November 19, 2024
At The University of Kansas Cancer Center Research Week, leaders announced this year’s award recipients, recognizing standout achievements and discoveries. The Director’s Awards celebrated individuals whose efforts significantly advanced the cancer center’s mission, while Pilot Awards provided funding for promising new research initiatives led by center members. Travel Awards were also presented, supporting travel for members attending scientific conferences.
Research Week, an annual event, highlights and honors the achievements of KU Cancer Center’s researchers.
Director’s Award Recipients
Civic Leadership and Philanthropy
The Walsh Family Foundation
Clinical Trial Accrual
Anup Kasi, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Medical Oncology
Community Clinical Trial Accrual
Carolyn Savioz, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology
Mentoring
Edward Ellerbeck, MD, MPH, CPH, Professor, Population Health and Internal Medicine
Young Scientist
Kristy Brown, PhD, Associate Professor, Cell Biology and Physiology; Co-leader, Cancer Prevention and Control research program
William Jewell Team Science
Laboratory of Stefan Bossmann, PhD
Closing Disparities
Simon Lee, PhD, MPH, Chair, Population Health; Interim Associate Director, Cancer Workforce Equity
Basic Science
Christy Hagan, PhD, Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Clinical Science
Qamar Khan, MD, Professor, Medical Oncology
Outstanding Staff
Marilyn Nielsen, Executive Assistant
Pilot Project Recipients
Awardees receive $50,000 in funding.
Linheng Li, PhD - Achieving Intracellular Precision Medicine by Artificial Intelligence-powered Peptide-producing mRNAs
Jill Hamilton-Reeves, PhD, RD - METRICS Study: Metabolic Evaluation Through Resting Indirect Calorimetry in Bladder Cancer
Ramesh Balusu, PhD, and Christophe Nicot, PhD - Dual Targeting of PIM and JAK for ATL Therapy
Dinesh Pal Mudaranthakam, PhD - Oncology Navigation Empowerment for Treatment (ONCO-NET)
Travel Award Recipients
Recipients receive support to attend conferences and/or scientific meetings.
PIVOT Speaker Awardees
Each recipient receives a $600 travel award.
Cancer Biology: Yasmin Abedin, MD, MPH - Functional Analysis of Re1 Silencing Transcription Factor as a Putative Tumor Suppressor in Human Endometrial Cancer
Cancer Prevention and Control: Kafayat Yusuf, MS - DCLK1-S Overexpression in Neutrophils Drives the Inflammatory and Tumorigenic Processes in the Colon
Drug Discovery, Delivery and Experimental Therapeutics: Rishabh Gaur - Differences in Gene Expression Across Races in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL)
Trainee Speaker Awardees
Each recipient receives a $600 travel award.
Cancer Biology: Chen Zhang- Loss of Hepatic Tuberous Sclerosis 1(TSC1) Promotes Liver Cystogenesis and Tumorigenesis Via a Non-Canonical mTORC1-TFEB-Dependent Mechanism
Cancer Prevention and Control: Kafayat Yusuf - DCLK1-S Overexpression in Neutrophils Drives the Inflammatory and Tumorigenic Processes in the Colon
Drug Discovery, Delivery and Experimental Therapeutics: Dakota Okwuone - Tumor MK2 Drives Tumor Progression and an Immunosuppressive Microenvironment in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Student Poster Travel Awards
1st Place: Stephanie Colwell - Better Outcomes and Resource Allocation: Understanding spatial and temporal trends in Breast Cancer Mortality in Kansas
2nd Place: Kafayat Yusuf - DCLK1-S Overexpression in Neutrophils Drives the Inflammatory and Tumorigenic Processes in the Colon
3rd Place: Chen Zhang - Loss of Hepatic Tuberous Sclerosis 1(TSC1) Promotes Liver Cystogenesis and Tumorigenesis Via a Non-Canonical mTORC1-TFEB-Dependent Mechanism
Trainee Poster Travel Awards
1st Place: Ayantika Sen Gupta - Detection of haplotypic asymmetries at human centromeres and its impact on chromosome segregation
2nd Place: Katherine Wienke - Ductal carcinoma in situ: molecular and cellular basis of malignant transition
3rd Place (tie): Justin Ling - Consequences of ribonucleotides in telomeres; Sailesh Palikhe: Heterozygous loss of Brca1 in mice predisposes to hepatic steatosis
Jr. Faculty Poster Travel Award
1st Place: Ehsan Salari - A mathematical framework for optimizing immuno-radiotherapy treatments