We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 Brown Pathology Travel Award:

• Yigit Baykara, MD (PGY 3) - Protein-Protein Interactions in Papillary and FollicularThyroid Carcinomas
• Mohammed Omer, MD (PGY 2) – IPSS-M Improves the Risk Stratification of MDS Patients: A Single Institution Experience
• Evi Abada, MD, MS (Stuart Lauchlan Fellow) – Low Level Expression of Human Epidermal Growth Factor-2 (HER2) in High-Grade Mullerian Tumors: Implications For Therapy Decision Making
• Jessica Posada, MD, PhD (Surgical Pathology Fellow) – Characterizing the Genomic Landscape of Micropapillary Variant of Urothelial Carcinoma of the Bladder Harboring Activating Extra-Cellular Mutations of the ERBB2 Gene

We would like to thank our Brown Pathology Travel Award Selection Committee members for their efforts: Mariana Canepa, Shaza Ben Khadra, Katrine Hansen, Sean Lawler, Sara Maleki, Joyce Ou, Michael Punsoni, Mohammed Quddus, Kamaljeet Singh, Evgeny Yakirevich, Alisha Lima (Coordinator).
 
Diana O. Treaba, Director of Brown Pathology Residency Program
Jesse L. Hart, Associate Director of Brown Pathology Residency Program
Geralyn M. Lambert-Messerlian, Vice Chair for Clinical Faculty Development
Liang Cheng, Vice Chair for Translational Research

Dr. Anatoly Zhitkovich served as the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) selected expert to evaluate EPA's Plan to conduct Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)  Assessment of Inhalation Exposure to Cobalt and Cobalt Compounds. The EPA held a public meeting on this topic on 1-11-23 where Dr. Zhitkovich gave two presentations. The first presentation was on the "Association Between Lung and Adrenal Tumor Formation" and the second was on "Proposed MOA of Cobalt Carcinogenicity."

On December 1, 2022, the Editorial Office of Cancer Drug Resistance (CDR) was very honored to interview Journal Editorial Board member Prof. Wafik S. El-Deiry, who is Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School, Director of the Cancer Center at Brown University, and Director of the Joint Program in Cancer Biology at Brown University and Affiliated Hospitals, Providence, RI, USA.

In the interview, Prof. El-Deiry shared what motivated him to enter the field of oncology research, research advances, and challenges in the field. In addition, he shared that the original discovery of p21 is one of the most exciting things in his career. p21 was the first mammalian CDK inhibitor to be discovered, which eventually led to the discovery and development of a new class of now FDA approved CDK inhibitor drugs. Furthermore, he also gave some advice to young researchers. He stressed that young researchers should really consider pursuing oncology research when they do have some interest and skills on it. He said that they can really make a difference in the world. Finally, he talked about how cancer drug resistance is very important and has huge challenges, and hoped that we could continue making important progress.

View the complete interview at the link below:

CDR Interview with Dr. El-Deiry

Dr. Liang Cheng, Vice Chair for Translational Research, has had a State of the Art review paper published in The BMJ (the journal impact factor, 93). 

Please see the link below to access the article.

State of the Art - Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Testicular Cancer

Dr. Anatoly Zhitkovich, Professor of Pathology,  has been selected to serve on the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Hexavalent Chromium Review Panel. The EPA SAB, its standing committees and ad hoc panels engage in a variety of advisory activities of significant importance to the EPA.  If you are interested in learning more about the SAB, please visit their webpage http://www.epa.gov/sab.

1. Geralyn Messerlian, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, CNE
Director of Clinical Chemistry and Special Testing, is appointed Vice Chair for Clinical
Faculty Development of the Department of Pathology of Warren Alpert Medical School
of Brown University effective August 10, 2022.
2. C. James Sung, MD, led an international team of College of American Pathologists
(CAP) inspectors conducted a virtual CAP inspection of the Department of Laboratory
Medicine of the First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang, Liaoning, China
on August 23-24, 2022.
3. The Microbiology Lab welcomes Amy Arruda, MLS(ASCP) as our new Microbiology
Lab Manager. Amy started 8/22/22. She joined us from the Beth Israel Deaconess
Plymouth Hospital.
4. The Department welcomes Steffanie C. Tamayo, MD, as our Visiting International
Fellow in Women’s Pathology. Dr. Tamayo joins us from the St. Luke’s Hospital in
Manila, Philippines. She will be with us until June 30, 2023.
5. Zhenwei Zhang, MDPhD, currently a pathology resident at the University of
Massachusetts, Worcester, is selected as the next Stuart Lauchlan Fellow in Gynecologic
Pathology and Breast Pathology in 2024-2025

Dr. Sheldon Holder has received the Trailblazer Award of $75,000.  The Kidney Cancer Association’s Trailblazer Award funds promising young- to mid-career investigators to foster innovative research in kidney cancer.

Dr. Kamaljeet Singh was awarded the 2022 W. Dwayne Lawrence Award for Excellence in Diagnostic Surgical Pathology.

Pathology residents have selected Dr. Katelyn Dannheim to receive this year's Ronald A. DeLellis Mentoring Award for Outstanding Mentoring.

Undergraduate Student Andrew George has been awarded the Clapp Prize for Outstanding Senior Honors Thesis in Biochemistry for contributions to the cancer immunotherapy hyper-progression model & molecular signatures.