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UAlbany's
Gen*NY*Sis Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics Appoints
Three New Scientists to Lead Cutting-edge Research Efforts
New Faculty Augment Center�s
Capabilities in Cancer Genomics, Systems Biology and Disease
Regulation
Contact: Karl
Luntta (518) 437-4980
ALBANY,
N.Y. (September 19, 2003) -- The University at Albany Gen*NY*Sis
Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics (GCECG), a comprehensive,
state-of-the-art research facility operated by the University's
Center for Functional Genomics (CFG), has announced the appointment
of three new scientists to its cancer biology research team.
The three researchers will report to GCECG director and University
at Albany professor Paulette McCormick, Ph.D. and are faculty
members in the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the University�s
School of Public Health.
"These young scientists are emerging
leaders in some of the newest and most exciting areas of cancer
and biological research," said Dr. McCormick. "Each
is a recognized authority on subjects that are re-crafting
our understanding of the molecular interactions that lead
to cancer. What�s more, although these scientists are pursuing
their own independent research interests, each researcher�s
work complements their colleagues� efforts and the ongoing
work at this institution. I am confident that our new staff
members will make significant contributions to the center�s
cancer biology program and keep us at the leading edge of
cancer research."
"I�ve never seen a group of young scientists
of this caliber brought in at the beginning of a new cancer
research facility,� said Dr. Peter Levin, Dean of the UAlbany
School of Public Health. "These new faculty have the
potential to be world-class scientists and will add immeasurably
to the depth of our program in cancer by linking laboratory
science with population based cancer epidemiology. With them
on board, we can now begin to make significant progress in
the war on cancer.�
About
the Scientists
Dr. Julio A. Aguirre-Ghiso
Julio Aguirre-Ghiso joins CFG from The Mount Sinai School
of Medicine in New York City, where he was a Post-doctoral
Fellow. Aguirre-Ghiso, whose research focus is tumor metastasis
(the spreading of a tumor from one location in the body to
another), is a co-author of more than 20 papers published
in leading cancer research journals such as Cancer
Cell, Cancer Research, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Current
Opinion in Cell Biology, the Journal of Cell Biology, Oncogene
and the International
Journal of Cancer. He is also a frequent lecturer and
reviewer for numerous scientific journals and organizations.
Aguirre-Ghiso received his master's degree
in molecular genetics and biotechnology in 1994 and his doctorate
in molecular cell biology in 1997, both from the University
of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has earned numerous awards
and honors, including two �Best Basic Research Paper� awards
from the University of Buenos Aires, where he also received
undergraduate and graduate fellowships. He is a recipient
of the Florencio Fiorini Foundation award from the Argentine
League for the Fight Against Cancer, and the highly competitive
and prestigious Charles H. Revson Fellowship in Biomedical
Research, an award granted to selected scientists at four
New York City medical institutions.
With his focus on cancer, Aguirre-Ghiso and
colleagues recently identified the mechanisms that cause certain
tumors to grow or become dormant. He intends to identify the
genetic programs that dictate dormancy in multiple tumor types
and to exploit that dormancy as a cancer therapy.
Dr. Douglas S.
Conklin
Douglas Conklin comes to GCECG from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
in Long Island, New York, where he was a Research Investigator
studying RNA interference (RNAi), a natural process by which
scientists can �silence� genes to study the effect that the
gene�s de-activation has on a disease or normal physiologic
functions. Prior to his work at Cold Spring Harbor, Conklin
was a senior staff scientist at Genetica, Inc., a Cambridge,
MA biotechnology company. Conklin is the co-author of several
research papers and his work has been published in prestigious
journals such as Nature,
Science, Nature Structural Biology, the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, and
Molecular Cell Biology and is a co-inventor of two
awarded patents, one of which focuses on the use of RNA interference
as a laboratory technique, and another patent regarding modified
retroviral vectors (a method of introducing genetic material
into living mammalian cells). In addition to being an avid
lecturer, he has won several awards, including two NIH trainee
awards and a Damon Runyan-Walter Winchell Postgraduate Fellowship.
Following receipt of a bachelor�s degree
in microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh, Conklin was
a National Institutes of Health trainee and then a graduate
assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he
earned a doctorate in molecular biology. He conducted his
post-doctoral work at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, which
he then joined as a staff scientist.
Dr. Conklin�s current work with RNAi is some of the most advanced
in the field of functional genomics since the new RNAi techniques
are capable of targeting or silencing virtually any gene or
sets of genes - a feat that, until now, was never possible
on a wide scale. RNAi can be used to develop diagnostics and
to validate targets for new therapies. In addition, RNAi itself
may be used therapeutically by silencing genes that directly
contribute to disease.
Dr. Scott Tenenbaum
Scott Tenenbaum arrives at GCECG following a Post-doctoral
Fellowship in microbiology at Duke University, where he helped
pioneer work in the breaking field of ribonomics. Ribonomics
is a novel approach using RNA-binding proteins to identify
exactly which sets of genes are involved in specific diseases
or processes within in a cell. This represents a major advance
over traditional approaches which typically only identify
activated genes without looking at the way the gene products
are actually combined and used to make proteins. A co-inventor
of five awarded patents, Dr. Tenenbaum is also the recipient
of an assortment of awards and Fellowships, including NIH
postdoctoral fellowships in viral oncology and autoimmune
immunology; two awards from the Duke University Comprehensive
Cancer Center (Fellow in Cancer and Basic Science of Cancer);
the National Hemophilia Foundation Judith Graham Pool Fellowship;
The American Association of Blood Banks Transfusion Medicine
award; and the Roche Laboratories Award for Excellence in
Clinical Research. Tenenbaum is the co-author or lead author
of more than a dozen peer-reviewed papers appearing in journals
including Cell, the Lancet,
JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association), Gene,
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Molecular
Cell, Rheumatology, and
Autoimmunity.
Tenenbaum received a bachelor's of science
degree in liberal arts and sciences from the University of
Missouri, a master�s degree in microbiology and immunology
from Wright State University in Ohio, and his doctorate in
microbiology and immunology from Tulane University, after
which he went on to post-doctoral fellowships at Tulane and
Duke Universities. He explains his work with an analogy to
cooking: whereas the Human Genome Project was able to sequence
our DNA or �genome� and identify the ingredients (genes) the
body uses to create the body�s proteins, tissues and organs,
decoding the �ribonome� is like reading a recipe - a set of
instructions telling us how, when, and how much of those ingredients
need to be combined and prepared in order to create a particular
dish. Clinically, the use of ribonomics promises to greatly
increase science�s understanding of all our genes and how
those genes are related to health and disease.
About
the Gen*NY*Sis Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics and
the Center for Functional Genomics
The Gen*NY*Sis Center for Excellence in Cancer
Genomics was founded with the support of Senator Joseph Bruno,
majority leader of the New York State Senate, the state�s
Gen*NY*Sis program, and the University at Albany to provide
the Capital District with cutting-edge expertise in cancer
biology. Its new research facility, on the University�s East
Campus in Rensselaer, N.Y., is scheduled to open in fall 2004.
The Center for Functional Genomics, under
whose auspices the Gen*NY*Sis Center currently operates, provides
the scientific community with the infrastructure, instrumentation
and expertise necessary to perform cutting-edge biotechnology
research.
As part of its mission, CFG maintains core
competencies in genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, transgenesis
and cell and tissue culture. CFG, in partnership with Taconic
Biotechnology, also runs one of the nation�s four NIH-designated
mutant mouse resource centers, providing researchers with
mice for pre-clinical studies aimed at finding treatments
for genetic diseases.
CFG also supports emerging biotechnology
and biomedical companies with a business incubator that includes
lab space, technological infrastructure, and a staff of highly
experienced research scientists.
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