Einstein faculty members present recent research at AACR Annual Meeting

From uncovering the role nerve cells play in metastasis to identifying new cancer-causing genes, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University made notable advances in the understanding and potential treatment of cancer during the past year.

Several Einstein faculty members and students will present their recent research at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, taking place in San Diego April 5-9, 2014. Among the presentations are those during major and mini symposia:

•Gene Regulation and Transcription Factors - Ujunwa Cynthia Okoye-Okafor, M.D./Ph.D. student
Ms. Okoye-Okafor, who will be receiving the AACR's 2014 AACR Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award during the Annual Meeting, will present "Characterization of novel protein-coding gene named TIHL (Translocated in Hodgkin's Lymphoma)." Ms. Okoye-Okafor discovered this gene as a student in the lab of Ulrich Steidl, M.D., Ph.D., who focuses on transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of hematopoiesis and leukemia. Dr. Steidl is associate professor of cell biology and of medicine at Einstein and associate chair, translational research in oncology at Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital for Einstein.
Monday, April 7, 3:00-5:00 pm (3:20-3:35 pm), Room 33, San Diego Convention Center

•Neural Regulation of Prostate Cancer - Paul Frenette, M.D.
Dr. Frenette will present at the major symposium titled "Complexity in the Tumor Microenvironment." He will discuss his research, including his recent Science paper that showed nerves play a key role in triggering prostate cancer and influencing its spread. Dr. Frenette is chair and director of Einstein's Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine.
Tuesday, April 8, 10:30 am-12:30 pm, Ballroom 20D, San Diego Convention Center

•EGFR Family, P13K, AKT and NF-kB Signaling - Antonio Di Cristofano, Ph.D.
Dr. Di Cristofano will chair and present during the minisymposium. The central focus of his laboratory is the identification and characterization of the specific biological processes and signaling pathways that are controlled by the PI3K/PTEN/AKT cascade. His research is centered on tumors originating in the thyroid gland and he was recently honored by the American Thyroid Association for his work. Dr. Di Cristofano is professor of developmental & molecular biology at Einstein.
Tuesday, April 8, 3:00-5:00 pm, Room 6CF, San Diego Convention Center

•Epigenetics 4 - Orsolya Giricz, Ph.D.
Dr. Giricz will be presenting "Integrated epigenomic profiling reveals widespread demethylation in melanoma and reveals CSF-1 receptor as an aberrant regulator of malignant growth and invasion." She received an AACR Millennium Scholar in Training Award for this work. Dr. Giricz is an associate in the medicine department at Einstein and works in the lab of Amit Verma, M.B.B.S., whose research focuses on epigenomic profiling of tumors. Dr. Verma is associate professor of medicine and of developmental & molecular biology at Einstein and director of hematologic malignancies at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care,
Tuesday, April 8, 3:00-5:00 pm (3:35-3:50 pm), Room 6A, San Diego Convention Center

In addition to the symposium presentations, faculty members will lead two methods workshops and present 19 posters on a variety of topics, including imaging tumor cells, evaluating cancer subtypes in epidemiological studies, and identifying potential biomarkers and drug targets for breast, colon, thyroid, head and neck, and lung cancers.

Source: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University