Washington, D.C.—The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has named two
Georgetown
University
students as recipients of science research awards. Zachary Dobbin (
COL
’08), received AACR’s 2007 Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award, and Anatasha Crawford, a third-year PhD student in tumor biology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, received the 2007 Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award. Both awards provide financial support for students to attend the association’s annual meeting.
Dobbin studies the effect of chemotherapy agents on a protein found in breast cancer cells in the laboratory of Robert Clarke, PhD, professor of oncology at
Georgetown
University
and co-director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Lombardi. In April, Dobbin will present a poster on his research at the 2007 AACR conference in
Los Angeles
.
"This is a terrific honor for Zach and for
Georgetown
's undergraduate science program,” said College Dean Jane McAuliffe. “Our students in the sciences have a world of research opportunities at our university and Zach's exciting work with the
Lombardi
Cancer
Center
is a wonderful example of collaborative and interdisciplinary learning at
Georgetown
."
Together with Lombardi Postdoctoral Fellow Rebecca Riggins, Crawford studies antiestrogen sensitivity in breast cancer patients who have become resistant to drugs such as tamoxifen. Crawford will present a poster on the role of a single family of proteins in tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer cells at the AACR meeting in April. As the recipient of the Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award, Crawford will receive free registration to the conference, a travel stipend and an invitation to meet with other researchers who can provide advice and guidance.
Dobbin, a biology major, works closely on his project with Ayesha Shajahan, a postdoctoral fellow in Clarke’s lab. He and Shajahen are studying the relationship between a protein called CAV1, known to be present in lower levels in breast cancer cells than in other cells in the body, and BCL-2, another protein believed to play a role in preventing the formation of cancer. Shajahan and Clarke anticipate that Dobbin’s research will lead to an original publication about how these two proteins relate in patients with breast cancer.
“There are so many opportunities to get involved in meaningful research here at
Georgetown
,” said Dobbin. “I am really excited about the award because it gives me the chance to present my research to the scientific community. I encourage other undergraduates to take advantage of these types of programs.”
About
Lombardi
Comprehensive
Cancer
Center
The
Lombardi
Comprehensive
Cancer
Center
, part of
Georgetown
University
Medical
Center
and
Georgetown
University
Hospital
, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Lombardi is one of only 39 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the
Washington, DC
, area. For more information, go to http://lombardi.georgetown.edu.
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