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A host of genes, proteins and enzymes are involved in the processes that turn healthy cells into cancerous cells. Researchers at the UGA Cancer Center are conducting research that reveals what happens at the cellular and molecular level to set the stage for cancer. They’re using the knowledge that basic research brings to create drugs that fight cancer by interfering with errant cellular processes at key points.
Robert D. Arnold
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar
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.
Michael Bartlett
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Understanding how the body absorbs, metabolizes and excretes environmental toxins as well as anti-cancer drugs is vital to assessing their risks and benefits. Bartlett is looking for new and precise ways to detect and measure carcinogens in the body and working to better understand how the body processes drugs.
Carl W. Bergmann
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
Director, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
Cells are embedded in an extracellular matrix made up of proteins and negatively charged carbohydrate chains. Bergman is exploring how these charged carbohydrates and proteins interact with cells to influence tumor growth and metastasis.
http://www.ccrc.uga.edu/world/personnel/templateperson.php?uid=117
David Chu
Distinguished Research Professor of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
In addition to his developing new antiviral agents to treat diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B virus, Chu has discovered an experimental drug for the treatment of leukemia as well as solid tumors that's currently being tested in humans.
Brian Cummings
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar
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.
Steve Dalton
Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Cell Biology
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scientist
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.
Kevin Dobbin
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar
Microarray technology has revolutionized cancer research by allowing scientists to measure the expression of thousands of genes within healthy cells as well as tumors. Dobbin’s research focuses on modifying traditional statistical study design and analysis methods to accommodate such massive amounts of data. The goal is to accelerate the rate at which laboratory findings are translated into clinical tools that can be used to improve patient outcomes.
http://www.publichealth.uga.edu/epibio/about_epibio/directory/biostatistics/dobbin.html
Scott Dougan
Cellular biology
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scientist
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.
Stephen Hajduk
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Cellular blueprints start as DNA but are then translated into RNA and then into proteins that do the work of cells. Hajduk is exploring how variations in the normal cellular process of RNA editing influence tumor formation and contribute to other diseases. In addition, a human blood protein he discovered in 1996 has been correlated with certain cancers, and he’s now working to understand why.
Shelley B. Hooks
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Like most cancers, ovarian cancer is the result of improper growth signals that drive cancerous cells to multiply and spread to other tissues. The predominant growth signal in ovarian cancer cells is a molecule known as lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Hooks and her team are investigating mechanisms for turning off LPA signaling that may lead to new treatments for ovarian cancer.
http://www.biomed.uga.edu/membership/directory/mem_hooks_pence_shelley.html
Yan Geng
Chemistry
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar
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.
Natarajan Kannan
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar
Many human cancers are associated with abnormal functioning of protein kinases- a large family of proteins that switch "on" and "off" signals required for cell growth and differentiation. Kannan's research is focused on understanding how genomic alterations (mutations) in protein kinases alters this on-off switch.
Edward Kipreos
Cellular Biology
The degradation of proteins plays key roles in the normal process by which cells grow and divide. Kipreos and his team are working to better understand these degradation mechanisms, which also act on proteins that promote or inhibit cancer formation.
Dr. Bruce LeRoy
Veterinary Pathology
Aside from humans, dogs are the only large mammals that are prone to prostate cancer, which often metastasizes to the bones. LeRoy uses lab tests and animal studies to better understand how the cancer develops and spreads. He’s also evaluating new treatments for prostate cancer in dogs that may be relevant to humans.
Robert Maier
GRA Ramsey Eminent Scholar of Microbial Physiology
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori colonizes the stomach and liver of humans and can persist for years, potentially resulting in cancer. Maier is studying the proteins that allow the bacterium to survive with the ultimate goal of finding its Achilles’ heel.
Michael McEachern
Genetics
By limiting the number of times a cell can divide, structures on the ends of chromosomes known as telomeres play an important role in keeping cells healthy and non-cancerous. McEachern uses yeast as a model system to explore how telomeres are maintained, both by the normal mechanism involving the enzyme telomerase and by an alternative mechanism involving the DNA repair pathway known as recombination.
Debra Mohnen
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Mohnen was the first scientist to show that pectin, a natural fiber found in fruits and vegetables, kills prostate cancer cells. She is now working to better understand the mechanisms by which pectin kills cancer cells and to identify the specific pectin structure responsible for its anti-cancer activity. The ultimate goal is to develop pectin-based pharmaceuticals or foods with enhanced health benefits.
http://www.ccrc.uga.edu/world/personnel/templateperson.php?uid=25
Kelley Moremen
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Specific changes in the carbohydrates attached to the surfaces of cells play roles in their adhesion and migration. Moremen’s lab is focused on generating inhibitors to block these changes with the goal of creating new targets for drugs that prevent the metastasis of cancer cells.
Mandi Murph
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar
Murph is working to better understand a cellular signaling pathway known as the lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) pathway that is involved in the progression of specific types of cancer. Drugs are under development targeting this pathway, and Murph’s research also aims to reveal their mechanisms of action to determine potential side effects before clinical trials and to maximize the likelihood of safe development.
http://pbs.rx.uga.edu/faculty/detail.asp?gID=%7BAB9A057F-E98E-44EF-B724-59614ADC8094%7D
Vasu Nair
William Henry Terry, Sr. Professor-GRA Eminent Scholar in Drug Discovery
Director, UGA Center for Drug Discovery
In addition to developing antiviral drugs that fight HIV, Nair is also working to create drugs that inhibit an enzyme known as IMPDH that, in one of its two forms, is found in tumors and other rapidly proliferating cells.
Dr. Nicole Northrup
Small Animal Medicine and Surgery
Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Medicine Specialty of Oncology
Dogs and cats develop the same cancers as people. In the College of Veterinary Medicine's Teaching Hospital, Dr. Northrup and her colleagues provide the highest quality care for veterinary cancer patients. Through clinical studies, they improve diagnostic and therapeutic options for companion animals and people.
Ron Orlando
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Mass spectrometry is a critical tool that scientists use to study cells. Orlando is working to refine the technique so that scientists can better understand the complex cellular structures that play important roles in diseases such as diabetes and cancer.
http://www.ccrc.uga.edu/world/personnel/templateperson.php?uid=27
Vladimir Popik
Chemistry
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar
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.
Michael Pierce
UGA Cancer Center Director
Mudter Professor in Cancer Research
Pierce and his team have isolated a specific enzyme that is elevated in colorectal and breast cancer cells, as well as other types of cancer. The team is now looking for ways to inhibit the enzyme to slow the growth of tumors and prevent metastasis. His team is also working to find biomarkers that would allow doctors to diagnose pancreatic cancer early, when it’s more easily treated. MORE >>
James Prestegard
Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar of NMR Spectroscopy
Determining the structural characteristics of protein-carbohydrate interactions is vital to understanding protein functions as they bind to carbohydrates at cell surfaces. Using a technique known as NMR spectroscopy, Prestegard is studying proteins involved in the proliferation of cancer cells and revealing targets for the design of drugs that can block their action.
Walter K. Schmidt
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scientist
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.
Michael Terns
American Cancer Society Scholar
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Genetics
Telomerase is an enzyme that is inactive in most normal cells of the body but active in nearly all types of cancers, where it is required for the uncontrolled growth of tumors. Terns is studying how cells control telomerase activity in hopes that the knowledge will lead to the development of telomerase inhibitors that combat the growth and spread of various cancers.
Rebecca Terns
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
An effective inhibitor of the enzyme telomerase has the potential to treat all major forms of cancer without detrimental effects to most normal cells. Terns and her team are working to identify factors that are essential for the function of telomerase and to provide new routes for pharmaceutical inhibition of the enzyme in cancer.
Michael Tiemeyer
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Many of the basic mechanisms involved in the development of an organism from a single-celled embryo to a multi-cellular adult are the same ones that go awry when cells become cancerous. Tiemeyer is working to better understand the process of development, specifically focusing on the role of cell-surface carbohydrates, in hopes that his findings will reveal new ways to treat cancer.
http://www.ccrc.uga.edu/world/personnel/templateperson.php?uid=30
Jeffrey Urbauer
Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Modern therapy for breast cancers relies on drugs known collectively as antiestrogens. Unfortunately, over time, many breast cancers become resistant to these drugs and cease to respond to the therapy. Urbauer's goal is to discover how antiestrogen resistance develops so that more effective drugs can be designed for breast cancer treatment.
Jai-Sheng Wang
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar
Wang’s research focuses on studying the impact of environmental toxins on the formation of liver and esophageal cancers. He’s also exploring the role natural products and dietary supplements may play in preventing cancer in high-risk populations.
http://www.publichealth.uga.edu/ehs/about_ehs/directory/faculty/wang.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
Lyndon West
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Humans have long exploited natural compounds in the treatment of diseases. The anti-cancer drug Taxol, for example, was isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. West is exploring the seas for new compounds, examining marine invertebrates such as sponges and soft corals to determine whether they contain anti-cancer compounds.
Jason Zastre
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar
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
