Robert Timmerman, M.D.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Hypofractionated Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) in Patients With Stage II-III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (Phase III study)

This study is designed to determine whether an accelerated course of hypofractionated radiation therapy with daily Image guidance and motion assessment/control will allow more effective treatment of poor performance status patients with stage II-III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, who would benefit from local therapy compared to standard radiation.

For More Information: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/

Benjamin J. Fregly, Ph.D.

Recruitment to Rice University from the University of Florida.

Building on more than 30 years' experience using computer models to predict how well a patient will function after surgery or rehabilitation, Dr. Fregly's research may soon help pelvic cancer patients and their doctors choose a treatment most likely to best maintain their ability to walk after surgery.

Carlos L. Arteaga, MD

Recruited to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Internationally renowned breast cancer researcher and physician, Dr. Arteaga is working to improve breast cancer patients' chances of beating the disease for good. His research focuses on identifying the causes of drug resistance and employing combination therapies to circumvent it.

C. Patrick Reynolds, MD, Ph.D.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Telomere Maintenance Mechanisms in Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is a childhood cancer that can spontaneously regress without therapy or relentlessly progress despite intensive chemotherapy. The remarkable behavioral differences observed in neuroblastomas makes it difficult to decide which tumors will require aggressive treatment. Dr. Reynolds' project will enable a new classification of neuroblastomas into risk groups that will then be used to determine which children should be treated and the intensity of therapy.

Marina Konopleva, Ph.D.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Defining and Treating Targetable Lesions in AYA Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common form of cancer in children. Despite tremendous improvements in the outcomes, a subset of children relapses and often succumbs to their disease. In adults, the outcomes remain vastly inferior, and most patients are expected to die either of their disease or of treatment-related toxicities. The need for novel therapies is thus unquestioned. This grant looks to design and validate a genetic platform that can rapidly identify and treat high-risk patients.

Funda Meric-Bernstam, M.D.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

The Precision Oncology Decision Support Core assists clinicians in managing the results of genomic testing of patients with advanced cancer and to select and effectively implement gnomically-informed therapy. The core supports an online portal that allows treating physicians to request molecular annotation of their patient's tumor molecular profile. It also supports an effort that issues proactive and individualized trial alerts to treating physicians for MD Anderson patients who underwent molecular testing.

Michael Scheurer, Ph.D., MPH

Baylor College of Medicine

The Adolescent and Childhood Cancer Epidemiology and Susceptibility Service for ACCESS-Texas supports the identification of novel genetic risk factors and gene-environment interactions important in understanding cancer susceptibility among children and adolescents, particularly among the diverse patient population in Texas. The core has established collaborations with childhood cancer providers across Texas with the goal to collect and bank biospecimens for family-based studies of genetic risk factors, studies of environmental risk factors, gene-environment interaction studies, and studies of treatment-related toxicities and late effects.