MAY HEADLINES

In a first-ever human clinical trial of four adult patients, an mRNA cancer vaccine developed at the University of Florida quickly reprogrammed the immune system to attack glioblastoma, the most aggressive and lethal brain tumor.

Jonathan D. Licht, M.D., was named a 2023 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a distinguished lifetime honor within the scientific community.

Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH, has been named a chief statistical advisor on the Statistical Advisory Panel of Nature Medicine, part of the prestigious Nature family of journals.

The UF Health Cancer Center was a sponsor of the conference, which allowed leading experts to gather in the name of scientific exchange.

A new study led by UF Health Cancer Center member Lusine Yaghjyan, M.D., Ph.D., has found that in postmenopausal women some reproductive factors were associated with a novel measurement of image intensity variation on mammograms that may help predict women at an increased risk of breast cancer.

The UF Health Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Working Group held a successful networking event at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville campus during a dinner meeting on April 19.

Harnessing the power of CRISPR gene-editing technology in a new way, University of Florida researchers led by Yong Zeng, Ph.D., have created a one-tube testing method targeting DNA from body fluids that has the potential to dramatically increase access to the diagnosis of viral diseases such as cervical cancer.

Understanding how proteins interact with each other is crucial for developing new treatments and understanding diseases. Thanks to computational advances, a team of researchers led by Alberto Perez, Ph.D., has developed a groundbreaking algorithm to identify these molecular interactions.

A renowned surgeon and international authority on breast cancer, former University of Florida Professor Edward (Ted) M. Copeland III, M.D., FACS, passed away March 31 at the age of 86. Copeland was most recently the Edward R. Woodward Distinguished Professor of Surgery in the UF College of Medicine. A giant in the field, he was also the first director of the UF Health Cancer Center from 1994 to 1999.

Carolyn M. Tucker, Ph.D., received a first-place Sapphire Award from the Florida Blue Foundation, the philanthropic affiliate of Florida Blue, for her research, leadership and commitment to her work, her community and her field. 

Jonathan D. Licht, M.D., was interviewed on the Oncology Overdrive podcast by host Shikha Jain, M.D., about leadership, NCI designation and more.

A team of UF Health Cancer Center researchers led by Young-Rock Hong, Ph.D., has received a three-year grant from the Florida Department of Health Bankhead-Coley Research Program to study the relationship between obesity and colorectal cancer.

UF Health Cancer Center members Carma Bylund, Ph.D., and Susan Bluck, Ph.D., recently co-hosted a summit at UF that delved into the science of how people care for one another, particularly at the end of life.

A recent study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention investigated why some prostate cancer patients in the United States are less likely to receive potentially life-saving treatments.

In an interview with Physician’s Weekly, Bently Doonan, M.D., commented on a review paper on teledermatology effectiveness.

Scientists and other representatives from the UF College of Medicine department of pediatrics and The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute including Bill Slayton, M.D., Paul Castillo, M.D., Michalina Janiszewska, Ph.D., and Meagan McCall, M.D., recently presented their work at the 2024 Lavender and Lace annual luncheon. Thank you, Stop Children’s Cancer!