People

Colorado cancer researchers awarded funding

The University of Colorado Cancer Center recently awarded $480,000 in pilot and seed grant funding to Colorado cancer researchers. The funding comes from four programs: the center's National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant, its American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant, private donations and its Breast Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence developing program, funded with donations from Safeway Foundation.

Each project was selected following a competitive review by a committee of peer researchers. These grants will help kick-start new research projects. Often pilot- and seed grant-funded projects go on to receive large federal and private grants based on data collected during the pilot-funded research.

The recipients are:

ACS Institutional Research Grants

• Jingshi Shen, Ph.D., assistant professor, molecular, cellular and developmental biology, University of Colorado Boulder: $30,000 for "Cytotoxic T lymphocyte Exocytosis in Cancer Immunotherapy"
• Chad G. Peterson, Ph.D., assistant professor, cell and developmental biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus: $30,000 for "The Role of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Unregulated Protein ADR16 in Centriole Assembly and Ciliogenesis"
• Isabel Rubio Schlaepfer, Ph.D., instructor/fellow, endocrinology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $30,000 for "Metabolic Therapies for Breast and Prostate Cancer"
• Monique A. Spillman, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, OB/GYN, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $30,000 for "Targeting Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers as Small Animal PET-CT and MRI Imaging Agents"
• Gerrit J. Bouman, Ph.D., assistant professor, biomedical sciences, Colorado State University: 30,000 for "Exosomal MicroRNAs in Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells"
• Laurie Carr, M.D., assistant professor, oncology, National Jewish Health: $30,000 for "Clinical Characterization and Molecular Analysis of Diffuse Idiopathic euroendocrine Cell Hyperplasia"

Cancer Center Support Grant Funding

• Shi-Long Lu, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, otolaryngology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $20,000 for "Characterization of Disseminated Tumor Cells in Head and Neck Cancer"
• Rebecca Schweppe, Ph.D., assistant professor, endocrinology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $20,000 for "Focal Adhesion Kinase as a Therapeutic Target in Thyroid Cancer"

CU Cancer Center Gift Fund Grants

• Kimberly R. Jordan, Ph.D., fellow, surgery, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $10,000 for "The Immunosuppressive Effects of Human Melanoma-Induced Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells" (Martin McCarter, M.D., sponsor)
• Ndiya Ogba, Ph.D., fellow, endocrinology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $10,000 for "An Estrogen Receptor (ER)-Negative Cell Subpopulation of Luminal Breast Cancer Pioneers Metastasis" (Kathryn Horwitz, Ph.D., sponsor)
• Joshua Klopper, M.D., assistant professor, endocrinology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $20,000 for "Combination VDR Activation and MAPK Inhibition in Thyroid Cancer"
• Caroline A. Kulesza, Ph.D., assistant professor, microbiology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $20,000 for "Analysis of Polycomb Complex Function in Cytomegalovirus Infections"

Breast SPORE Pilot Awards

• Thomas Anchordoquy, Ph.D., associate professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado School of Pharmacy, Anschutz: $50,000 for "Targeting Her-2 Overexpressing Tumor Cells Using Immunoliposomes and a Tw0-Component Strategy"
• Xuedong Liu, Ph.D., associate professor, chemistry, CU-Boulder, and S. Gail Eckhardt, M.D., professor and head, medical oncology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz:  $50,000 for "Identification of Predictive Markers and Genomic Classifiers for Largazole and Paragazole in Breast Cancer"
• Steven Anderson, professor and vice chair of research, pathology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $50,000 for "Synthetic lethal screen for targets that synthesize with metformin"
• Jennifer Richer, Ph.D., assistant professor, pathology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $25,000 for "A new anti-androgen: potential therapeutic utility in breast cancer"
• Bolin Liu, M.D., M.S., assistant professor, pathology, CU School of Medicine, Anschutz: $25,000 for "ErbB3 augmentation of erbB2-mediated paclitaxel resistance in breast cancer"

— Lynn Clark

UCCS sports information director recognized

Fitzgerald

Doug Fitzgerald, sports information director for athletics, recently received seven awards in the 2009-10 Fred S. Stabley Writing Contest sponsored by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Fitzgerald earned second- and third-place national honors and five district awards.

"I had just figured out how to arrange the stuff on my wall," said Fitzgerald, who switched office spaces in late January. "Maybe I'll just put them in a binder."

The second-place national award was in the event coverage category for a Jan. 30, 2010, story headlined "UCCS grabs first-ever win at Kearney." His third-place national award was in the general feature category for a story about the new Gallogly Events Center that appeared in this past year's basketball game programs.

Both of those stories also took first place in District 7. Also taking first in the district but falling short of a national award was a story in the athlete profile category titled "Where in the World is Scott Sublousky?"

Taking second place in the district in the general feature category was another Fitzgerald entry called "Endangered Species" that outlined the difficulties faced by teams in the lone wolf role under the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's former scheduling format. He duplicated the 1-2 finish in the event coverage category with "Feilmeier's 3-pointers Reward record Crowd as UCCS Beats Regis in Overtime."

CoSIDA District 7 is composed of all colleges and universities in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alberta and Saskatchewan that have intercollegiate athletics.

Fitzgerald has earned more than 30 writing awards since being named the sports information director at UCCS in October 2000.

Unlike other contests and competitions in the world of collegiate sports, the Stabley writing contest is not broken down into divisions based on size or funding. Sports information directors and their assistants from NCAA Divisions I, II and II as well as those from NAIA schools and junior colleges compete together.

The annual CoSIDA Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest recognizes members of CoSIDA for excellence in feature writing, historical features, administrator/coach profiles and event coverage writing. Entries are judged on overall writing style, correct use of English, inventiveness, written presentation and the ease with which the reader acquires the information.

— Tom Hutton

CU-Boulder professors edit new history of the state

raditional accounts of Colorado's history often reflect an Anglocentric perspective that begins with the 1859 Pikes Peak gold rush and Colorado's establishment as a state in 1876. But a new book, edited by several University of Colorado Boulder professors, expands the study of Colorado's past and present by adopting a borderlands perspective that emphasizes the multiplicity of peoples who have inhabited this region.

The book was edited by Arturo Aldama, associate chair and associate professor of ethnic studies and Elisa Facio, Daryl Maeda and Reiland Rabaka, also associate professors of ethnic studies.

"Enduring Legacies, Ethnic Histories and Cultures of Colorado" addresses the dearth of scholarship on the varied communities within the state, a zone in which collisions structured by forces of race, nation, class, gender, and sexuality inevitably lead to the transformation of cultures and the emergence of new identities.

This volume is the first to bring together comparative scholarship on historical and contemporary issues that span groups from Chicanas and Chicanos to African Americans to Asian Americans.

Boulder dining services director profiled

Beckstrom

Amy Beckstrom, director of dining services at the University of Colorado Boulder, recently was profiled in the Foodservice Director Magazine.

The article highlighted her career at CU, which began in 2007; the successful launch of the Center for Community building's culinary and educational opportunities; her efforts at promoting sustainability; and her emphasis on leadership and teamwork.

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