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The Penn State Cancer Institute building is seen in the evening. A road leads up to it and a wall of glass windows is visible above the entrance.

Penn State Cancer Institute plans second annual Cancer Research Day

Penn State Cancer Institute‘s second annual Cancer Research Day will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 9, 2019, in the Berg Auditorium, part of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State University Park.

A head-and-shoulders professional photo of Dr. Eileen Dolan

Eileen Dolan, PhD, keynote speaker

The institute is inviting undergraduate, graduate and medical students as well as postdoctoral scholars to use this opportunity to collaborate with peers and learn more about cancer research careers. This year’s program features oral talks from current cancer research trainees, keynote and guest speakers in established cancer research careers and a poster session for networking.

Keynote Speaker

Eileen Dolan, PhD, is a professor of medicine, co-leader of the Clinical Experimental Therapeutics Program and Associate Director for Education at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center.

She is internationally recognized for her work in identifying genomic markers associated with chemotherapeutic toxicities using clinical genome-wide association studies.

Guest Speaker

A head-and-shoulders professional photo of Dr. James Adair

James Adair, PhD, guest speaker

James Adair, PhD, is a professor of materials science and engineering, biomedical engineering and pharmacology at Penn State and an entrepreneur and co-founder of Keystone Nano, a company to accelerate the development of discoveries into the medical field.

His recent research has explored the use of nanoparticles for encapsulating and delivering chemotherapeutics to cancer cells and led to a clinical trial to assess ceramide nano liposome in the treatment of solid tumors.

Full Agenda: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

  • 9 a.m.: Registration and continental breakfast outside Berg Auditorium
  • 9:30 a.m.: Opening remarks
    • Adam Glick, PhD, Chair, Penn State Cancer Research Day
    • Kristin Eckert, PhD, Penn State Cancer Institute Associate Director for Career Enhancement
  • 9:35 a.m.: Keynote – “Reducing Chemotherapy-Induced Toxicities: Is there a Role for Genomics?”
    • Eileen Dolan, PhD, Professor of Medicine, co-leader of the Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics Program and Associate Director for Education, University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • 10:25 a.m.: Guest Speaker – “Penn State and Keystone Nano Medical Formulations to Treat Cancer”
    • James Adair, PhD, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering and Pharmacology, Materials Science Institute, Penn State
  • 11:15 a.m.: Break
  • 11:30 a.m.: “Modulation of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activity Influences Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Survival”
    • Brandon Yusko, MCIBS PhD candidate, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
  • 11:45 a.m.: “Age-varying Associations between Physical Activity and Psychological Outcomes among Rural Cancer Survivors”
    • Nishat Bhuiyan, MS, PhD candidate, Department of Kinesiology, T32 predoctoral fellow, Center for Healthy Aging
  • Noon: “Developing New Therapeutics for the Treatment of AML”
    • Charyguly Annageldiyev, MD, postdoctoral scholar, Claxton Laboratory, Penn State Cancer Institute
  • 12:15 p.m.: “Interrogation of the Role of Gpr44 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia”
    • Fenghua Qian, Pathobiology PhD candidate, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
  • 12:30 p.m.: “Reprogramming Cancer: Data-driven Approach Ranks Master Regulators of Drug Resistance”
    • David Wooten, PhD, postdoctoral scholar, Department of Physics
  • 12:45 p.m.: “Contributions of the Epstein-Barr virus Non-Protein-Coding Locus BHLF1 to Latency and Reactivation”
    • Lena N. Lupey-Green, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
  • 1 p.m.: Buffet lunch and poster viewing/networking, third-floor bridge
  • 2:15 p.m.: Career question-and-answer session with faculty, Room 301D
  • 3 p.m.: Adjournment

Learn More

For details, email Tonya Krushinsky at tlh203@psu.edu.

Register online here

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