Cancer Center and Nicholas School Create Partnership

The Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center (DCCC) and the Nicholas School of the Environment (NSOE) awarded seed money for nine novel collaborative projects to investigate links between environmental toxins and cancer. Three of the projects received $50,000 each in seed money while the other six received $25,000 each. Every project includes at least one researcher from each of the institutions. Funding for the awards came from a gift made by Fred and Alice Stanback. Ms. Stanback is a member of the DCCC’s Board of Overseers, and Mr. Stanback is a former member of the NSOE’s Board of Visitors. His son Brad is a member of the NSOE's Board of Visitors.

The $50,000 winners included:

1. “High Throughput Screening of an Environmental Toxicant Library on Human Breast and Ovarian Tumor Stem Cells”

Timothy M. Clay, PhD (DCCC)—PI

Andrew Berchuck, MD (DCCC)—Co-PI

Stephen Chui, MD (Hematology/Oncology) —Co-PI

Jonathan Freedman, PhD (NSOE) —Co-PI

Haifan Lin, PhD (DCCC) —Co-PI

Susan K. Murphy, PhD (DCCC) —Co-PI

 

2. “Environmental Endocrine Disruptors and PPAR-gamma Signaling in Breast Cancer”

Julianne M. Hall, PhD (Pharmacology and Cancer Biology) —Co-PI

Donald P. McDonnell, PhD (DCCC) —Co-PI

Seth W. Kullman, PhD (NSOE) —Co-PI

 

3. “Environmental Regulation of Liver Progenitors in a Novel Small Animal Model of Hepatocarcinogenesis”

Yin-Xiong Li, MD, PhD (Pediatrics and Cell Biology)

Anna Mae Diehl, MD (Gastroenterology)

Jason Sicklick, MD (Post-doctoral fellow)

David Hinton, PhD (NSOE)

Seth Kullman, PhD (NSOE)

Gayathri Devi, PhD (DCCC)

 

The $25,000 winners included:

1. “Identification of Environmental Agents Altering Prostate Cancer Behavior”

Phillip G. Febbo, MD (Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy)—PI

Jonathan H. Freedman, PhD (NSOE) —Co-PI

Mariano A. Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD (DCCC) —Co-PI

 

2. “Membrane Initiated Steroidal Signaling: A Potential Novel Mechanism for Xenobiotic Induced Tumor Promotion”

Seth W. Kullman, PhD (NSOE)

Timothy Haystead, PhD (DCCC)

David Hinton, PhD (NSOE)

Victoria Seewaldt, MD (DCCC)

 

3. “Pilot Project #1: Does Selenium Exhibit Complex Interactions with Dietary Compounds (Folate) and Environmental Agents (Arsenic) that Affect DNA Methylation”

Victoria Seewaldt, MD (DCCC)

David Hinton, PhD (NSOE)

Randy Jirtle, PhD (DCCC)

Seth Kullman, PhD (NSOE)

Robert Cardiff, MD, PhD (UC Davis)

W. Chris Hawkes, PhD (UC Davis)

 

4. “Pilot Project #2: Does the Dose and/or Timing of Selenium Exposure Determine the Ability of Selenium to Either Prevent or Promote Breast Cancer?”

Victoria Seewaldt, MD (DCCC)

David Hinton, PhD (NSOE)

Randy Jirtle, PhD (DCCC)

Seth Kullman, PhD (NSOE)

Robert Cardiff, MD, PhD (UC Davis)

W. Chris Hawkes, PhD (UC Davis)

 

5. “Identifying Genes Involved in Nitrosative Stress Response and Establishing Their Relevance in Cancer Using OxyR As Model System”

Divya Seth, PhD (Biochemistry)—PI

Jonathan S. Stamler, MD (DCCC)

Alfred Hausladen, PhD (Pulmonary)

Sung-Oog Kim, PhD (Pulmonary)

 

6. “The Link Between Environmental Radon and Cancer: A Pilot Study for a New Biogeochemical Tracer and Geographical Relationships”

Avner Vengosh, PhD (NSOE)--PI

James J. Vredenburgh, MD (DCCC) —Co-PI

Jennifer Garst, MD (DCCC) —Co-PI

Richard Di Giulio, PhD (NSOE) —Co-PI

Lincoln Pratson, PhD (NSOE) —Co-PI

Emily M. Klein, PhD (NSOE)