PAST AWARD RECIPIENTS OF THE CHRISTINE AND HELEN LANDGRAF MEMORIAL FUND
- 2021 Janai Carr-Ascher, M.D., Ph.D.
- 2020 Julie Dang, M.P.H., Ph.D.
- 2019: Mili Arora, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California (UC) Davis School of Medicine at the Comprehensive Cancer Center and also serves as the Associate Program Director for the Fellowship Program in the Division of Hematology & Oncology. Her principal research and clinical interests focus on breast cancer, and she has a specific interest in triple negative breast cancer. She has been on the faculty at UC Davis since 2015.
- 2018: Dr. Edward Kim The Landgraf Award will provide support for Dr. Kim’s research on pancreatic cancer. His laboratory research is focused in 2 primary areas: 1) investigation and development of novel rational combinations of drugs for pancreatic cancer, and 2) development of patient-derived models of pancreatic cancer (including patient-derived xenografts and patient-derived organoids) to enhance pre-clinical evaluation of promising new therapeutics for pancreatic cancer. The Landgraf award will support use of these model systems to test a promising combination of drugs that attacks pancreatic cancer cells by depriving them of important nutrients.
- 2017: Dr. Elizabeth David The Landgraf Award will help fund critical research in late stage lung cancer patients who decide not to get treatment and how they progress compared with patients who seek treatment including survivorship and quality of life.
- 2016: Dr. Megan E. Daly The Landgraf Award is providing support for Dr. Daly research; A clinical trial that will enroll patients with metastic non-small cell lung cancer with primary or secondary resistance to immunotherapy, with the hypothesis that the immunomodulatory effects of SAR will futher increase the efficacy of checkpoint inhibition immunotherapy and will generate a systemic disease response in a subset of patients failing to respond to immunotherapy alone.
- 2015: Dr. Jonathan Riess, and colleagues will study a unique drug called the YAP/TAZ signaling pathways in non-small cell lung cancer.
- 2014: Dr. Thomas Semrad
- 2012: Dr. Robert Canter
Dr. Canter's research focuses on sarcoma cancer stem cells as a mechanism of resistance to standard
anti-proliferative anti-cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He is studying combination
therapy in pre-clinical models of soft tissue sarcoma using traditional anti-proliferative therapies to
debulk the non-cancer stem cells in conjunction with immunotherapy to target the cancer stem cell population.
His goal is to translate these studies to early phase clinical trials for canine and human patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma.
2011: Arta Monjazeb, M.D., Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology - Radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy to restore balance in the immune system and restore the body's innate ablility to fight cancer. -Our immune system not only fights viral and bacterial infections but has been proven to play a major role in fighting cancer. -The goal of my research is to use radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy to restore balance in the immune system and restore the body's innate ability to fight cancer.
-My research focuses on combining radiotherapy with immunotherapies that activate the cancer fighting cells of the immune system and immunotherapies that reverse the immune suppression caused by the cancer itself. This combination of therapies can essentially act as a vaccine, not only erradicating the local tumor which is treated by these therapies but also harnessing the immune system to hunt and kill cancer cells that have spread throughout the body.
-We are currently testing these strategies in mice and pet dogs with incurable cancer and hope to open human trials in the very near future.- 2010: Elisa Tong, M.D., M.A. - Research seeks to translate the public health concern about secondhand smoke health effects into a clinically relevant and novel intervention to promote cessation.
- 2009: Steve Martinez, M.D. - Assessing Response to Breast Cancer Chemotherapy.
- 2008: Chon-Xian Pan, M.D., Ph.D.
- 2007: Primo Lara Jr. M.D.- Preclinical studies in renal cancer
- 2005: Paul Gumerlock, Ph.D.
- 2004: Lesley Butler, Ph.D.- Ongoing research into genetic variation in prostate cancer in African Americans
- 2004: Paul Gumerlock, Ph.D.- Examining responses to some of the novel molecular-targeted new anticancer drugs, as well as combinations with radiation therapy
- 2003: Pauline Mysliwiec, M.D., M.P.H.- Look at effective utilization of screening for colorectal cancer among average-risk Americans
- 2003: Angela Davies, M.D.- Integration of molecularly targeted therapies into the treatment of non-small lung cancer (NSCLC)
- 2002: Olulanu Helen Aina, D.V.M., M.S.- Peptide microarray for cancer cell surface receptors
- 2001: Helen L. Chew, M.D.- Venous thrombo-embolism in California cancer patients
- 2001: Michael Wilkes, M.D., Ph.D.- Self-reflection, communication and medical error
- 2000: Richard J. Bold, M.D.- Identification and treatment of genetic abnormalities that control cell growth and death especially focused on pancreatic cancer
- 2000: John F. Linder, L.C.S.W.- Effects of life-threatening illness on patients and families especially in the area of hospice care and palliative care
- 1999: Primo Lara Jr. M.D.- Development and monitoring of clinical trials involving cancer patients to determine a wide variety of successful cancer treatments
- 1998: Earl Sawai, Ph.D.- Identification ofgenetic control mechanisms in order to understand intracellular signaling pathways in metastasis in cancer patients
- 1997: Joseph M. Tuscano, M.D.- Identification of genes in white blood cells involved in malignancy transformation of cells to improve therapeutic treatment of cancers
- 1996: Joy Melnikow, M.D.- Improvement in the delivery of cancer preventative services for women including mammograms and Pap smears
- 1995: Regina Gandour-Edwards, M.D.- Identification of tissue markers in human cancers to predict how tumors respond to cancer treatrnents
- 1994:- Carol M. Richman, M.D.- Improvement of bone marrow transplantation in the treatment of cancer
- 1993: Mary D. Rippon, M.D., Lois O'Grady, M.D., Karen K. Linfors, M.D., Lydia P. Howell, M.D. - Establishment of North Breast Cancer Registry, a resource for physicians to assist in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer
- 1992: Derick Hon-Man Lauo M.D., Ph.D.- Identification of early cancerous cell changes in lung cancer victims
- 1991: Kristina Detner, Ph.D.- Study in the genetic and molecular events that control the development of leukemias
- 1990: Norman Levy, M.D.- Improvement in the diagnosis and treatment of leukemias and lymphomas utilizing immunotherapy
- 1989: Gary V. Dahl, M.D.- Improvement in response and survival of children with leukemia through new therapies
- 1988: Paul Gumerlock, Ph.D.- Improvement of recovery of prostate cancer patients using biotherapies and prediction of tumor behaviors
- 1987: Sydney A. Scudder, M.D.- Study of how cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease patients
- 1986: Charles F. Abildgaard, M.D.- Improvement in the treatment of children's cancers involving a multidisciplinary team of specialists
- 1985: Lisa Russell, M.D.- Study of tumor differences in cancer patients to determine better diagnostic methods and treatments
- 1984: Ronald Chuang, Ph.D.- Study of various anti-cancer drugs in improving the treatment of lymphomas and leukemia
- 1983: Steven Hinrichs, M.D.- Study of tumor biology to aid in the development of new therapies in the treatment of cancer
- 1982: Eric Kawaoka, M.D.-Study of tumors in children with leukemia in order to improve treatment
- I98I: Frederick J. Meyers, M.D.- Research on the cell origins of Hodgkins's disease
- 1980: Kent L. Erikson, Ph.D.- Relationship between high-fat diets and increased risks for the development of certain cancers
- 1979: Elizabeth Hodgkins, D.V.M.- Study of canines with melanomas and the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments
- 1978: H. Jeftey Lawrence, M.D,- Detection of early signs of relapse in recovering leukemia patients
- 1977: Michael Vorley, D.V.M.- Study of leukemia in humans and felines
- 1975: Floyd Wilson, D.V.M., Ph.D.- Improved techniques in therapies in treating malignant disease
- 1974: Christopher R. Peter, Ph.D.- Research in immunology relating to leukemia and lymphoma
- 1973: Geoffrey Coates, M.D., Ph.D. - Nuclear medicine and its application in the detection and treatment of cancer
Soft tissue sarcomas are an aggressive type of tumor with a high rate of metastasis. The Carr-Ascher lab focuses on better understanding how soft tissue sarcomas form, why they become resistant to treatments, and how the tumors metastasize to the lung. Carr-Ascher's team is working to create new models for studying sarcomas that allow them to investigate the biology of sarcoma and also test new therapies. Their goal is to generate these new tools for study that can be used both at UC Davis and shared with other researchers to help expand the knowledge base of soft tissue sarcoma.
As the Executive Director of the Department from the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Julie Dang, M.P.H., Ph.D. works to mitigate cancer health disparities in underserved communities and minority populations. She earned her Ph.D. in health policy from the University of California, Berkeley in 2018 and her Master's in Public Health from San Jose State University in 2008.
One of her primary research interests is improving the vaccination rates of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, shown to be effective at preventing cervical cancer. She has developed, implemented, and evaluated strategies to increase diverse and underserved community participation in biospecimen donation, clinical trials, and cancer screenings/prevention through conducting needs assessments, creating culturally appropriate, ethnically specific, and cognitively empowering educational materials, promoting community outreach and education, and engaging in community-based participatory research.
The Landgraf Award is providing support to the following two projects:
A) SPIDER: Serial Patient derIved xenograft moDels to Eliminate cancer therapy Resistance. In this study, patient tumor biopsy tissue is being implanted into immune deficient mice and propagated. These mice are then treated in the same way that the patient is treated. When the tumors in the patient and the mice become resistant to treatment, further biopsies are performed to compare the genetic changes that resulted in resistance between the patient and the mouse. If this study is successful, we will learn how to predict what type of resistance will develop in an individual patient and therefore target that resistance to improve survival. This study is open to patient enrollment currently.
B) PHII-122: A randomized phase 2 trial of trebaninib with or without bevacizumab, pazopanib, sorafenib, or sunitinib in treating patients with advanced kidney cancer. Tumors require blood vessels (angiogenesis) in order to get enough nutrients to grow. This clinical trial is using pre-treatment tumor biopsy to simultaneously understand resistance to currently available anti-angiogenic treatments and to identify the best strategy for using experimental anti-angiogenic treatments. We are developing tests (biomarkers) to determine how to personalize this type of therapy. I am the lead for this clinical trial, which is open at UCD and several sites across the country (University of Southern California, City of Hope, Karmanos Cancer Institute, University of Pittsburgh). We have enrolled ~25% of the planned patients to the study.
All of this work is involving patients with cancer being treated now, with the goal to improve patient treatment in the near future.
