MPDA e-newlsetter 2013 jan 31

grant to the review board,

and distribute reviewer

comments back to the sub-

mitter. The S3 board will

meet to review submissions

every 3rd Thursday of the

month. Individuals must

request an S3 review no

less than two months be-

fore the proposed submis-

sion to allow substantial

time for review and distribu-

tion of comments back to

the submitter.

This sounds great. When This sounds great. When This sounds great. When This sounds great. When

will it start?will it start?will it start?will it start?

The MPDA is currently in

the planning process for S3

and are in need of eager

scientists ready to submit

their work and senior Mof-

fitt members willing to pro-

vide their expertise and a

little time to help review

submitted work. With a little

help from our wonderful

Moffitt team, we are hoping

to launch this new service

this upcoming fall.

—L. Cook

With all of the pressures in

science to publish quality

work and to successfully

acquire funding, don’t you

wish that you had some-

thing that could boost your

chances while also provid-

ing you with the necessary

developmental tools to im-

prove your writing?

Where can I find something Where can I find something Where can I find something Where can I find something

like this?like this?like this?like this?

The Moffitt Postdoctoral

Association would like to

present S3 (Scientific Sub-

mission Studio), an internal

review board designed as a

tool for junior scientists to

improve upon the quality of

manuscripts and grant pro-

posal submissions. With S3,

junior scientists at Moffitt

(including: postdoctoral

fellows, graduate students,

and research assistants)

can receive feedback on

publication-ready manu-

scripts from a pre-approved

committee comprised of

members of our Moffitt

team (experienced journal

editors and scientific writ-

ers).

How does it work?How does it work?How does it work?How does it work?

An S3 request form with the

following information: an

abstract of the submission,

proposed journal of submis-

sion, and a proposed panel

of reviewers (first and se-

cond choice of Moffitt facul-

ty) of the submitter’s choos-

ing will be submitted to the

S3 portal on the MPDA web-

site. Potential reviewers will

be asked to respond within

a week of inquiry; upon

acceptance, the submitter

will provide a publication-

ready manuscript to the

MPDA who will distribute

the work to the review

board members. Submit-

ters must have the permis-

sion and signature of ap-

proval from his or her pri-

mary mentor on the re-

quest. The MPDA will pro-

vide the request form, facili-

tate the assembling of the

review board members,

distribute the manuscript or

S c i e n t i f i c s u b m i s s i o n s t u d i o ( S 3 )

S A V E T H E D A T E S

• March 15, 2013

Postdoc Town Hall

with Dr. Sellers

• April 23, 2013

Career Workshop

and Interview Prepa-

ration Seminar

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Postdoc Spotlight 2

Town Hall Meeting 2

Career Workshop; Interview Preparation Seminar

3

Internship Opportunity 3

OSR Q&A Session 4

Scientific Communica-tion Seminar Series

4

Research Colloquium 5

Career & Skill Develop-ment Resource Library

5

Featured Publications 6

MPDA Seminar Series 6

MPDA Council, New Leadership

7

New Postdocs 7

H . L E E M O F F I T T C A N C E R C E N T E R

MPDA e-Newsletter 31 January 2013 Volume 2, Issue 1

and packed schedule, I was very grate-

ful to have a chance to sit down with

Kelley for a few minutes and ask her a

few questions about her experiences

here at Moffitt.

Q: What are your research goals and Q: What are your research goals and Q: What are your research goals and Q: What are your research goals and

tell us a bit about your project?tell us a bit about your project?tell us a bit about your project?tell us a bit about your project?

We have just wrapped up a line of

investigations involving genetic and

pharmacologic PKCα and PKCθ inhibi-

tion to dampen detrimental alloreac-

tivity in the con-

text of acute

GVHD. I am most

recently opening

a new line of in-

vestigation to

explore the meta-

bolic profiles of

alloreactive T

cells and how T

cell metabolism

contributes to and

could be exploited

or manipulated to

prevent acute

GVHD.

Q: What inspires Q: What inspires Q: What inspires Q: What inspires

you to come to work every day?you to come to work every day?you to come to work every day?you to come to work every day?

I absolutely LOVE my coworkers. Their

insights and perpetual cooperation are

encouragement for me. I come to work

every day looking forward to working

with them and to tackle challenges

ahead whole-heartedly. I believe the

field of immunology is dynamically

evolving every day and it is an awe-

some time to be involved in this field

of research. I am thankful for Dr. Yu’s

support in my work and appreciate his

backing and mentorship.

Q: What is your greatest daily chal-Q: What is your greatest daily chal-Q: What is your greatest daily chal-Q: What is your greatest daily chal-

lenge?lenge?lenge?lenge?

My greatest daily challenge is making

sure my experiments flow and that I

have planned them correctly and I

execute them with efficacy and dili-

gence. In my field of work, remaining

focused is the key to success. It is very

easy to get side-tracked as we get very

passionate about what we do.

Q: How do you like to spend your “Me Q: How do you like to spend your “Me Q: How do you like to spend your “Me Q: How do you like to spend your “Me

time”?time”?time”?time”?

Well, I have been blessed with many

things in my life so far but, the most

important thing in my life is my daugh-

ter. I love spending time with her and

my family. What completes me and

gives me the resolve to do what I do is

to maintain a balanced personal and

professional life.

Q: Any words of wisdom to pass along Q: Any words of wisdom to pass along Q: Any words of wisdom to pass along Q: Any words of wisdom to pass along

to your peers?to your peers?to your peers?to your peers?

Be the master of your own career. Do

not let negative people or negative

results side-track you from your goals.

Science will give you a tough skin, but

will also instill a sense of accomplish-

ment for even the smallest of positive

outcomes. Use those traits well and

you will do well.

—E. Sahakian

SAVE THE DATE: SAVE THE DATE: SAVE THE DATE: SAVE THE DATE: Dr. Tom Sellers will be hosting a Town Hall meeting for all Moffitt Postdocs

on March 15, 2013. More details coming soon.

P o s t d o c s p o t l i g h t

P o s t d o c t o w n h a l l m e e t i n g

P a g e 2 V o l u m e 2 , I s s u e 1

This quarter’s Postdoc Spotlight fea-

tures Dr. Kelley M.K. Haarberg. Cur-

rently, Kelley trains as a 3rd year re-

search fellow in the laboratory of a

well-regarded Moffitt Cancer Center

investigator, Dr. Yu. Dr. Yu’s laboratory

is actively involved in ground-breaking

research in the field of graft-versus-

host disease (GVHD). Dr. Haarberg has

more than eight years of basic science

research experience in cellular and

molecular biology, microbiology and

immunology and more

than five years of clini-

cal/patient care experi-

ence. Her project cur-

rently is to develop

genetic and pharmaco-

logic T-cell manipula-

tion strategies to pre-

vent acute GVHD. In

addition to everyday

laborious post-doctoral

research obligations,

Kelley has thus far

mentored three gradu-

ate students and con-

tinues to train more

students and interns in

the lab. Aside from numerous honors

and awards during training, in 2012

alone Dr. Haarberg has received 1-the

top basic science poster award at the

Moffitt Cancer Center Scientific Sym-

posium, 2- the abstract achievement

award at the American Society of He-

matology Annual Meeting, and 3- the

top presentation award at the Univer-

sity of South Florida Postdoctoral Re-

search Colloquium. Given her busy

career management workshops

and seminars that facilitate per-

sonal and profession growth, stra-

tegic planning and career ad-

vancement. Her career manage-

ment workshops have been pre-

sented at universities, government

agencies, and research institu-

tions, both nationally and interna-

tionally. She will be presenting this

world renowned workshop at Mof-

fitt as well. Seating is limited for

the workshop. Stay tuned for more

information.

The Interview Preparation Semi-

nar, being held in the afternoon, is

open to all. It is co-sponsored by

the Moffitt Postdoctoral Associa-

tion and the USF Cancer Biology

PhD Program.

U p c o m i n g e v e n t : C a r e e r w o r k s h o p a n d i n t e r v i e w

p r e p a r a t i o n s e m i n a r


• Learn general patterns in your interests.

• Discover work environments that fit your interests.

• Explore careers that are

consistent with your likes and dislikes.

Dara Wilson-Grant, Careers in

Bloom consultant, will be at Moffitt

April 23, 2013 to give a seminar

on Interview Preparation. Mrs Wil-

son-Grant has over 15 years of

experience providing career coun-

seling and career management

education to students and profes-

sionals across a wide range of

disciplines and career fields. She

currently serves as the Associate

Director at UNC Chapel Hill’s Of-

fice of Postdoctoral Affairs, provid-

ing personalized individual career

counseling to postdoctoral schol-

ars. She holds a Master’s Degree

in Counseling from Fordham Uni-

versity. She is also a National Cer-

tified Counselor (NCC) and Li-

censed Professional Counselor

Associate (LPCA).

Mrs Wilson-Grant is also the owner

of Careers in Bloom, where she

designs and presents a variety of

resumés. Previous interns participating in the program have leveraged this experience to gain employment in academic technology transfer offices and law firms, and some have even started their own businesses. Informational sessions on the OTMC internship program are scheduled for March 19th and March 26th. Please stay tuned for more information. Prior business and/or legal experience is not required for the internship. The time commitment is 4 hours per week. All postdocs and PhD students having passed qualifying exams are eligible to apply. Additional information about the program and testimonials from past interns are available at http://www.moffittip.com/Internship_Program.html.

Did you know that Moffitt’s Office of Technology Manage-ment and Commercialization (OTMC) has an internship program? OTMC is responsible for patenting and licensing, support-ing startups, and fostering industry collaborations. OTMC created an internship program in 2007 and to date has hosted over 30 interns. The internship program provides career development benefits to Moffitt post docs and PhD students interested in non-traditional careers (e.g. business development officer, patent agent, regulatory specialist, and business analyst). For interns wishing to remain in academia, the experiences gained with patent-ing, licensing, and startups will be valuable and bolster

I n t e r n s h i p o p p o r t u n i t y

people not only asked her questions

but also discussed amongst each oth-

er the different views about applica-

tion processes. The knowledge in the

audience varied and provided the

opportunity to vent the frustrations of

trying to go through this road. In this

climate of funding shortages, it is im-

perative to give the next step in secur-

ing your own funding to help your men-

tor as well as further advance your

career. It was good to learn that Linda

and her group are ready with a helping

hand.

Thus far, Linda and her team have

only been providing postdoctoral fund-

ing opportunities they, themselves,

were aware of. Linda stated she would

be more than happy for postdocs to

share or forward to her other postdoc-

toral funding opportunities as they

come across them. Linda will publish

those opportunities in the MRI Signals

with other funding opportunities.

Please feel free to forward funding

opportunities that you are aware of to

Linda ([email protected]).

When applying for any grant, do not

wait for the submission day to contact

the OSR. While Linda and her team

are involved in the actual processing

of the application, what she enjoys

most is assisting individuals who are

new to this research enterprise.

components of quality oral and poster

presentations. First, she reviewed the

visual esthetics surrounding a presen-

tation, including proper font styles,

text sizes, colors, spacing, and other

formatting guidelines. Dr. Carver also

provided useful information on pre-

senting conflicts of interest, citing

literature and borrowed materials

(e.g., web images), and using a critical

yet often overlooked tool, SPELL-

CHECK! We also discussed the appro-

priate and effective use of images,

including tables, graphs, clip art, and

photos. For nearly every point of dis-

On November 7, 2012, the Moffitt

Postdoctoral Association invited Dr.

Jane Carver to present, “Creating and

Delivering Effective Slide Presenta-

tions and Posters” as a part of her

Scientific Communication Seminar

Series. Preparing and delivering an

oral or poster presentation is more

complex than most scientists realize.

In fact, there are subtle details that

can substantially improve the clarity

and effectiveness of every presenta-

tion.

In this seminar, Dr. Carver discussed

the general guidelines and essential

cussion, Dr. Carver provided clear

examples of good quality slides/

posters along with some examples of

presentations that could benefit from

the lessons learned in this seminar.

Lastly, Dr. Carver provided tips on

delivering an oral or poster presenta-

tion. My personal favorites included

using pauses rather than ums & ahs,

avoiding jargon, and having physical

copies of the abstract and/or supple-

mental information in hand.

—C. Pierce Campbell

P a s t S e m i n a r : O f f i c e o f S p o n s o r e d R e s e a r c h ( O S R ) Q & A s e s s i o n

P a s t s e m i n a r : S c i e n t i f i c c o m m u n i c a t i o n


On June 28th Moffitt postdocs had an

opportunity to have a Q & A session

with Linda Nolan from OSR. This was

a tremendous opportunity for those in

attendance to get a better grasp of the

workings of the grants processing here

at Moffitt as it pertains to this particu-

lar time in our careers. More im-

portantly, based on the changes that I

have seen in the MRI signals and in

OSR, I can say that she was very re-

ceptive to all the questions asked; she

answered all and implemented some

suggestions made into the depart-

ment, such as providing more infor-

mation to us about fellowship and

career opportunities. She is very warm

and open and hence the session took

on a very relaxed atmosphere where

S a v e t h e d a t e , M a r c h 1 5 P o s t d o c T o w n H a l l m e e t i n g

w i t h D r . T o m S e l l e r s ! ! !

Allison Cohen (Cancer Imaging & Me-

tabolism, PI: David L. Morse), Yolaine

Jeune-Smith (Cancer Imaging & Me-

tabolism, PI: David L. Morse), Adam

Mailloux (Immunology, PI: P.K. Epling-

Burnette), and Eva Sahakian

(Immunology, PIs: Eduardo M. So-

tomayor and Javier Pinella-Ibarz). The

Office of Postdoctoral

Affairs sponsored four

$500 travel awards to

the posters/

presentations that were

judged to be the most

outstanding by a com-

mittee of faculty mem-

bers. Kelley Haarberg

was selected as one of

the winners. The other

winners were Ronan

Carroll (CMMB), Sandra

Acosta (Center for Ag-

ing), and Neha Woods

(Molecular Medicine).

—A. Cohen

Explaining Research: How to Reach

Key Audiences to Advance Your Work

Author: Dennis Meredith

“So What Are You Going to Do with

That?": Finding Careers Outside Aca-

demia

Author: Susan Basalla and Maggie

Debelius

Marketing for Scientists – How to

Shine in Tough Times

Author: Marc Kuchner, PhD

The Grant Application Writer's Work-

book - National Institutes of Health

Author: Stephen W. Russell and David

C. Morrison

The Moffitt Postdoc Association has

created a Career Development Sec-

tion in the Moffitt Biomedical Library,

located on the 1st floor of the MRC

building. The MPDA has purchased

several books, now available to loan

to our postdocs. The selection in-

cludes:

A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Sur-

vival in Science

Author: Peter J. Feibelman

Career Opportunities in Biotechnology

and Drug Development

Author: Toby Freedman

Job Search in Academe: Strategic

Rhetorics for Faculty Job Candidates

Author: Formo Dawn M

Come visit and check out the full se-

lection. If assistance is needed, ask

Susan the Librarian.

U s f p o s t d o c t o r a l r e s e a r c h c o l l o q u i u m

M P D A c a r e e r d e v e l o p m e n t l i b r a r y


Career and Skill Development Books, located in the Moffitt Biomedical Library, 1st floor MRC.

The University of South Florida Post-

doctoral Scholar Association (USF-

PSA) hosted their 2nd annual Postdoc-

toral Research Colloquium on Novem-

ber 15, 2012 at the USF Marshall

Student Center. The colloquium

brought together postdoctoral schol-

ars in a variety of disciplines from USF,

USF Health, and Moffitt Cancer Cen-

ter. The purpose of the colloquium

was to provide a professional and

informal forum for the exchange of

ideas, research, and practice. Four

applicants were invited by the PSA to

give oral presentations. Kelley Haar-

berg from Xue-Zhong Yu’s group in the

Department of Immunology was one of

the postdocs chosen. Her talk was

entitled “Prevention of Acute Graft-

Verses-Host Disease through Target-

ing PKC alpha and theta in Mice”. The

colloquium also featured twenty post-

er presentations. Among the poster

presenters were four Moffitt postdocs:

Left to right: A. Cohen, E. Sahakian, A. Mailloux, K. Haarberg and Y. Jeune-Smith

F e a t u r e d p u b l i c a t i o n s


Christie JChristie JChristie JChristie J, Quinn GP, Malo T, Lee JH, Zhao X, McIntyre J, Brzosowicz J, Jacobsen PB and Vadaparampil ST. Cognitive and psycho-

logical impact of BRCA genetic counseling in before and after definitive surgery breast cancer patients. Annals of Surgical On-

cology. 2012 Dec;19(13):4003-4011

Jim HS, Phillips KMPhillips KMPhillips KMPhillips KM, Chait S, Faul LA, Popa-McKiver MA, Lee YH, Hussin MG, Jacobsen PB and Small BJ. Meta-analysis of cogni-

tive functioning in breast cancer survivors previously treated with standard-dose chemotherapy. Journal of Clinical Oncology.

2012 Oct; 30(29):3578-3587

Kang CWKang CWKang CWKang CW, Sun Y and Del Valle JR. Substituted Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines as B-strand peptidomimetics. Organic Letters. 2012 Oct;

14(24):6162-6165

Kodumudi KNKodumudi KNKodumudi KNKodumudi KN, Weber A, Sarnaik AA, Pilon-Thomas S. Blockade of myeloid-derived suppressor cells after induction of lymphope-

nia improves adoptive T cell therapy in a murine model of melanoma. Journal of Immunology. 2012 Dec; 189(11):5147-5154

Pierce Campbell CMPierce Campbell CMPierce Campbell CMPierce Campbell CM, Menezes LJ, Paskett ED and Giuliano AR. Prevention of invasive cervical cancer in the United States: Past,

present, and future. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. 2012 Sep; 21(9):1402-1408

Vadaparampil ST, Malo T, de la Cruz C and Christie JChristie JChristie JChristie J. Do breast cancer patients tested in the oncology care setting share BRCA

mutation results with family members and health care providers? Journal of Cancer Epidemiology. 2012 July 15 [Epub ahead

of print] DOI: 10.1155/2012/498062

Vadaparampil ST, Staras SA, Malo TL, Eddleton KZ, Christie JChristie JChristie JChristie J, Rodriguez M, Giuliano AR and Shenkman EA. Provider factors

associated with disparities in human papillomavirus vaccination among low-income 9-17-year-old girls. Cancer. 2012 Aug 1.

[Epub ahead of print] DOI: 10.1002/cncr.27735

Wang D, Iclozan CIclozan CIclozan CIclozan C, Liu C, Xia C, Anasetti C and Yu XZ. LBH589 enhances T-cell activation in vivo and accelerates graft-versus-

host disease in mice. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantion. 2012 Aug; 18(8): 1182-1190.e1

Woods NTWoods NTWoods NTWoods NT, Mesquita RD, Sweet M, Carvalho MA, Li X, Liu Y, Nguyen H, Thomas CE, Iversen ES Jr., Marsillac S, Karchin R,

Koomen J and Monteiro AN. Charting the landscape of tandem BRCT domain–mediated protein interactions. Science Signaling.

2012 Sep; 5(242):rs6

Wu SWu SWu SWu S, Chen L, Becker A, Schonbrunn E and Chen J. Casein kinase 1α regulates an MDMX intramolecular interaction to stimu-

late p53 binding. Molecular and Cellular Biology. 2012 Dec; 32(23):4821-4832

Youn JIYoun JIYoun JIYoun JI, Kumar VKumar VKumar VKumar V, Collazo M, Nefedova Y, Condamine TCondamine TCondamine TCondamine T, Cheng C, Villagra A, Antonia S, McCaffrey JC, Fishman M, Sarnaik A,

Horna P, Sotomayor E and Gabrilovich DI. Epigenetic silencing of retinoblastoma gene regulates pathologic differentiation of

myeloid cells in cancer. Nature Immunology. 2012 January 27 [Epub ahead of print] DOI: 10.1038/ni.2526

To give postdocs here at Moffitt an opportunity to practice their presentation skills, the Moffitt Postdoctoral Association has created a seminar series. Postdocs can sign up to present their research to the Moffitt scientific community during this month-ly seminar, generally the 3rd Thursday at 4pm. This provides a venue through which you can receive feedback on speaking skills and to foster collaborations with postdocs from other labs. If you are interested in participating, email Cathy Gaffney ([email protected]); please be sure to inform your mentor as this will be publicized in MRI Signals and on the electronic signs throughout Moffitt. This presentation can be added to your CV and included on your annual review in Halogen.

M P D A s e m i n a r s e r i e s

Moffitt Postdoctoral Association

12902 Magnolia Drive

MRC 4

Tampa, Fl 33612

E-mail: [email protected]

The mission of the Moffitt Postdoctoral Associa-

tion (MPDA) is to foster professional development

and social interaction and to provide a collective

voice and liaison between postdoctoral fellows,

faculty and administration.

CREDITS: A. Cohen, L. Cook, D. Cress, E. Eksioglu,

C. Gaffney, Y. Jeune-Smith, C. Pierce Campbell,

E. Sahakian and G. Shay

H . L E E M O F F I T T C A N C E R C E N T E R

N e w p o s t d o c s o f s u m m e r / f a l l 2 0 1 2

Its your future. Get involved!!!

IT’S YOUR FUTURE, GET

INVOLVED!!!

NameNameNameName DepartmentDepartmentDepartmentDepartment PI/LabPI/LabPI/LabPI/Lab

Ying Han Immunology Burnette

Arturo Araujo Gutierrez Mathematical Oncology Basanta

Zili Wang Immunology Celis

Michael Emmons Molecular Oncology Hazlehurst

Hua Wang Imaging Gillies

Manali Phadke Molecular Oncology Smalley

Hemachander Subramanian Imaging Gatenby

Jacob Scott Mathematical Oncology Anderson

Yixuan Li Molecular Oncology Seto

M p d a c o u n c i l l e a d e r s h i p w i n t e r / s p r i n g 2 0 1 3

Chair: Leah M. CookChair: Leah M. CookChair: Leah M. CookChair: Leah M. Cook PhD earned in Molecular and Cellular Pathology from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL Current Lab: Conor Lynch, PhD Tumor Biology/Molecular Oncology Current Research: One of the focuses of the Lynch Lab is to understand the molecular dynamics of prostate cancer metastasis to bone. They aim to gain an understanding of mechanisms involved in the progression and survival of metastatic prostate cancer within bone and are exploring novel therapeutic targets for treating this disease. Leah is currently working with David Basanta, in the Department of Mathematical Oncology, to explore new methods for targeting prostate cancer metastasis. Vice Chair: Gemma ShayVice Chair: Gemma ShayVice Chair: Gemma ShayVice Chair: Gemma Shay PhD earned in Medicine and Therapeutics from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK Current Lab: Conor Lynch, PhD Tumor Biology/Molecular Oncology Current Research: Gemma is looking at the roles of MMPs in bone cancer metastasis and making use of novel bone-seeking MMP-2 inhibitors for the treatment of myeloma

Documents

MPDA e-newlsetter 2013 jan 31