TheoryLab

What role does the American Cancer Society play in cancer research? How is ACS working to move cancer research forward? Where will the Society's research program be in five years?

William Phelps thinks about these questions every day. As the American Cancer Society's Senior Vice President of Extramural Research, he oversees the largest private, not-for-profit source of cancer research funds in the United States.

In this conversation, Dr. Phelps provides insight into how the American Cancer Society is trying to maximize its impact on cancer research now and in the future.

When genomic DNA is transcribed into RNA, the RNA and DNA may get tangled with each other. This creates unusual RNA-DNA hybrid molecules, known as R-loops, that cause the DNA to be broken so that double-strand breaks form.

Dr. Karlene Cimprich and her team at Stanford University have pioneered research into R-loops and have shown that R-loops are present in cancer cells, sometimes in excess.

She’s joined in this conversation by Dr. Alan Zahler of the University of California, Santa Cruz, who leads a lab studying the regulation of pre-mRNA splicing and analysis of small RNA function and biogenesis.

Together they discuss the science behind R-loops and what’s on the horizon.

When genomic DNA is transcribed into RNA, the RNA and DNA may get tangled with each other. This creates unusual RNA-DNA hybrid molecules, known as R-loops, that cause the DNA to be broken so that double-strand breaks form.

Dr. Karlene Cimprich and her team at Stanford University have pioneered research into R-loops and have shown that R-loops are present in cancer cells, sometimes in excess.

She’s joined in this conversation by Dr. Alan Zahler of the University of California, Santa Cruz, who leads a lab studying the regulation of pre-mRNA splicing and analysis of small RNA function and biogenesis.

Together they discuss the science behind R-loops and what’s on the horizon.

Anna Sorace is developing advanced imaging strategies to detect early whether breast cancer tumors are responding to therapy.

As she explains, "the eventual goal is to not just be able to monitor and predict response, but to be able to guide therapy interventions and better inform decision making for oncologists."

In this episode, Dr. Sorace—a biomedical engineer and cancer researcher based at the University of Alabama at Birmingham—explains how imaging can guide personalized medicine and provide an extraordinarily detailed look at the molecular status of tumors and how tumors change during the course of therapy.

Anna Sorace is developing advanced imaging strategies to detect early whether breast cancer tumors are responding to therapy.

As she explains, "the eventual goal is to not just be able to monitor and predict response, but to be able to guide therapy interventions and better inform decision making for oncologists."

In this episode, Dr. Sorace—a biomedical engineer and cancer researcher based at the University of Alabama at Birmingham—explains how imaging can guide personalized medicine and provide an extraordinarily detailed look at the molecular status of tumors and how tumors change during the course of therapy.

For years, Dr. Kathy Goss ran a successful research program that sought to understand the molecular events driving colorectal and breast cancer. Along the way she developed a passion for science communication and advocacy.

Now she's using her unique blend of skills to help other scientists and advance cancer research.

As the senior science writer and director for strategic partnerships at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Goss not only helps individual scientists advance their research programs, she also promotes the importance of cancer research to the public and to legislators.

For years, Dr. Kathy Goss ran a successful research program that sought to understand the molecular events driving colorectal and breast cancer. Along the way she developed a passion for science communication and advocacy.

Now she's using her unique blend of skills to help other scientists and advance cancer research.

As the senior science writer and director for strategic partnerships at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Goss not only helps individual scientists advance their research programs, she also promotes the importance of cancer research to the public and to legislators.

Alex Wu is an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow in Johannes Walter's lab at Harvard Medical School, where he and his colleagues are focused on investigating the mechanisms of genome maintenance.

In this conversation he goes deep into the science behind several of their recent publications, including a Nature paper in which they showed that TRAIP is a master regulator of DNA interstrand crosslink repair.

Alex Wu is an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow in Johannes Walter's lab at Harvard Medical School, where he and his colleagues are focused on investigating the mechanisms of genome maintenance.

In this conversation he goes deep into the science behind several of their recent publications, including a Nature paper in which they showed that TRAIP is a master regulator of DNA interstrand crosslink repair.

Starting with a breakthrough discovery in 2005 as a PhD student, Marina Holz has helped change our understanding of cell biology.

In her conversation with ACS, Dr. Holz talked about her new research related to estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers. She also talked about what it’s like to be the Dean of the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences at New York Medical College, and she offered some great advice for young scientists.

1:45 – On her seminal 2005 paper:

At this conference last fall…there was a person sitting next to me, and she said, “isn’t it amazing that 15 years later we’re still talking about this paper?” And it really was. It was really a proud moment for me, and I was really honored that our work really made an impact and laid this foundation that is very solid.

5:00 – On her most recent publication:

In my lab—I started my lab a little over 12 years ago—we focus specifically on breast cancer, and about 70% of breast cancers are diagnosed as hormone dependent. Specifically, they are dependent on the hormone estrogen. This is what our recent paper is about—how estrogen controls protein synthesis in the cells.

9:45 – Why is it significant that 70% of breast cancer ceases are estrogen-receptor positive?

Not all patients respond to endocrine therapy. For most patients, eventually, there is some sort of resistance that develops and they stop responding. So there’s really a need to understand exactly how estrogen acts in breast cancer and what other treatments we can offer to prevent the development of resistance and to really make endocrine therapy curative, as opposed to just something that allows the disease to be more of a chronic nature.