Newswise — With the Stand Up To Cancer telethon having raised millions of dollars, now the real work begins on applying that money toward the next generation of cancer research. Some of that cutting edge work takes place in the Garden State, at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), which is the state's only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a Center of Excellence of UMNDJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Celebrating its 15th year of delivering patient care, CINJ also prides itself on clinical research and the ability of its internationally recognized scientists to translate their work from "bench to bedside."
For instance, beakers and microscopes are being integrated with computer labs in an area known as biomedical informatics. This marriage of math, science and computers is helping researchers at CINJ make great strides toward "personalized medicine." CINJ is one of a handful of facilities across the country sharing resources to build a massive database of tissue samples, corresponding test results and other data, which may help those in the clinic setting be able to one day determine a more tailored treatment for their patients. CINJ is also one of the few cancer centers in the nation, which has its own zebrafish laboratory. A transparent breed of the fish is allowing scientists to go farther than ever in the areas of leukemia and lymphoma research. And exploring the needs of the ever-growing population of cancer survivors is another area, which is of great focus at CINJ.
CINJ experts available for comment include:
Guna Rajagopal, Ph.D., executive director of bioinformatics at CINJ. Dr. Rajagopal leads CINJ's new Cancer Informatics Core (CIC), which is responsible for developing and overseeing biomedical informatics initiatives, including an ambitious state-wide data-integration effort called POPWEB that is focused on linking genomic and clinical data to facilitate translational research. Once POPWEB is fully operational, one of the many benefits will be that it will facilitate collaboration between academia and industry throughout New Jersey and beyond.
Hatem E. Sabaawy, M.D., Ph.D., medical oncologist at CINJ and assistant professor of medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Sabaawy's laboratory is utilizing a new zebrafish breed known as "Casper," which remains transparent throughout life. A normal breed of zebrafish will only stay transparent from the embryonic stage through the first four to six weeks of life, but not through adulthood. The use of the transparent Casper adult fish will enhance the ability to monitor and detect cancer development in aged fish. Together with researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute, a collaborative effort is underway to study the regulation of gene expression in early leukemia development using zebrafish.
Shawna Hudson, Ph.D., medical sociologist, director of community research in the Office of Extramural Affairs at CINJ; and assistant professor of family medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Hudson will soon be conducting research on the particular needs of prostate and breast cancer survivors and their follow-up care.
Regina S. Cunningham, Ph.D., R.N., A.O.C.N., chief nursing officer at CINJ and assistant professor of family medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Her research focuses on the transition of survivors back into the primary care setting. She also has an interest in the role of oncology nurses in influencing the outcomes of care in patients receiving cancer treatment.
Additional information about the research enterprise at CINJ can be found at http://www.cinj.org.
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