Research and Education Newsletter v35- Internal - Flipbook - Page 7
Division of Radiation Oncology Annual Research and Education Newsletter: Fiscal Year 2020
A New Approach to a
Common Question in
Cancer Research
Radiation Oncology
Strategic Initiatives
ROSI Pillars
What kills cancer cells? Boyi Gan, Ph.D. might just have a new answer.
FACULTY PROFILE
Dr. Gan, associate professor in the Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology,
brings his passion to end cancer through research and discovery. “Our lab has been
studying ferroptosis, a type of cell death that is triggered by toxic buildup of lipid
damages called lipid peroxidation in the cellular membrane, and its relevance to
cancer,” Gan explains.
Gan and his team discovered that radiation therapy can induce this kind of cell death. As
the phenomenon was still in early proof-of-concept stage, and not likely well positioned
for external funding, they submitted their proposal to the Radiation Oncology Strategic
Initiatives (ROSI) Boot Walk Seed Grant and were awarded funding for his study
entitled,” Targeting a Novel Ferroptosis Defense Pathway in Radioresistance.”
“We were very fortunate to receive ROSI seed funding because it provided the
critical jump-start for us to work on this exciting project and to publish the resulting
manuscript (in Cell Research),” says Gan. The findings from the ROSI-funded study aided
Gan and his group to successfully compete for a Research Project Grant (R01) from the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), to further investigate the mechanism(s) through
which radiation-induced ferroptosis of cancer cells occurs. When combining ferroptosis
inducers, called FINs, with radiation therapy, Gan and his team observed a significant
reduction in tumor size.
Chao Mao, Guang Lei, Hyemin Lee, Yilei Zhang, Boyi Gan, Ph.D, Yuelong Yan, Pranavi Koppula, Xiaoguang Liu, and
Weijie Cheng Image taken pre COVID-19 pandemic (12/16/2019)
This project’s journey from idea to seed award, high-impact publication, and external
peer-reviewed funding, is emblematic of the success stories that the ROSI seed funding
program seeks to catalyze across the division. It also demonstrates the potential impact
of ROSI in support of our prolific faculty, like Gan, who in this fiscal year alone, has
attained three R01 or similar grants to support his robust cancer research program.
“Biology is extremely complex. My inspiration to do research is derived from my
curiosity in the beauty and complexity of life science and my personal experience
with family and friends who have suffered from devastating diseases such as cancer,”
Gan describes. “By studying fundamental biological questions, we can identify novel
effective therapies to help our patients in the near future.” With that ultimate goal, Gan
and his team of scientists continue their singular focus on the life and death of cancer
cells – how cancer cells persist or perish under this type of stress – to turn this vital
question into potentially practice-changing solutions.
Advanced
Imaging
Global Radiation
Treatment Access
Immuno/RT
Particle
Therapy
Predictive
Biomarkers
FLASH RT
Data Science
Automation | Big Data | Informatics
Clinical Trials & RO Network Research
Education
Health Services Research
Quality & Safety
ROSI Platforms
Through division-wide collaboration, Radiation
Oncology faculty and leadership identified
research and educational priorities to transform
the next generation of radiation therapy. As such,
the Radiation Oncology Strategic Initiatives was
developed as a road map comprising six pillars:
Advanced Imaging, Global Radiation Treatment
Access, Immuno-Radiation Therapy, Particle
Therapy, Predictive Biomarkers, and FLASH
Radiation Therapy (added in FY20). These pillars
are supported by five cross-cutting platforms,
including: Data Science, Clinical Trials & RO
Network Research, Education, Health Services
Research, and Quality & Safety.
Each pillar and platform is led by Radiation
Oncology faculty leaders who foster an
environment of collaboration (within and
external to the division) and mentorship for
trainees and early-career faculty. Specific seed
funding opportunities for faculty and nonfaculty researchers are available throughout the
year, and are administered through the various
pillars and platforms. Applications undergo a
peer-review process, and awards are managed
by the ROSI program administration team. For
additional and current information, contact
ROSI@mdanderson.org.
Seed
Awards
39
$1.2 M
Number of Active
Industry Alliances
5
7