Medical student receives 2009 Lucien Rubenstein Award

The American Brain Tumor Association has announced that Alexander Ksendzovsky, a third-year medical student at the Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University in North Chicago, is the 2009 Lucien Rubenstein Award recipient. The work of Ksendzovsky, one of 10 2009 American Brain Tumor Medical Student Summer Fellows, was deemed "outstanding" by ABTA's distinguished Scientific Advisory Council. Ksendzovsky's research focused on a vaccine that may trigger the body's immune system to fight malignant brain tumors.

Ksendzovsky worked under the direction of Dr. Roberta P. Glick at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Chicago. Dr. Glick has been studying the effects of cytokines - small proteins released by cells that can trigger the body's immune system - in the treatment of malignant gliomas, a common and potentially aggressive form of brain tumor. Her laboratory has received encouraging preliminary results in the use of novel "Immuno-Gene" therapy vaccines in treating gliomas. Over the summer, in collaboration with Douglas Feinstein, M.D., professor of anatomy and anesthesiology at the University of Illinois, Ksendzovsky evaluated which cytokines released by gliomas are immunosuppressive, how they are released, and their effects on T-cells and immunity.

"We are proud of the American Brain Tumor Association's historical support of young, talented researchers working to improve brain tumor diagnostics and treatment, said ABTA Executive Director Elizabeth Wilson. "We commend Mr. Ksendzovsky for his outstanding work and look forward to his having a long and distinguished career of significant contributions to brain tumor research."

Each year, the American Brain Tumor Association offers a select group of medical students the opportunity to spend eight-to-10 weeks in a brain tumor research laboratory. Based on reports that each student is required to submit at the end of their summer internship, an outstanding student is selected to receive the Lucien Rubenstein Award. The award is named in honor of Dr. Lucien J. Rubinstein, a professor of neuropathology at the University of Virginia and a world-renowned brain tumor researcher. As part of the award, the outstanding student receives $1,000 in addition to his or her $3,000 summer internship stipend.

Source: American Brain Tumor Association