Jorge DiPaola, MD Associate Director, Clinical Years

I am truly honored to become the Associate Clinical Director of the MSTP. I am a pediatric hematologist and physician scientist who moved to the University of Colorado in 2008. I have been involved with the MSTP as Chair of the Admissions Committee for the last 3 years. I am a Professor of Pediatrics and the Program” Leader in Hematology in our Depart-ment. I am looking forward to working with Arthur, Kristin and all the students.

Emily Dailey, MA Program Administrator

Hi y’all! I moved to Colorado from my home state of Kentucky in January 2013, where I was the Neuroscience Program Administrator here at Anschutz before moving to MSTP in June 2015. Previously, I worked at the University of Kentucky, first as an undergradu-ate recruiter (GO CATS!) and then as an academic advisor in the College or Arts and Sciences. I have a MA in Higher Education Administration (fitting, eh?) and LOVE what I do– especially working with students! I hope to make your time in MSTP an en-joyable one; my door is always open. Stop by and I’ll try to not overwhelm you with adorable pictures of my pups. No promises.

Michelle Tellez, BS Administrative Assistant

I moved here from San Marcos, TX where I attended Texas State University. I graduat-ed with bachelors in Biology and Biochemistry. I have worked at University of Colora-do for the past nine years managing the fish facility on campus and working in the Physiology and Biophysics department under Dr. Ribera. I look forward to getting to know everyone within the MSTP program.

Kristin Artinger, PhD Associate Director, Pre-Clinical Years I am excited to work with MSTP students as the Associate Director, Pre-Clinical Years I am excited to work with MSTP students as the Associate Preclinical Director. I am a Ph.D. sci-entist who studied at the University of California Irvine and trained as a postdoctoral fel-low at Harvard Medical School. I have been at CU since 2002 and am currently an Associ-ate Professor in Craniofacial Biology and Associate Director of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program.

Winter 2016

Marlie Fisher — I’m a Denver local and attended the University of Colorado at Boulder where I studied Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. As an undergraduate, I spent time studying tumor immunology at UC Denver and the tumor microenvironment at Memorial Sloan Kettering. After graduation, I worked in an immunology lab studying cytoskeletal effectors mediating the process of leukemia metastasis. I’m looking forward to further pursuing my studies of cancer and feel so lucky to have the opportunity to do so in the beautiful state of Colorado! I also enjoy being with my dog, playing golf, and spending time with my family.

Hae (Harry) J. Park — I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and moved to South Korea when I was 2. I grew up in Gyeongju, South Korea. As I had desired to broaden my horizon, I moved back to the U.S. when I was 19. I attended the University of Oregon (Go DUCKS), where I studied Biochemistry. During my undergraduate studies, I worked in Dr. Tom Stevens’ lab to study trafficking pathway of V-ATPase in budding yeast. After I graduated, I decided to pursue my research interest in molecular medicine, and worked as a research assistant for 2 years in Dr. Jim McCormick’s lab to study molecular mechanism of renal failure and hypertensive diseases. My future research interest is molecular medicine and physiology. In my free time, I enjoy indoor bouldering, snowboarding, and hiking.

Evan Lester — I grew up in Westport, Connecticut in a family of musicians and artists. After studying percussion at McGill’s University Schulich Conservatory, I transferred to Brown University where I graduated magna cum laude with a Sc.B. in music and neuroscience. Over the years, I have been involved in a variety of research projects from modeling human musical timing with Dr. Russell Church to high throughput screening for novel immuno-oncology therapeutics in the lead discovery wing of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s pharmaceutical research institute. This coming summer, I will be rotating in Dr. Hesselberth’s lab using new sequencing techniques to investigate mechanisms of viral resistance. When not on campus, I enjoy exploring the mountains, traveling, snowboarding, and playing drums.

Katherine (Katie) Wu—I grew up in Greenwich, CT, but moved to New York City during my junior year of high school. I studied Animal Science at Cornell University, where I completed two very different research theses. For my first thesis, I worked with Dr. Robin DeBruyne to investigate temporal and spatial comparisons of double crested cormorants in Lake Champlain. Additionally, I joined Dr. Yung-Fu Chang’s lab for my honors thesis, where I studied the pathogenesis of C. difficile infection and host immune response to infection. After graduating, I spent a year as a Corps Member with City Year/Americorps in Washington, DC. I was then fortunate to join Dr. Jason Prescott’s lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Under Dr. Prescott’s mentorship, I worked to generate a transgenic zebrafish model of thyroid cancer, which is designed for the rapid development of new treatments in both Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma and Anaplastic Thyroid

Wells LaRivière — I was born and raised in Greenwich, CT and went to Reed College in Portland OR, where I received a BA in Political Science. After graduation, I pursued extensive post-baccalaureate, pre-medical studies which culminated in a BS in Molecular & Cell Biology from the University of Connecticut. During this time, I had the pleasure of working in labs at both the Oregon Health & Science University and UConn, and most recently finished 2 years as an NIDDK research trainee at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. In my free time I like to play soccer (the one true sport) and do anything that gets me outdoors (including Netflix mountaineering documentaries, which totally count).

Matriculating Class of 2015

W E L C O M E

Leah Bowen — I grew up outside Seattle and did my undergrad in biomedical engineering at Northwestern. After graduation, I worked as a research technician and later as a biomedical engineering master's student in Vadim Backman's lab at Northwestern studying nanoscale imaging of cells and tissues as a cancer prescreen. I am currently interested in medical device design and development. In my free time I like DIY projects such as paintings and dehydrators. I also like eating, deadlifts, and the outdoors. During my time in Colorado I plan on improving my skiing, rock climbing, and mountain biking skills.

Anand (Andy) Tekriwal— I was born and raised in the coastal town of Toms River, NJ where I attended public school until leaving for the University of Pennsylvania in 2009. I graduated with a degree in Biological Basis of Behavior with Honors and was a member of several labs while I was an undergraduate. My most formative experience was in Dr. Tracy Bale working with then neurosurgical resident Dr. Casey Halpern. My interest in deep brain stimulation and related neuromodulatory treatments was piqued then and has continued since, although I took some time away from research to pursue a catering start up following graduation. I have been enjoying the food scene in downtown Denver and my subsequent runs on the many trails in and around the city.

Matthew Svalina — Matthew earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Following completion of his undergraduate degree, Matthew earned a paramedic license through Malcolm X College in Chicago, where he completed his field internship with the Chicago Fire Department on ambulances serving the south side of Chicago. He then joined the lab of Charles Keller at the Oregon Health & Science University where he led basic science and preclinical studies in rhabdomyosarcoma and medulloblastoma. He is co-founder of the Portland, Oregon-based Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute, a unique non-profit focused on the preclinical gap in childhood cancer research.

Faye Camp - I grew up in Philadelphia, PA and graduated from Temple University with a degree in Biology. My involvement in research began as in intern in the Oncology Drug Discovery group at Teva Pharmaceuticals. My engagement in drug discovery at Teva focused on indentifying and characterizing kinase inhibitors targeting activated oncoproteins implicated in multiple signal transduction pathways and inhibitors of metabolic oncoproteins that confer a selective survival advantage to specific subtypes of cancer. After graduating, I continued this work for a few years before applying to medical school. I enjoy being outdoors and am excited to explore the unending beauty Colorado has to offer.

We are so glad you’re here!

Matthew Becker— Neuroscience-

Abby Person’s Lab

Mellissa Delcont— Cell Biology, Stem

Cells & Development- Bruce Appel’s Lab

Ashley Denney— Molecular Biology-

Michael McMurray’ Lab

Karina Gomez— Cancer Biology-

Antonio Jimeno’s Lab

Alison Hixon— Neuroscience-

Ken Tyler’s Lab

Sean Jones— Immunology-

Mario Santiago’s Lab

Jon Kibbie— Immunology-

Cara Wilson’s Lab

Jason Silver— Chemical

Engineering-

Kristi Anseth’s Lab

Ricardo Villarreal— Cancer

Biology-

Rebecca Schweppes's Lab

Congratulations to the 2015 Keystone

Conference Committee on a

SPECTACULAR conference!

Aaron Bowen (2010) received a NIH NRSA in May 2015. Tara Carlisle (2007) was selected for Senior AOA. Kenny Felsenstein (2014) had a piece selected as an American Chemical Society Editor's Choice.

Josh Wheeler (2012) received a NIH NRSA from the NINDS (National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke) for "Evolution of Pathologic RNA-Protein Aggregates in Motor Neuron Disease." He presented at the 2015 Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago, "Identification of the Stress Granule Proteome and Disassembly Factors." And was selected out 1,800 students to give a talk at the National Graduate Student Symposium in April at St. Jude. Tom Vogler (2012) was awarded the NIH F30 AR068881 for "Manipulating FGFR1 Signaling to Enhance Satellite Cell Function and Potentiate Muscle Regeneration" and also received the Gordon Stone Junior Graduate Student Scholarship.

The class of 2013 picked

their

Jones RT, Felsenstein KM, Theodorescu D. Pharmacogenomics: Biomarker-

Directed Therapy for Bladder Cancer. Urol Clin North Am. 2016 Feb;43(1):77-

86. doi:10.1016/j.ucl.2015.08.007. Epub 2015 Oct 31. Review. PubMed PMID:

26614030

Brastianos PK, Carter SL, Santagata S, Cahill DP, Taylor-Weiner A, Jones RT,

Van Allen EM, Lawrence MS, Horowitz PM, Cibulskis K, Ligon KL, Tabernero J,

Seoane J, Martinez-Saez E, Curry WT, Dunn IF, Paek SH, Park SH, McKenna A,

Chevalier A, Rosenberg M, Barker FG 2nd, Gill CM, Van Hummelen P, Thorner

AR, Johnson BE, Hoang MP, Choueiri TK, Signoretti S, Sougnez C, Rabin MS, Lin

NU, Winer EP, Stemmer-Rachamimov A, Meyerson M, Garraway L, Gabriel S,

Lander ES, Beroukhim R, Batchelor TT, Baselga J, Louis DN, Getz G, Hahn WC.

Genomic Characterization of Brain Metastases Reveals Branched Evolution and

Potential Therapeutic Targets. Cancer Discov. 2015 Nov;5(11):1164-77. doi:

10.1158/2159-8290.CD-15-0369. Epub 2015 Sep 26. PubMed PMID: 26410082

Jain S*, Wheeler J*, Walters R, Agrawal A, Barsic A, Parker R. (2015) ATPase modulated stress granules contain a diverse proteome and substructure. Cell. 2015, In

Press. *Denotes co-first authors

Hauser MA, Aboobakar IF, Liu Y, Miura S, Whigham BT, Challa P, Wheeler J, Williams A, Santiago-Turla C, Qin X, Rautenbach RM, Ziskind A, Ramsay M, Uebe S, Song

L, Safi A, Vithana EN, Mizoguchi T, Nakano S, Kubota T, Hayashi K, Manabe S, Kazama S, Mori Y, Miyata K, Yoshimura N, Reis A, Crawford GE, Pasutto F, Carmichael

TR, Williams SE, Ozaki M, Aung T, Khor CC, Stamer WD, Ashley-Koch AE, Allingham RR. Genetic variants and cellular stressors associated with exfoliation syndrome

modulate promoter activity of a lncRNA within the LOXL1 locus. Hum Mol Genet. 2015 Nov 15;24(22):6552-63. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddv347. Epub 2015 Aug 25.

Will, B.*, Vogler, T. O.*, Narayanagari, S., Bartholdy, B., Todorova, T. I., da Silva Ferreira, M., ... & Steidl, U. (2015). Minimal PU. 1 reduction induces a preleukemic

state and promotes development of acute myeloid leukemia.Nature medicine, 21(10), 1172-1181. *authors contributed equally

Zheng L, Kelly CJ, Colgan SP. Physiologic hypoxia and oxygen homeostasis in the healthy intestine. A Review in the Theme: Cellular Responses to Hypoxia. Am J

Physiol Cell Physiol. 2015 Sep 15;309(6):C350-60. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00191.2015. Epub 2015 Jul 15.

Kelly CJ, Zheng L, Campbell EL, Saeedi B, Scholz CC, Bayless AJ, Wilson KE, Glover LE, Kominsky DJ, Magnuson A, Weir TL, Ehrentraut SF, Pickel C, Kuhn KA, Lanis

JM, Nguyen V, Taylor CT, Colgan SP. Crosstalk between Microbiota-Derived Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Intestinal Epithelial HIF Augments Tissue Barrier Func-

tion. Cell Host Microbe. 2015 May 13;17(5):662-71. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2015.03.005. Epub 2015 Apr 9.

Ford, J.B., Baturin, D., Burleson, T.M., Van Linden, A.A., Kim, Y.M., Porter, C.C. AZD1775 sensitizes T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells to cytarabine by pro-

moting apoptosis over DNA repair. Oncotarget 2015; 6(29): 28001-10.

Jones, C.L., Gearheart, C.M., Fosmire, S., Delgado-Martin, C., Evensen, Bride, K., Waanders, A.J., Pais, F., Wang, J., Bhatla, T., Bitterman, D.S., de Rijk, S.R., Bourgeois,

W., Dandekar, S., Park, E., Burleson, T.M., Madhusoodhan, P.P., Teachey, D.T., Raetz, E.A., Hermiston, M.L., Muschen, M., Loh, M.L., Hunger, S.P., Zhang, J., Gara-

bedian, M.J., Porter, C.C., Carroll, W.L. MAPK signaling cascades mediate distinct glucocorticoid resistance mechanisms in pediatric leukemia. Blood. Epub Aug 31,

2015.

Felsenstein KM, Saunders LB, Simmons JK, Leon E, Calabrese D, Zhang S, Michalowski A, Gareiss P, Mock BA, Schneekloth JS Jr. Small Molecule Microarrays Ena-

ble the Identification of a Selective, Quadruplex-Binding Inhibitor of MYC Expression. ACS Chemical Biology 2015 Oct 13.

Creech AL, Taylor JE, Maier VK, Wu X, Feeney CM, Udeshi ND, Peach SE, Boehm JS, Lee JT, Carr SA, Jaffe JD. Building the Connectivity Map of epigenetics: chromatin

profiling by quantitative targeted mass spectrometry. Methods. 2015 Jan 15;72:57-64

Peach SE, York K, Hesselberth JR. Global analysis of RNA cleavage by 5'-hydroxyl RNA sequencing. Nucleic Acids Res. 2015 Sep 30;43(17)

Dexamethasone administration during definitive radiation and temozolomide renders a poor prognosis in a retrospective analysis of newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients. Shields LB, Shelton BJ, Shearer AJ, Chen L, Sun DA, Parsons S, Bourne TD, LaRocca R, Spalding AC.

Radiat Oncol. 2015 Oct 31;10(1):222. PMID: 26520780

Pathology concordance levels for meningioma classification and grading in NRG Oncology RTOG Trial 0539.

Rogers CL, Perry A, Pugh S, Vogelbaum MA, Brachman D, McMillan W, Jenrette J, Barani I, Shrieve D, Sloan A, Bovi J, Kwok Y, Burri SH, Chao ST, Spalding AC, Anscher MS, Bloom B, Mehta M. Neuro Oncol. 2015 Oct 22. pii: nov247. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 26493095

Heterogeneity correction for intensity-modulated frameless SRS in pituitary and cavernous sinus tumors: a retrospective study. Shields LB, Bond C, Odom A, Sun DA, Spalding AC. Radiat Oncol. 2015 Sep 17;10:193. doi: 10.1186/s13014-015-0500-y. PMID: 26377815

Quantifying isocenter measurements to establish clinically meaningful thresholds. Denton TR, Shields LB, Howe JN, Spalding AC. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2015 Mar 8;16(2):5183. doi: 10.1120/jacmp.v16i2.5183. PMID:26103187

MSTP Personal News and Alumni Updates

Please note to have personal information included in future newsletters, you MUST e-mail Emily (emily.dailey@ucdenver.edu). We will not publish information without your permission.

Laura Warg (2012)

married Jake Hancock

on June 17, 2015

Tamera Burleson (2011)

married Jessie Garcia on

September 9, 2015.

C. G. Drake, E. J. Lipson, and J. R. Brahmer, 'Breathing New Life into Immunotherapy: Review of Melanoma, Lung and Kidney Cancer', Nat Rev Clin Oncol, 11 (2014), 24-37.

L. C. Harshman, C. G. Drake, J. A. Wargo, P. Sharma, and N. Bhardwaj, 'Cancer Immunotherapy Highlights from the 2014 Asco Meeting', Cancer Immunol Res, 2 (2014), 714-9.

W. N. Brennen, C. G. Drake, and J. T. Isaacs, 'Enhancement of the T-Cell Armamentarium as a Cell-Based Therapy for Prostate Cancer', Cancer Res, 74 (2014), 3390-5.

M. Jackson, M. Lim, and C. G. Drake, 'Immunotherapy for Brain Cancer: Recent Progress and Future Promise', Clin Cancer Res, 20 (2014), 3651-9.

M. T. Schweizer, and C. G. Drake, 'Immunotherapy for Prostate Cancer: Recent Developments and Future Challenges', Cancer Metastasis Rev, 33 (2014), 641-55.

C. G. Drake, P. Sharma, and W. Gerritsen, 'Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: New Therapies, Novel Combination Strategies and Implications for Immunotherapy', Oncogene, 33 (2014), 5053-64.

L. C. Harshman, C. G. Drake, and T. K. Choueiri, 'Pd-1 Blockade in Renal Cell Carcinoma: To Equilibrium and Beyond', Cancer Immunol Res, 2 (2014), 1132-41.

C. G. Drake, 'The Potential Role of Antigen Spread in Immunotherapy for Prostate Cancer', Clin Adv Hematol Oncol, 12 (2014), 332-4.

C. G. Drake, E. J. Lipson, and J. R. Brahmer, 'Reply: Regulatory T Cells-an Important Target for Cancer Immunotherapy', Nat Rev Clin Oncol, 11 (2014), 307.

L. C. Harshman, T. K. Choueiri, C. Drake, and F. Stephen Hodi, Jr., 'Subverting the B7-H1/Pd-1 Pathway in Advanced Melanoma and Kidney Cancer', Cancer J, 20 (2014), 272-80.

R. R. Raval, A. B. Sharabi, A. J. Walker, C. G. Drake, and P. Sharma, 'Tumor Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy: Summary of the 2013 SITC Primer', J Immu-nother Cancer, 2 (2014), 14.

Tripathi A, Drake CG, Harshman LC. Harnessing the PD-1 Pathway in Renal Cell Carcinoma: Current Evidence and Future Directions. BioDrugs. 2014 Dec;28(6):513-26. Doi: 10.1007/s40259-014-0111-43 Pubmed PMID:25445176.

Drake CG. Visceral Metastases and Prostate Cancer Treatment: ‘Die Hard, ‘Tough Neighborhoods,’ or ‘Evil Humors’? Oncology (Williston Pa rk), 2014 Nov 15;28(11).pii: 202395. Review. PubMed PMID:25403629.

Soderborg, T.K., Borengasser, S.J., Barbour, L.A., Friedman, J.E. (2016) Microbial transmission from mothers with obesity or diabetes to infants: an innovative opportunity to interrupt a vicious cycle. Diabetologia. In Press.

Jon Kibbie (2013) and

his wife welcomed

baby girl, Penny on

September 27, 2015.

Cecilia Levandowski (2012) and her husband Will, wel-

comed Oliver Watson Levandowski (OWL) on 12/17/15

(7 lbs. 6 oz.)

Mario Lintz (2010) and his wife, Monica

welcome their 3rd child, Josephine Ynez

Lintz born on 10/23/15 (8lbs 5 oz). She

joins big sister Delilah (4) and brother

Oliver (2).

Sally Peach (2011) completed the Double Triple Bypass, a two-day bike ride in the Colorado mountains that covers 240 miles

and 20,000' elevation gain in 36 hours!! GO SALLY!

Aaron C. Spalding (class of 1997) was awarded the following grants

2015 Norton Healthcare Foundation Grant 15-83 “Dexamethasone Administration during Definitive Radiation and Temozolomide Renders a Poor Prognosis in a Retrospective Analysis of Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients”

2015 Norton Healthcare Foundation Grant 15-62 “Heterogeneity Correction for Intensity- Modulated Frameless SRS in Pituitary and Cavernous Sinus Tumors: A Retrospective Study”

Norton Healthcare Foundation Grant 15-57 “MGMT Methylation in Glioblastoma Patients”

Audrey Brumback (class of 1999) was awarded the following:

K08 from NINDS funded

Stroup family award received from Johns Hopkins

Child Neurology Foundation research award received

And 15 month old daughter Ruby is thriving

Pippa Cosper (class of 2004)

Graduated in 2013 and is now a resident in radiation oncology at Wash U.

Awarded the Holman Pathway through the American Board of Radiology.

Charles G. Drake (class of 1995)

Promoted to full professor (Oncology, Urology and Immunology) at Johns Hopkins University

Named co-director of the Division of Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center

New papers and grants - one interesting paper showing how Radiation primes an anti-cancer immune response in Cancer Immunology Research

Starting a clinical trial of a listeria-based vaccine against prostate cancer

Working with another MSTP graduate, (Jeremy Bender, COO at Tizona Therapeutics) on selected projects within the company

2016 Revisit Day

Friday, March 4, 2016

2016 Graduation Dinner

Monday, May 23, 2016 at 6 pm

31st Annual Keystone MD/PhD Student Conference

July 15-18, 2016