Department of Internal Medicine Internal Medicine Pilot Projects Funded by UI Cancer and Aging Program  Kevin Glenn, M.D. Assistant Professor Division of General Internal Medicine
9/14/2006 The University of Iowa Cancer and Aging Program (CAP) has awarded a total of $233,158 in one-year grants to support seven pilot research projects on cancer in the elderly. The CAP Research Development Funding Initiative awards were effective Sept. 1. CAP is a joint initiative of the UI Center on Aging and the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UI, with the goal of expanding research in the areas of aging and cancer. The program is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Aging. The awards, which emphasize translational and clinical research, were made to seven principal investigators in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. Five of the awards were new, and two were renewals. The following new CAP Projects, led by Internal Medicine investigators, were funded for one year: Kevin Glenn, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine, will lead an investigation on the role of certain proteins in melanoma and aging. These proteins, from a family of proteins known as ubiquitin ligases, are involved in the recycling of used proteins. Increased inefficiency in the cells' recycling machinery may play a factor in aging and cancer. Gloria Lee, Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine, will examine an abnormal protein that is found in two age-related diseases: prostate cancer and Alzheimer's disease. In Alzheimer's disease, abnormal tau has been hypothesized to kill brain cells by activating mechanisms that lead the cells to divide, which, for brain cells, is lethal. Lee's team will investigate the possible role of abnormal tau in the cell cycle mechanisms of prostate cancer cells. The UI Center on Aging fosters and supports interdisciplinary research, education and service throughout the campus and state to improve understanding of the aging process and the health and well-being of older people. For more information, visit www.centeronaging.uiowa.edu. For further information about the CAP, the Research Development Funding Initiative or the Population-Based Cancer Treatment and Outcome Databases Core, visit www.cancerandaging.uiowa.edu. The Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center is Iowa's only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center. NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers are recognized as the leaders in developing new approaches to cancer prevention and cancer care, conducting leading edge research and educating the public about cancer. Visit the center online at www.uihealthcare.com/cancer. |
