People

Researcher wins Stand Up to Cancer grant

Glenn J. Asakawa/University of Colorado

Yin

Hang "Hubert" Yin has won a $750,000 grant for a project with the potential of changing cancer science.

The researcher at the University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Colorado Cancer Center was awarded one of 13 Stand Up to Cancer Innovative Research Grants. He competed against more than 400 U.S. scientists.

The assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at CU-Boulder will receive the money over the next three years while attempting to build a new tool to probe proteins in Epstein-Bar virus. The virus benignly infects about 90 percent of all people, but also is involved in various types of lymphomas.

"If we are successful, we are going to have a very powerful tool that researchers could use to study the 25 to 30 percent of human proteins that are not accessible currently, where you could name any protein, and we can provide a specific tool with which you can study it," he said. "We can then think about new methods of treatment and prevention for lymphoma and other diseases. ...Science can move slowly, then take giant leaps ahead. This tool could be the giant leap ahead."

Proteins play pivotal roles in many biological processes, including cancer development, making them excellent targets for drugs.

"We asked our best and brightest young researchers to step outside their comfort zones and strive to make big differences with bold initiatives," said Richard D. Kolodner, Ph.D., chairman of the Stand Up to Cancer grants review committee. "If these projects come to fruition, some of the ideas could be game-changers in cancer research."

Yin is a member of the Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology directed by Nobel laureate Thomas Cech at CU-Boulder; he also is part of the developmental therapeutics team led by Gail Eckhardt, M.D., at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

When the probe is designed, Yin said, he will collaborate with other scientists at the cancer center to test it in cell and animal models, and eventually bring it to market, either as a tool to develop a drug that targets the EBV-initiated lymphomas or a treatment in itself.

The Innovative Research Grants Program's funding comes from Stand Up to Cancer, a collaboration of the American Association for Cancer Research and the Entertainment Industry Foundation that raises money to hasten the pace of groundbreaking translational research that can get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives. Learn more about the Stand Up to Cancer initiative at http://www.su2c.org.

Song, smiles trademarks of UCCS Employee of the Quarter

Friloux

Mike Friloux of facilities services at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs earned Employee of the Quarter honors this term.

His qualifications include singing while cleaning bathrooms, encountering cantankerous wildlife and taming a flaming vacuum cleaner, according to his nomination form. But while these activities are "above and beyond the call of duty," the custodial crew member does his job in Dwire Hall with a spirit and commitment noticed by personnel in the School of Public Affairs. Mary Lou Kartis, assistant to the dean, and Terry Schwartz, associate dean, submitted his nomination.

"Mike takes the time to share a friendly greeting and smile with everyone he meets," Kartis said. "Regardless of what's on his list of things to do each day, Mike tackles each assignment with efficiency and quality. He has a deep understanding of what quality work means; Mike's simply the best. These ideas and thoughts aren't from one single person here in SPA; the entire School of Public Affairs feels this way about Mike."

Friloux has served as a custodian at UCCS for several years, since retiring from the military. "It's not uncommon to see Mike helping students find classrooms in Dwire Hall or a particular faculty or staff member's office," the tribute says. "He doesn't just point the way; he personally escorts students to our office and makes introductions before he leaves."

Friloux has been chased by raccoons and spotted a growling bear when emptying trash early one morning. He laughed off flames when a defective vacuum cleaner shorted out, repairing it and resuming work the next day.
Photo by UCCS on newsletter

Nursing professor wins leadership award

Skiba

Diane Skiba, a professor at the University of Colorado Denver's College of Nursing, recently was honored with the Virginia K. Saba Nursing Informatics Leadership Award. Presented by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, the award is given to an informatics expert whose contributions have the capacity and scope to enhance quality, safety, outcomes and decision making in health and nursing care from a national or international perspective.

Skiba works nationally and internationally to ensure all nurses have the necessary knowledge and skills to practice in a technology-rich health care environment. She has been appointed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the National Advisory Council on Nursing Education and Practice; is an honorary member of Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing; and is a member of the local Alpha Kappa-at-Large Chapter. Skiba also is an honorary fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and is an elected fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics.

"I am most honored to be receiving this award, as Virginia K. Saba in 1981 took me under her wings and guided me throughout my career," Skiba said. "She is a mentor and an inspiration who has always been there to nudge me forward and to provide me with opportunities that have shaped my career."

The award was established in 2005 by Saba, Ph.D., with a planned gift to Sigma Theta Tau International Foundation for Nursing. Skiba is the third recipient of the Virginia K. Saba Nursing Informatics Leadership Award.

Adjunct faculty member to lead learning program

Hartman

Andrew Hartman has been named coordinator of the University of Colorado at Boulder Law School's new Schaden Experiential Learning Program. Hartman has spent nearly 20 years in private practice and 10 years as a Colorado Law adjunct faculty member.

"We are thrilled to have Andy as the first program coordinator. Our Experiential Learning Program is now officially under way," said Dean David H. Getches. "This program is building linkages with faculty involved in experiential education and those doing traditional classroom teaching. In addition to giving greater coherence to our practical curriculum, the program instills the legal profession's ideal of service to society and meeting the needs of underserved people."

Hartman has helped clients in various intellectual property, litigation and transactional matters in Colorado and around the nation, including Facebook, eBay, IZZE Beverage and Coach leather goods. He was a partner at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, a leading technology and emerging company law practice. Previously, he was an associate and partner at Reed Smith/Sachnoff & Weaver in Chicago. He has taught trademark, unfair competition (false advertising) and copyright law classes at Colorado Law since 2001.

Hartman has provided pro bono legal assistance to the Boulder Community Foundation, Moving to End Sexual Assault, the University of Colorado, the Dairy Center for the Performing Arts and the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation.

Kudos for mapping expert's publication

The Geoscience Information Society's Best Paper Award for 2009 was given to Kathryn Lage's "Zoom!  Remote Sensing Imagery in the Geosciences." 

Lage is map librarian at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Jerry Crail Johnson Earth Sciences and Map Library. In presenting the award, society committee chair Carol La Russa praised Lage's work as "a very useful, general overview of an important topic, with helpful links to resources." The paper will appear in volume 38 of Proceedings of the Geoscience Information Society.

The society gave out three awards for excellence in geoscience publishing at its recent annual meeting in Portland, Oregon.

Want to suggest a colleague — or yourself — for People? Please e-mail information to Jay.Dedrick@cu.edu