In the summer of 2006, three young researchers were recruited to NJMS to be part of the new Cancer Center Research Facility that opened a short 5 months ago (in October 2006). These three scientists have brought with them fresh ideas and novel approaches that complement our existing interdisciplinary and interdepartmental cancer research nucleus at NJMS (to find out more about the research interests of the 96 faculty that are part of the NJMS Cancer Center Community, visit the Cancer Center Research website at http://njmsuhcc.umdnj.edu/research/ ). Drs. Wu, Barnes and Herbig's laboratories are currently housed on the G level of the Cancer Center building.

Lizhao Wu, PhD., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine
Dr. Wu received his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics in 1999 from the Ohio State University and his postdoctoral training in Mouse Genetics at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center . Dr. Wu, an NIH KO1 funded scholar, provided the first set of genetic evidence to support the notion that E2F activators are essential for normal cellular proliferation and has made seminal discoveries about the impact on fetal development of the non-cell autonomous function of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor in the placenta. He has published two first-author papers in Nature, and several other manuscripts in top-tier journals. Dr. Wu is interested in using mouse models and cell/tissue culture systems to investigate how various tumor suppressor and oncogenic pathways function to regulate normal cell growth and cancer development in the hematopoietic system, the mammary gland, and the prostate gland. On his list of accolades is the Presidential Fellowship from the Ohio State University in 1997 and the prestigious Howard Temin Award (Career Development Award) from NCI/NIH in 2003. He was recently nominated by UMDNJ to compete for the prestigious Searle Scholars Award in 2006.

 Betsy Barnes, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Dr. Barnes completed her Ph.D. in 1999 in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . She received her postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University from 1999-2002 in the area of Virology/Oncology on an NIH funded fellowship for Anticancer Drug Development (ACDD). During this time, Dr. Barnes was studying the role of interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) in host immune response. In 2002, Dr. Barnes was recruited as an Assistant Professor to the Department of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University . There she developed her own independent laboratory studying the cellular pathways regulated by the IRFs. Her lab has two primary areas of interest: 1) understanding the role of IRFs in autoimmune disease and 2) determining the molecular mechanism of IRF-mediated cell growth regulation. Her current work indicates that another primary functional role for the IRFs (IRF-1 and IRF-5) is in cell growth regulation; IRF-1 and IRF-5 sensitize p53-deficient tumors to DNA damage- and death receptor-mediated apoptosis and cell death. Dr. Barnes is currently funded through FAMRI and NIH.

 Utz Herbig, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dept of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Dr. Herbig received his PhD in Molecular Biology from Vanderbilt University in 1999 studying initiation of DNA replication in human cells. In 2000, he joined the team of Dr. John Sedivy to study cellular senescence on an NIH funded postdoctoral fellowship. His interests lie in the study of telomere damage induced senescence in cancer and aging and he has made significant contributions to this field that were recently published in Science and Cell. As Dr. Herbig explains, with the exception of stem cells and cells from the germ line, all human somatic cells have a limited lifespan and eventually will become senescent. Similar to apoptosis, cellular senescence has been demonstrated to function as a potent tumor suppressor mechanism, preventing the accumulation of cells that encountered signaling imbalances and other transforming events. As senescent cells accumulate in living organisms, however, they potentially contribute to organismal aging by depleting various organ systems of functional cells required to maintain organ homeostasis. As a result of his seminal studies in this area, Dr. Herbig has been nominated as the UMDNJ candidate for the 2007 Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar Award in Aging.

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