Bring in more than $5 million in funding
by Tom O’Connor, UNMC
OMAHA, Neb. (Dec. 5, 2014)—The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and its clinical partner, Nebraska Medicine, has added five new translational cancer researchers to its staff in recent months.
Located at 45th Street and Dewey Avenue, the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center is scheduled to open in 2017.
The recruits hail from some of the nation’s top scientific and medical institutions. Collectively, they bring more than $5 million in cancer research funding to Nebraska. All have begun their work at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center during the past four months.
“When we launched this ambitious project to build the world’s finest cancer center right here in Omaha, we believed that it would attract the very best minds in cancer research from around the world,” said Ken Cowan, M.D., PhD, director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
“These recruits exemplify that vision. We are building a place where pioneering scientific exploration will shape the future of cancer science and medicine – and these recruits are just the start.”
The $323 million Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center – the largest construction project ever on the medical center campus – will create approximately 1,200 jobs at the medical center alone, plus thousands of others in construction and related industries. In total, the project will provide 4,657 new jobs to the metro area, infusing $537 million annually into the economy on an ongoing basis.
As translational cancer researchers, these new recruits conduct research that applies discoveries generated in the laboratory directly to patients’ bedsides.
The new recruits are:
Nick Woods, PhD
- Recruited from H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Oct. 1.
- Has a $400,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant in breast cancer.
- A Fairfield, Neb., native and cancer survivor, Dr. Woods’ primary research interest is systems biology based analysis of protein-protein interactions networks associated with cancer signaling pathways to identify novel targets for cancer therapies. His future goals are to examine acute myeloid leukemia signaling pathways associated with Fanconi Anemia proteins.
- For more information on Dr. Woods, click here.
Michael Green, PhD
- Recruited from Stanford University. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Nov. 1.
- Has a $195,000 grant funded by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
- Green works to identify and understand the genetic alterations that give rise to lymphoma and allow it to evade the immune system. He is interested in the genetics of B-cell lymphoma, with the goal of using genetic profiling to understand disease biology and inform treatment decisions.
- For more information on Dr. Green, click here.
Amar Singh, PhD
- Recruited from Vanderbilt University. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Oct. 1.
- Has a $1.65 million National Institutes of Health grant in colon cancer.
- Brought one other PhD level researcher with him to Nebraska.
- Singh’s research focuses on understanding the role of the tight junction proteins, claudins, in the regulation of barrier function, colonic inflammation and neoplastic transformation and growth in correlation with the EGF receptor signaling.
- For more information on Dr. Singh, click here.
Punita Dhawan, PhD
- Recruited from Vanderbilt University. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Oct. 1.
- Has a $950,000 Veteran’s Affairs Health Grant in colon cancer
- Recruited one additional PhD postdoctoral fellow from Chicago.
- Dhawan focuses her research on claudins, metastasis, tumorigenesis, signal transduction and trafficking, and cell death and differentiation.
- For more information on Dr. Dhawan, click here.
Rebecca Oberley-Deegan, PhD
- Recruited from National Jewish Hospital in Denver. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Aug. 1.
- Has a $1.65 million National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute grant in prostate cancer
- Oberley-Deegan’s research examines the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in the context of radiation and cancer biology. Her laboratory previously has shown that a catalytically active antioxidant can protect normal prostate tissues during radiation, but not prostate tumor tissues. The focus of her research is to determine the mechanisms by which antioxidants can protect normal tissues from radiation while simultaneously making the tumor vulnerable to radiation damage.
- For more information on Dr. Oberly-Deegan, click here.
The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated cancer center — a distinction held by only 68 centers in the country. It is the only NCI-designated center in the state of Nebraska. The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center is also one of the 13 founding members of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), an alliance of the world’s leading cancer centers. This recognition means the most current and innovative treatment options are available to cancer center patients through the integration of cutting-edge research into state-of-the-art care. Cancer center physicians and scientists work together to quickly translate discoveries made in the laboratory into innovative treatments for the patient.
