Two GSDM Researchers are Awarded CTSI Pilot Grants
Two researchers at the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) were awarded pilot grants of $20,000 each by the Boston University Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The funding for the pilot grants is provided by GSDM. Both Dr. Ann Marie Egloff, Research Associate Professor, and Dr. Philip Trackman, Professor in Molecular & Cell Biology and Director of Graduate Programs, are part of GSDM’s Department of Molecular & Cell Biology. Each of their projects offers a cutting-edge approach to studying oral cancer.
Dr. Egloff’s project is entitled “Insights into head and neck cancer biology, etiology and precision medicine strategies through interrogation of arrayed head and neck cancer patient specimens for estrogen receptors and their signaling partners.” Her research will measure levels of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), other EGFR family receptors and estrogen receptors (ERs), which have demonstrated cross-talk, in order to gain insights into how these signaling molecules contribute to head and neck cancer. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) will be constructed from over 300 biospecimens, all of which are annotated with demographic, clinical, and pathologic data. TMAs created under this mechanism will provide an important resource for BUMC translational research in head and neck cancer. This is the second year in a row that Dr. Egloff has received a PILOT grant.
Dr. Trackman received funding for his project, “Creation of Floxed Lysyl Oxidase Mice for Cancer and Bone Disease Research.” Despite much research into the dysregulation of lysyl oxidases, there is not yet a floxed LOX mouse available, which would enable cell and tissue specific knockout of LOX expression in vivo superimposed on models of a variety of diseases. His project will use state of the art CRISPR/Cas9 technology to create mice with the LOX gene “floxed” permitting in vivo tissue-specific genetic regulation of LOX. These mice will provide robust models for future studies to, for example, establish the role of LOX derived, respectively, from epithelial, mesenchymal or hematopoietic origins on the growth and metastatsis of cancers, and on fibrosis in different contexts
The CTSI was launched through a partnership between Boston University and Boston Medical Center in 2008, and since its inception has served as a center of expertise for clinical and translational researchers. The pilot awards support outstanding research projects which are both innovative and translational. Grants are competitive and selected by a panel of faculty members.