Category: Internships 2020

Status: Filled – Intern: Ben Michaels
Intern: Ben Michaels
Faculty Name: dr-le-su
UAB Department:
UAB School:
Campus Address: 601 Genome Way, Huntsville, AL 35806
Telephone Number: (256) 327-9659
Email: lsu@hudsonalpha.org or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 1
CCC Research Area: Cancer Biology
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 20
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Christina Cooley (Research Associate)
2.
Title of Project: 51LS – New strategy to treat mutant p53-expressing cancers
Project Description:

Mutations in the p53 gene are present in more than half of all human cancers. The majority of these genetic alterations change the p53 tumor suppressor into a driver of malignant transformation. This so-called gain-of-function (GOF) activity is dependent on the molecular interaction of mutant p53 and other proteins. A thorough understanding of the proteins that bind to p53 mutants, as well as the pathways along which p53 mutations exert the oncogenic function, would assist the development of truly effective treatments. Here, we provide exciting evidence for the existence of a novel mutant p53 transcriptional complex which can directly activate the c-MET oncogene in multiple cancer cells. Our overarching goal is to generate direct evidence for using clinically applicable c-MET inhibitors as a therapeutic option for different forms of cancer expressing p53 mutants. To this end, we will (1) screen a panel of cancer cell lines for the presence of mutant p53/c-MET signaling and (2) examine the effectiveness of c-MET inhibition in cell culture assays. We respect the fact that mutant p53 acts upstream of the c-MET pathway and maintains its activity upon c-MET inhibition to compromise the drug sensitivity. In this regard, we have discovered a dramatic synergistic effect between c-MET and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors in mutant p53-expressing synovial sarcoma cells, and will extend our study to many other cancer types. In summary, this proposal is based on a novel mechanism of mutant p53 action. This knowledge can be used to design new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of diverse human cancers associated with various p53 mutations.

Project Status: Already up and running
Location of Project: Huntsville, AL (HudsonAlpha)
Proposed Start Date: June 1, 2020
Proposed End Date: July 31, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Flexible, intern can largely set his or her own schedule (as for students who are instructed how to proceed and are permitted to work independently with weekly guidance) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Laboratory Research
Cancer topic: Breast, Colon and rectum, Genetics, Liver, Lung and Bronchus, Ovary, Pancreas, Treatment, Multiple Cancer Sites
Does this project involve human subjects: No
Does this project involve animal subjects: No
Duty:
1.

Measure c-MET transcript and protein levels in a large panel of human cancer cell lines expressing wild-type and mutant p53.

2.

Determine the effect of mutant p53 deletion on c-MET transcript and protein expression in human cancer cells.

3.

Test the in vitro efficacy of different c-MET inhibitors in mutant p53 cancers.

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Laboratory work bench space, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Very likely
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Grant Proposal Preparation, Laboratory Skills, basic knowledge, Laboratory Skills, advanced knowledge, Manuscript Preparation for Submission to a Journal, Molecular Biology, Scientific Writing Skills, (a) Functional Proteomics; (b) Gene Regulation

Status: Waiting List Student #1: Danyon Beitel
Intern:
Faculty Name: mythreye-karthikeyan
UAB Department: Pathology
UAB School: Medicine
Campus Address: WTI 320 B 1824, 6th avenue S Birmingham AL
Telephone Number: (205) 934-2746
Email: mythreye@uab.edu or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 0
CCC Research Area: Cancer Biology
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 5
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Mehri Monavarian
2. Zainab Shonibare
Title of Project: 50MK – Evaluation of expression of the oncogene CDK9, 19 and CCNC in ovarian cancer.
Project Description:

The goal is to determine if CDK9, 19 and CCNC expression are increased or decreased in the different ovarian cancer subtypes.

Project Status: Will begin on or before the CaRES student’s start date
Location of Project: Birmingham, AL (UAB)
Proposed Start Date: May 25, 2020
Proposed End Date: August 28, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Flexible, intern can largely set his or her own schedule (as for students who are instructed how to proceed and are permitted to work independently with weekly guidance) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Laboratory Research
Cancer topic: Ovary
Does this project involve human subjects: Yes
Does this project involve animal subjects: No
Duty:
1.

Conduct experiments

2.

analyze data

3.

present data

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Laboratory work bench space, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Very likely
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Cancer Rates, Trends and Statistics, Cell Biology, Laboratory Skills, basic knowledge, Laboratory Skills, advanced knowledge, Literature Review Skills

Status: Available
Intern:
Faculty Name: Mythreye Karthikeyan
UAB Department: Pathology
UAB School: WTI 320B
Campus Address: 1824 6th Ave S
Telephone Number: (205) 934-2746
Email: mythreye@uab.edu or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 0
CCC Research Area: Cancer Biology
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 5
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Mehri Monavarian
2. Alex Choi
Title of Project: Evaluating CDK8 inhibition in combination with standard of care for ovarian cancer
Project Description:

CDK8 is a transcriptional kinase and we have access to a highly selective inhibitor that has shown promise in pre clinical studies. The goal for the student is to conduct experiments on cell lines to evaluate CDK8 inhibition along side platinum and ten standard of care drugs currently in use.

Project Status: Already up and running
Location of Project: Birmingham, AL (UAB)
Proposed Start Date: May 11, 2020
Proposed End Date: August 28, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Flexible, intern can largely set his or her own schedule (as for students who are instructed how to proceed and are permitted to work independently with weekly guidance) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Laboratory Research
Cancer topic: Ovary
Does this project involve human subjects: No
Does this project involve animal subjects: No
Duty:
1.

conduct experiments

2.

analyze data

3.

make presentation

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Laboratory work bench space, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Very likely
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Cell Biology, Laboratory Skills, basic knowledge, Molecular Biology

Status: Filled – Intern: Ruth Mokua
Intern: Ruth Mokua
Faculty Name: bin-ren-2
UAB Department: Surgery
UAB School: Medicine
Campus Address: WTI630
Telephone Number: (205) 996-2582
Email: bren@uabmc.edu or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 1
CCC Research Area: Cancer Biology
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 2
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Ana Karen Gutierrez
2. Gloria Yuan
Title of Project: 48BR – Role of Arteriolar Differentiation in Breast Cancer Metastasis
Project Description:

Arteriolar endothelial cells (ECs) promote self-renewal of CSCs by direct cell-cell contact via Notch activation or indirect cytokine production. LPA/PKD-1 signaling-mediated arteriolar differentiation of ECs via inducing arterial markers, ephrin B2 and delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4, also a ligand for Notch) and regulation of CD36 (an angiogenesis regulator in ECs) may create the arteriolar niche to enhance BCSC self-renewal capacity. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a lipid signaling mediator, switches microvascular EC (MVEC) to an “arteriolar phenotype” via LPA/PKD-1 signaling and chromatin remodeling-mediated CD36 downregulation, likely contributing to the progression of estrogen positive (ER+) BC. Seminal studies showed that CD36 drives stemness of CSCs and increases their metastatic potential. We have also identified CD36+- and PKD-1+-CSCs in human ER+BC specimens. Notably, we have observed the enrichment of the CSCs in the arteriolar niche. Moreover, LPA antagonist or PKD inhibitor inhibits ER+BCSC self-renewal. We propose that LPA antagonist or PKD inhibitor may maintain or stimulate CD36 expression in tumor-associated ECs (TAECs), and inhibits arteriolar remodeling in the TME and stemness of BCSCs. Our central hypothesis is that LPA/PKD-1 signaling promotes arteriolar differentiation and remodeling and CSC self-renewal in ER+BC and that the use of an LPA antagonist or PKD inhibitor in combination with a CD36 inhibitor can effectively disrupt arteriolar niche and eliminate BCSCs to control tumor metastasis.

Project Status: Already up and running
Location of Project: Birmingham, AL (UAB)
Proposed Start Date: May 4, 2020
Proposed End Date: August 28, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Not very flexible, intern MUST be at work on certain days of the week and at certain times of the day (as may be necessary to interview patients, attend lab meetings, process samples, etc.) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Laboratory Research
Cancer topic: Breast
Does this project involve human subjects: Yes
Does this project involve animal subjects: Yes
Duty:
1.

Perform breast cancer cell and endothelial cell culture and study the molecular mechanisms

2.

Learn how to design experiments and interpret data, and prepare presentation

3.

Present the research results in the lab meeting and present a poster in UAB meeting or national meeting if possible.

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Computer and printer, Laboratory work bench space, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Very likely
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Animal Research, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Pathology, Pharmacology

Status: Filled – Intern: Zoe Luethener
Intern: Zoe Luethener
Faculty Name: steve-aller
UAB Department: Pharmacology & Toxicology
UAB School: School of Medicine (SOM)
Campus Address: 1025 18th Street South
Telephone Number: (205) 975-5010
Email: sgaller@uab.edu or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 0
CCC Research Area: Experimental Therapeutics
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 10
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Mr. Cole Martin
2. Dr. David Chester
Title of Project: 47SA – CryoEM of Novel Anti-Cancer Biotechnology
Project Description:

During our characterization of the structure of a novel bacterial toxin, we have determined that the toxin architecture is comprised of a highly redundant antibody-like (IgG-like) domains for recognizing and binding to cell surface targets. The targeting mechanism of the wildtype toxin is highly specific because it targets insects but is not harmful to mammalian cells. We propose that the endogenous IgG-like domains can be replaced, and other modifications can be made, that will allow us to switch the targeting of the toxin to membrane proteins that are upregulated and/or overexpressed at the surface of human cancer cells. If successful, our engineering of the toxin will allow a novel cell delivery, targeting and killing agent – all in one protein that is inexpensive to produce, and may have advantages over current immunotherapies such as monoclonal antibodies or CAR-T therapies. This project will focus considerably on the processing of cryoEM data for various constructs of the toxin, potentially including some cryoEM data acquisition. The ideal student will already have experience in structural biology, and will learn cutting-edge data processing methods. In the event that the option arises, the student will accompany the laboratory to a state-of-the-art facility in Ohio and participate in collecting high-resolution cryoEM data.

Project Status: Already up and running
Location of Project: Birmingham, AL (UAB)
Proposed Start Date: May 4, 2020
Proposed End Date: August 28, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Not very flexible, intern MUST be at work on certain days of the week and at certain times of the day (as may be necessary to interview patients, attend lab meetings, process samples, etc.) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Laboratory Research
Cancer topic: Multiple Cancer Sites
Does this project involve human subjects: No
Does this project involve animal subjects: No
Duty:
1.

Computational work, cryoEM data processing (software Relion-3, imod, pymol, chimera, linux).

2.

Some lab benchwork, cell culture

3.

None.

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Computer and printer, Laboratory work bench space, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Possible
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Biochemistry, Computer Programming, Molecular Biology

Status: Filled – Intern: Timberly Washington
Intern: Timberly Washington
Faculty Name: gareth-r-dutton
UAB Department: Department of Medicine/Division of Preventive Medicine
UAB School: School of Medicine
Campus Address: 1717 11th Avenue South, Medical Towers 615
Telephone Number: (205) 934-6876
Email: gdutton@uabmc.edu or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 3 or more
CCC Research Area: Cancer Control and Population Science
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 2
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Camille Schneider-Worthington
2. Janice Phillips
Title of Project: 46GD – Leveraging Ongoing Home Visitation Programs to Address Obesity Disparities among Underserved, Low-Income Mothers and Children (HABITS)
Project Description:

This study addresses obesity and health-related disparities among socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers and their young children enrolled in federally-funded home visitation programs. This is important because low-income and racial/ethnic minority mothers and their young children are especially at-risk of obesity. The lack of access to evidence-based obesity efforts further contributes to these disparities. The proposed randomized controlled trial tests the effectiveness of (1) a simple, evidence-based and ecologically relevant obesity intervention (HABITS) delivered as part of ongoing home visitation services, compared to (2) the existing home visitation curriculum without obesity-related content on mothers’ and children’s obesity risks. HABITS focuses on habit formation and modifications to the food/activity home environment to promote changes in the targeted weight-related behaviors.

Project Status: Already up and running
Location of Project: Birmingham, AL (UAB)
Proposed Start Date: May 4, 2020
Proposed End Date: August 28, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Flexible, intern can largely set his or her own schedule (as for students who are instructed how to proceed and are permitted to work independently with weekly guidance) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Clinical (Patient Care) Research
Cancer topic: Diet and Nutrition, Obesity
Does this project involve human subjects: Yes
Does this project involve animal subjects: No
Duty:
1.

Prepare and coordinate assessments and data collection visits

2.

Data entry and data management

3.

Assist with preparation and refinement of intervention materials

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Computer and printer, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Possible
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Interview Skills, Minorities and Health, Nutrition Sciences, Obesity and Diet

Status: Filled – Intern: Madi Bruce
Intern: Madi Bruce
Faculty Name: gareth-r-dutton-2
UAB Department: Department of Medicine/Division of Preventive Medicine
UAB School: School of Medicine
Campus Address: 1717 11th Avenue South, Medical Towers 615
Telephone Number: (205) 934-6876
Email: gdutton@uabmc.edu or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 3 or more
CCC Research Area: Cancer Control and Population Science
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 2
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Janice Phillips
2. Sara Hannum
Title of Project: 45GD – Primary Care Obesity Management in the Southeast (PROMISE)
Project Description:

This project addresses strategies to treat obesity through primary care practices. The study includes an 18-month randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of obesity treatment that includes either: 1) in-person and telephone-based contacts with peer coaches (peer coach treatment), or 2) routine contact with a primary care provider plus self-directed intervention materials (standard care). This weight loss trial includes 375 adults with obesity randomized from UAB primary care practices. The primary outcome will be changes in body weight at month 18. Secondary outcomes will include key patient-centered outcomes, including quality-of-life, physical and social functioning, mood, and treatment satisfaction.

Project Status: Already up and running
Location of Project: Birmingham, AL (UAB)
Proposed Start Date: May 4, 2020
Proposed End Date: August 28, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Flexible, intern can largely set his or her own schedule (as for students who are instructed how to proceed and are permitted to work independently with weekly guidance) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Clinical (Patient Care) Research
Cancer topic: Diet and Nutrition, Obesity
Does this project involve human subjects: Yes
Does this project involve animal subjects: No
Duty:
1.

Assist with data collection with participants

2.

Assist with data entry and data management

3.

Schedule data collection visits with participants

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Computer and printer, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Possible
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Interview Skills, Nutrition Sciences, Obesity and Diet

Status: Filled – Intern: Payal Patel
Intern: Payal Patel
Faculty Name: carissa-m-thomas-md-phd
UAB Department: Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
UAB School: UAB School of Medicine
Campus Address: 1155 Faculty Office Towers (510 20th Street South) and Volker Hall (1670 University Blvd)
Telephone Number: (713) 515-2852
Email: carissathomas@uabmc.edu or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 0
CCC Research Area: Inflammation, Immunology, and Immunotherapeutics
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 20
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Dr. Jason Warram
2.
Title of Project: 44CT – Understanding Oral Cavity Microbiome and Tumor Microenvironment Cross-talk
Project Description:

The human microbiome has been found to play an important role in carcinogenesis in a number of cancers. Certain bacteria within the microbiome may modulate the local and systemic immune system and tumor microenvironment (TME) to promote or inhibit tumor progression and metastases. The oral cavity has an extensive mucosal microbiome (700 taxa) that has not been well characterized in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC). In OCSCC, increased peritumoral inflammation is associated with decreased metastases and increased recurrence free survival. There may be a link between the mucosal microbial community and peritumoral inflammation in OCSCC. If we knew candidate bacterial drivers that modulate inflammation, we could modify the microbiome, peritumoral inflammation and TME to create a more favorable phenotype. Our hypothesis is the oral microbiome in OCSCC is stable over time and influences the peritumoral inflammatory infiltrate and subsequent cytokine production and PD-L1 expression. We aim to delineate a map of the mucosal microbiome of OCSCC and to correlate that map with histologic features of the tumor. A patient-derived OCSCC organoid model system will be used to study bacteria-induced changes in cytokine production and PD-L1 expression. This will lay the foundation for understanding interactions between bacteria, the immune system, and TME. We will answer these questions with the following specific aims:

(a) AIM 1. Characterize the microbiome within different subsites of OCSCC to understand the heterogeneity of the microbiome and to assess microbiome stability over time.

(b) AIM 2. Characterize the microbiome of OCSCC compared to the contralateral uninvolved side to discover potentially important bacterial drivers of the peritumoral inflammatory infiltrate.

(c) AIM 3. Establish OCSCC organoids co-cultured with macrophages to understand microbiome-induced alterations in cytokine production and PD-L1 expression.

The CaRES intern will focus primarily on aim 3 and gain important skills in cell culture and flow cytometry. They will use a human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line to establish organoids. Flow cytometry will be used to assess baseline expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells. In addition, expression of PD-L1 on naïve macrophages and macrophages exposed to bacteria of interest will be assessed with flow cytometry. In addition, the CaRES intern will assist with microbiome sample collection from patients with OCSCC including administering patient surveys, performing oral swabs, peripheral blood collection, processing of peripheral blood, and fresh tumor collection from the operating room. There is the opportunity for the CaRES intern to observe head and neck cancer surgeries if interested.

Project Status: Will begin on or before the CaRES student’s start date
Location of Project: Birmingham, AL (UAB)
Proposed Start Date: May 4, 2020
Proposed End Date: August 28, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Not very flexible, intern MUST be at work on certain days of the week and at certain times of the day (as may be necessary to interview patients, attend lab meetings, process samples, etc.) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Laboratory Research
Cancer topic: Head and Neck, Oral Cavity
Does this project involve human subjects: Yes
Does this project involve animal subjects: No
Duty:
1.

Culturing organoids using a human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line as well as culturing monocytes/macrophages.

2.

Flow cytometry of epithelial cells and monocytes/macrophages for PD-L1.

3.

Assisting with microbiome sample collection including peripheral blood collection and processing and transporting tumor tissue from the operating room to the lab. Will also assist with administering patient surveys.

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Computer and printer, Laboratory work bench space, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Very likely
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Laboratory Skills, basic knowledge

Status: Filled – Intern: Ifeoluwa Akisanya
Intern: Ifeoluwa Akisanya
Faculty Name: renata-jaskula-sztul-2
UAB Department: Department of Surgery
UAB School: UAB School of Medicine
Campus Address: 310H Wallace Tumor Institute, 1824 6th Avenue South
Telephone Number: (205) 975-3507
Email: sztul@uab.edu or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 3 or more
CCC Research Area: Cancer Control and Population Science
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 20
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Jason Whitt, PhD
2. Rui Zheng-Pywell
Title of Project: 43RJ – SSTR2 expression in Hϋrthle Cell Lesions of the Thyroid
Project Description:

Somatostatin receptors (SSTR) are found in normal human cells and tumor tissue, especially neuroendocrine tumors. Tumors expressing an SSTR-subtype, SSTR2, can be treated with receptor-specific agonists such as octreotide. Additionally, the FDA recently approved 68Ga-Dotatate, a radionucleotide somatostain analog with high SSTR2 affinity, for staging patients with neuroendocrine tumors. Recent studies have shown SSTR2 expression in non-medullary thyroid cancer, papillary carcinoma and anaplastic carcinoma.
However, SSTR2 expression has not yet been studied in thyroid Hϋrthle cell neoplasms, recently considered to be a histologic variant of follicular neoplams. Additionally, differing SSTR2 expression between benign Hϋrthle adenomas and carcinomas has also not yet been explored. Finally, a subtype of papillary thyroid carcinoma has similar morphology to Hϋrthle cell lesions: papillary thyroid carcinoma- oncocytic or Hϋrthle cell variant. It is unknown whether receptor expression in these tumors are more similar to Hϋrthle cell carcinoma or conventional papillary thyroid carcinoma.
We would like to analyze SSTR expression in 90 Hϋrthle cell neoplasms (adenoma and carcinoma) and 10 cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma, Hϋrthle cell variant. Additionally, we will analyze 40 conventional papillary thyroid carcinomas, and 30 benign thyroid cases with non-neoplastic Hϋrthle cell lesions (Hϋrthle cell hyperplasia and metaplasia). Tissue originated from our department’s surgical pathology archives of formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded blocks.
The analysis will be done on already stained TMA (tissue microarray slides) and will require making the correlations between the clinical statuses of patient with TMA-SSTR2 marker positivity. Additional thyroid cancer markers (TTF1 and TSC receptor) will be available to study. Results will be tabulated and statistical analysis performed.

Project Status: Already up and running
Location of Project: Birmingham, AL (UAB)
Proposed Start Date: June 1, 2020
Proposed End Date: August 14, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Not very flexible, intern MUST be at work on certain days of the week and at certain times of the day (as may be necessary to interview patients, attend lab meetings, process samples, etc.) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Clinical (Patient Care) Research
Cancer topic: Thyroid
Does this project involve human subjects: Yes
Does this project involve animal subjects: No
Duty:
1.

work with microscope and scoring

2.

analyze clinical data

3.

abstract and manuscript preparation

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Computer and printer, Laboratory work bench space, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Very likely
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Cancer Rates, Trends and Statistics, Clinical Oncology, Literature Review Skills, Manuscript Preparation for Submission to a Journal, Pathology, Statistics and Data Management, basic knowledge

Status: Filled – Intern: Vince Bolus
Intern: Vince Bolus
Faculty Name: bin-ren
UAB Department: Surgery
UAB School: Medicine
Campus Address: WTI 620E
Telephone Number: (205) 996-2582
Email: bren98@uab.edu or Click to Send E-Mail
For how many summers have you served as a preceptor: 1
CCC Research Area: Cancer Biology
Number of hours per week that the preceptor will personally supervise or work with the intern: 2
Other faculty, staff, or graduate students who may help to supervise the intern:
1. Dr. Akil
2. Gloria
Title of Project: 42BR – Unique Vascular Niche in Breast Cancer Progression
Project Description:

In various solid cancers, endothelial cells (ECs) promote self-renewal of tumor-initiating cells (TICs) or cancer stem cells (CSCs) by direct cell–cell contact or activation of Notch signaling. Microvascular remodeling and arterioles are critical to the progression of breast, lung and skin cancers, for which the differentiation of microvascular ECs (MVECs) is essential in the tumor microenvironment (TME). MVEC differentiation into arteriolar EC may create a unique vascular niche to enhance the self-renewal capacity of CSCs due to an increase in arterial markers, ephrin B2 and delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4, a key ligand in the Notch pathway). This proposal challenges current antiangiogenic therapy against solid tissue cancers by elucidating mechanisms of arteriolar differentiation of tumor-associated (TA) MVECs or TAECs and targeting both arteriolar remodeling and CSCs to control metastasis of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer (ER+BC).

Project Status: Already up and running
Location of Project: Birmingham, AL (UAB)
Proposed Start Date: May 4, 2020
Proposed End Date: August 28, 2020
Expected work schedule for intern: Not very flexible, intern MUST be at work on certain days of the week and at certain times of the day (as may be necessary to interview patients, attend lab meetings, process samples, etc.) and should contribute full-time effort.
Category of Project: Laboratory Research
Cancer topic: Breast, Pancreas
Does this project involve human subjects: No
Does this project involve animal subjects: Yes
Duty:
1.

Grow genetically engineered cells and do functional screening for CD36 small chemical molecule inhibitor.

2.

Write an abstract and prepare for a poster with the PI and PI’s postdoctoral fellow.

3.

Present his results in the lab meeting and UAB CaRes program.

Preceptor will provide intern with access to the following:
Office or desk space, Computer and printer, Laboratory work bench space, Supplies needed to complete project, Equipment needed to complete project
Likelihood that intern will be included as an author on one or more publications
related to this summer research project: Very likely
Areas in which the ideal candidates will have experience:
Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Laboratory Skills, basic knowledge, Literature Review Skills, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology