The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund has awarded two Duke researchers grants through the Liz Tilberis Scholars Program, which supports junior faculty with a strong commitment to ovarian cancer research.
Mythreye Karthikeyan, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (Medical Oncology), was awarded $450,000 for a period of three years for the project "Investigating the TGFß Superfamily as Therapeutic Targets in Ovarian Cancer."
Dr. Karthikeyan's research will evaluate the importance of targeting TGF-ß, which has been demonstrated as a regulator of cancer progression, and its pathways in the tumor microenvironment in addition to or in combination with other molecular therapeutics and chemotherapy.
"This grant will have a tremendous impact in terms of allowing me to focus my efforts on ovarian cancer, sustaining my research, allowing me to build my research program and further establishing me in the ovarian cancer community," Karthikeyan said. Read a full summary of her project here.
Stéphanie Gaillard, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (Medical Oncology), was awarded $450,000 for a period of three years for the project "Evaluating ERRalpha as a Novel Therapeutic Target in Ovarian Cancer."
Dr. Gaillard's research looks at whether the estrogen-receptor related receptor alpha (ERRalpha) and the metabolic pathways it regulates are associated with tumor aggressiveness and clinical outcome in epithelial ovarian cancer; whether the metabolic pathways ERRalpha regulates are associated with tumor growth and chemoresistence in culture and animal models of EOC; and whether drugs targeting ERRalpha can be used to treat EOC. Read a full summary of her project here.
"I am honored to receive a 2013 Liz Tilberis grant from the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund," Gaillard said. "This grant will allow my research team to evaluate how alterations in cellular metabolism promote tumor growth and resistance to chemotherapy. Through these studies, we hope to elucidate the biology of ovarian cancer and identify potential drug targets. Our long-term objective is to translate these findings into novel therapeutic strategies for women with ovarian cancer."