at Johns Hopkins explored the role that environmental factors like pesticides play on estrogen metabolism. (2004)

• Dr. Borgeest’s studied the effects of environmental pressures on woman’s health, but midway through her year of funding from HERA she left Hopkins for personal reasons and returned the remaining funds to HERA.

Kentaro Nakayama, M.D., Ph.D., in pathology at Johns Hopkins studied the molecular etiology of low-grade ovarian cancer and innovative target-based therapies. (2005)

• Dr. Nakayama has not acknowledged HERA in any of his publications.  However, he continues to do ovarian and other gyn cancer research.  He is now in Japan.

Antonio Santillan, M.D., from the Department of Gynecologic Oncology at Johns Hopkins individualized treatment for ovarian cancer. (2005)

• Dr Sanillan acknowledges HERA in 2 publications that he is co-author on with Dr. Bazzaro. These publications are summarized below.
  
  
• He has 21 publications in ovarian cancer-related research since 2005.
  
  
• Currently Dr. Santillan is still a Clinical Fellow at Hopkins.

Two young scientists at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center initiated novel collaborations with labs at different institutions to bring new technologies back to their labs to advance ovarian cancer research. (2005) Dr. Donna Badgewell and Dr. Steve Rosenberg

Martina Bazzaro, Ph.D., in the Pathology Department at Johns Hopkins worked to determine cellular abnormalities in ovarian cancer and potential growth inhibitors that target these abnormalities. (2004 and in 2006)

• Publications acknowledging HERA: Bazzaro, et al. Ubiquitin-proteasome system stress sensitizes ovarian cancer to proteasome inhibitor-induced apoptosis. Cancer Res. 2006 66:3754-3763.  This study reveals that if certain cellular functions are turned up in an ovarian cancer cells relative to normal cells are inhibited, the cancer cells are more susceptible to cell death.
  
  
• Bazzaro, et al. Myosin II co-chaperone general cell UNC-45 overexpression is associated with ovarian cancer, rapid proliferation, and motility. Am J Pathol. 2007 171:1640-1649.  This study shows that a protein (similar to that found in flies above) is found at high concentrations in ovarian cancer; this protein functions to make the cell cancerous and may be a good drug target. 

Tonya Webb, Ph.D., in the Pathology Department at Johns Hopkins worked to determine the function of cells from the immune system that infiltrate ovarian cancer. 2006)

• Currently no publications acknowledging HERA, but it is still early, there may be some in the future.

Chih-long Chang, M.D., Ph.D., in the Pathology Department at Johns Hopkins proposed an immunotherapeutic approach for ovarian cancer.  He determined if vaccinia virus, a virus that replicates in ovaries, could be genetically modified to express a protein that would improve immune responses to the ovaries. (2007)

Natini Jinawath, M.D., Ph.D., in the Pathology Department at Johns Hopkins studied mutations in kinase enzymes in low-grade ovarian cancers.  She tested inhibitors of these enzymes to assess their therapeutic potential. (2007)

Dr. Rob Bristow, M.D., Gift to the Department of Gynecology & Oncology at Johns Hopkins for training clinical fellows interested in pursuing research.( 2007) Donor Directed

Bryan Hennessy, M.D., at M.D. Anderson both characterized a number of ovarian cancer cell lines and started an “open access” ovarian cell line and information database.  This resource is available to all scientists and will improve the quality of experiments performed. (2007)

• Important publication that may have resulted from this effort is Hennessy, et al. Ovarian cancer: linking genomics to new target discovery and molecular markers--the way ahead. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2008 617:23-40.

Dr. Balasubramanyam Karanam from the Johns Hopkins Department of Oncology received the highest scores on his grant application this year.  He is addressing epigenetic changes in ovarian cancer—these changes are stable between cell divisions, but do not involve changes in the underlying DNA sequence (like mutations).  Using the activator and inhibitor molecules of these epigenetic changes, he will determine the effects of the changes on regulation of ovarian cancer cell growth.  It is an innovative new approach to address a difficult question. (2008)

Dr. Stephanie Ueda is in the Pathology Department at Johns Hopkins and is working to understand the expression pattern of an enzyme proposed to be involved in the growth of low-grade ovarian serous carcinoma.  She is also examining some inhibitors of this enzyme. (2008)

Dr. Yuan Tian of Johns Hopkins Pathology Department is conducting a study that profiles proteins modified with sugars from ovarian cancer patients.  This study is a promising innovative diagnostic approach and may be important in designing future therapeutics for specific cancers ovarian in origin. (2008)

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center will establish cell lines and xenografts (human cancers that can be grown and propagated in mice) from as many ovarian cancer patients as feasible. These would be used for fundamental studies of ovarian cancer stem cells, as well as for the individualization of care. Particular effort would be given to establishing additional xenografts and cell lines from low-grade ovarian cancers. (2008)