Past Stories

Bioscience Educator Support and Training “BEST” Program

CRTEC held the inaugural BEST Professional Development (PD) training for high school and middle school teachers on August 1st and 2nd on the CU AMC for the start of the Timmerhaus Grant-funded program.  The cohort consists of seven high school and one middle school bioscience teacher from the Denver Metro and surrounding areas, who want to bring new lab experiences to their students and expand their own knowledge and experiences. Teachers are from the following schools: Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy, Westminster High School, West High School, Northfield High School, Bear Creek High School, Smoky Hill High School, Evergreen High School, and Merrill Middle School. We would like to recognize and thank Alexis Catala, Research Associate, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences for partnering with us to support the BEST teachers during the PD session and throughout the year, as teachers need support in the classroom or virtually.

Through the BEST Program, secondary science teachers:

• participate in high-quality professional development sessions to learn exciting and engaging bioscience labs and activities to implement in their classrooms,
• have access to the Bioscience Lending Library which provides equipment, lesson plans, and free materials needed to implement the BEST lessons,
• receive one-on-one mentoring and in-classroom support from CU-AMC scientists as they implement BEST lessons with their students,
• and develop relationships with CU-AMC scientists and other bioscience educators through the BEST teacher network.

Currently, BEST has seven lab kits that are available in Bioscience Lending Library, including Micropipette Kit, DNA Extraction Kit, BioBits Kit, Animals in Cancer Research Kit, DIY Electrophoresis Kit, Gel Electrophoresis Kit, and PCR Kit.

With direction from CRTEC Associate Director, Dr. Eduardo Dávila, Drs. Meredith Tennis, Shawndra Fordham and Adela Cota-Gomez wrote  and were awarded the Timmerhaus Fund Ambassadors Grant and developed the BEST program.

 Click HERE to learn more about the BEST Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

Another Successful Session of C2R2 (Cancer Center Research Rangers)

The Cancer Center hosted 6th grade students from the Challenge Foundation Summer Program. Students were served lunch before an afternoon of cancer science, including hands-on stations: A Close Up Look at Cancer, Use Your Brains, Love the Skin You’re In, and Tobacco Time. Challenge Foundation counselors Connie, Miriam and Aziza were great to join right in to help with the stations. CRTEC would also like to thank Dr. Kristin Schaller and Ben Kooiman of the Verneris Lab for their partnership to give students a dive into cancer.

LaCOTA Travel Award Recipients Present at Oncology National Conferences

This fall, three CU-SOM medical students received an amazing opportunity to present their cancer research nationally via the LaCamera Oncology Travel Awards (LaCOTA), thanks to funds generously donated by the LaCamera family specifically to support oncology training of CU-SOM medical students.

LaCOTA awards provided funding support for these medical scientists in training to present their research and participate in professional development activities at oncology-focused national conferences.

The three students who received the award in Fall 2024 were Jamie Burke, Brandon Bellen, and Lucas Eggers.

• Jamie Burke, mentored by Charles Van Hook, presented her project titled “Malignant Pleural Effusion: Unveiling an Unusual Course of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma After Years Of Remission” at the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Conference.
• Brandon Bellen, mentored by Dr. Erin Bredenberg, presented his project titled “Access to Palliative Care for Individuals with Cancer Experiencing Homelessness” at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
• Lucas Eggers, mentored by Dr. Natalie Serkova, presented his research titled, “Advanced MRI Analysis to Assess Chemo-Radiation Response in Pediatric Ependymoma Models” at the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) Conference.

Through the LaCOTA program, these medical students had the opportunity to present at prestigious national conferences and gain valuable oncology training experience. Please join us in congratulating these future oncology medical scientists.

CRTEC Hosts the Southwest Regional Research Symposium

The first annual Southwest Undergraduate to Graduate Pathways Research Symposium (SW U-GRAPH) held March 22-23, 2024, at the AMC was a great success. CU PIKE-PREP (Preparatory in Interdisciplinary Knowledge to Excel – Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program) welcomed scholars from the University of Oklahoma, University of New Mexico, and University of Utah.  Scholars gave oral presentations, Andrielle Finch, University of Utah and two PIKE-PREP scholars from the AMC, Zoe Drigot and Kaitlyn Arce, were recognized for their outstanding oral presentations. Attendees of the symposium were enlightened by keynote speaker Dr. Richard McGee, Northwestern University who spoke about his research on the differentiation of young biomedical scientists into critical careers. The Symposium presented several panels, one being a virtual panel of the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the National Institute of Health (NIH). Other panel subjects were Biomedical Careers in Industry, Scientific/Medical Writing Careers and Law Careers in Biomedical Science.  The PIKE-PREP team led by Dr. Eduardo Davila and Dr. Carlos E. Catalano hosted the event and look forward to next year ‘s SW U-GRAPH 2025.

Learn About Cancer Day, Fall 2024

On October 11, 2024, we hosted 35 local high school students to help them learn more about cancer research and cancer-related careers. Following a presentation titled ‘Why We Hate Cancer’ by Richard Schulick, MD, students learned about different types of cancer, health disparities, and everyday prevention activities. Afterward, students toured multiple cancer-research laboratories as well as shared resource facilities, where they learned about innovative technology, cutting-edge research, and cancer-related careers. It was a day filled with educational opportunities for students to connect their understanding of science to the latest advancements in research happening right here at the CU Cancer Center.

The next Learn About Cancer Day will be this spring, April 18, 2025. Learn more.

CU Cancer Center Receives ACS Diversity in Cancer Research Training Grant

We are excited to share that our American Cancer Society Diversity in Cancer Research (ACS DICR) grant was awarded! The ASCENT program (Advancement of Scholars in Cancer Education aNd Training) will offer a multi-dimensional mentoring and cancer research training experience to inspire and prepare post-baccalaureate students from historically underrepresented groups to enroll and succeed in a top-tier PhD or MD-PhD program and commit to cancer research careers. This funding will support four post baccalaureate students in a two-year mentored research experience.

Cancer Innovation Pilot Grant

Are you in a post-baccalaureate training program, a nursing, medical, MS, or PhD graduate student, a post-doctoral investigator or an early career-faculty member doing cancer research or wanting to start a new cancer research project and need seed money for it?  If so, we encourage you to apply for a Cancer Innovation Pilot Grant. Projects addressing cancer health disparities or community-engaged research are highly encouraged. 

Read more about the Cancer Innovation Pilot Grants and see how to apply in the flier or visit THIS PAGE. You don’t want to miss this opportunity, the application deadline is July 3, 2024. 

Fall 2023 Learn About Cancer Day

On September 28, 2023, we hosted 50 local high school students to help them learn more about cancer research and cancer-related careers. Following an introduction to cancer presentation by John Tentler, PhD, students participated in a simulated cancer-focused clinical trial designed and facilitated by Meredith Tennis, PhD, toured multiple cancer-research laboratories as well as shared resources facilities, and learned about cancer-related careers and career paths during a lunchtime student trainee panel visit. It was a day filled with educational opportunities for students to connect their science understanding to relevant, cutting-edge science occurring right here at the CU Cancer Center.

The next Learn About Cancer Day will be this spring, April 5, 2024.

PIKE-PREP Scholars Recognized at Fall Science Conferences

PIKE-PREP Scholars Brooke Linden, Zoe Drigot, and Rebecca Han were recognized for their Outstanding Poster Presentations at the 2023 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS). At the conferences the scholars were able to share their science and network with other trainees and scientists with similar research interests. Congratulations on a job well done!

• Brooke Linden (Left): Outstanding Postbaccalaureate Poster Presentation in Immunology for her presentation titled, Redirecting anti-tumor immune responses using engineered CD1d-restrictred T cell receptor (TCR) T cells in acute myeloid leukemia
• Zoe Drigot (middle): Outstanding Postbaccalaureate Poster Presentation in Immunology for her presentation titled, The differential impact of airway Prevotella species on neutrophil activation and Streptococcus pneumoniae infection
• Rebecca Han (right): Outstanding Postbaccalaureate Poster Presentation in Physiology and Pharmacology for her presentation titled, Translocator Protein Ligands Inhibit Neuronal Excitability in Primary Neuronal-Glial Cultures

Cancer Center Student Symposium (C2S2)

Dr. Adela Cota-Gomez will kick off the 2nd Annual Cancer Center Student Symposium (C2S2) on October 12th, 2023. This year’s monthly presentations will include presentations from pre- and post-doctoral trainees from the various cancer center research programs. Last year’s C2S2 was a huge success with over X # of high school students attending throughout the year. This year, students who attend 6 of the 7 sessions will earn a certificate of completion. The CRTEC Office created C2S2 to connect the CU - Cancer Center with Colorado high school students and teachers through a monthly virtual symposium on cancer-focused topics.

Introducing the 2023-2024 PIKE-PREP Scholars

The 2023-2024 cohort of PIKE-PREP Scholars have arrived on campus!

Preparation in Interdisciplinary Knowledge to Excel - Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PIKE-PREP) is a mentoring and training program directed by Dr. Eduardo Davila and Dr. Carlos Catalano and administered by Dr. Adela Cota-Gomez and Shawndra Fordham, which helps underrepresented post-baccalaureates to gain research experience and other needed training to gain admission into top-tier PhD or MD/PhD programs.

This year's Scholars have started the year off strong with an informative and fun orientation day, during which we got to know this wonderful and talented group of people. The scholars were also introduced to their research lab teams and started to get familiar with their research projects, where an abundance of their time and effort will be focused on.

This year's PIKE-PREP Scholars are Anne Williams mentored by Dr. Gidon Felsen, Brooke Linden mentored by Dr. Eduardo Davila, Daniela Gonzalez-Rivera mentored by Dr. Michael Harris-Love, Jordan Swartz mentored by Dr. Matt Sikora, Kat Arce mentored by Dr. Rachel Friedman, Megan Hupka mentored by Dr. Kelly Doran, Olivia Ovard mentored by Dr. Diego Restrepo, Rebecca Han mentored by Dr. Manisha Patel, and Zoe Drigot mentored by Dr. Sarah Clark.

Alongside their research projects, the Scholars will also participate in career and professional workshops on a variety of topics that will help them advance their career training and will present at either the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) conference or the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) National Diversity in STEM Conference. We are excited and honored to be able to support them on their professional journeys this year.

Cancer Innovation Pilot Grant Awardees for 2023

The Cancer Innovation Pilot Grants provide research funding to support the career development of pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees and early-career faculty. These grants are evaluated via a competitive peer-review process in the NIH style.

This year we had a record number of applications and of very high quality. Please join us in congratulating the 2023-2024 Cancer Innovation Pilot Grant Awardees (pictured below).

PIKE-PREP Scholars Present at Fall Science Conferences

PIKE-PREP Scholars Kat Arce, Megan Hupka, and Zoe Drigot presented their research at the 22nd Annual Colorado Immunology & Microbiology Conference in Steamboat Springs that was held August 30th – September 1st, 2023. Jordan Swartz headed off to the 2023 International Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer (ILC) Symposium that took place in Pittsburgh, PA from September 28th – 30, 2023. At the conferences the scholars were able to share their science and network with other trainees and scientists with similar research interests. Congratulations on a job well done!

• Kat Arce (pictured left) presented her research titled, “Ligand accessibility may limit Mertk dependent T cell suppression in the islets during Type 1 Diabetes”
• Megan Hupka (pictured right) presented her research titled, “Contribution of a DNA Methyltransferase to Enterococcal Vaginal Colonization”
• Zoe Drigot presented her research titled, “The differential impact of airway Prevotella species on neutrophil activation and Streptococcus pneumoniae infection”
• Jordan Swartz presented her research titled, “Efficacy of PARP inhibitor Talazoparib on ER+ ILC breast cancer models”

Learn more about the PIKE-PREP Scholars

OSI Welcomes 2023 Interns

The CU Oncology Summer Internship (OSI) program was happy to welcome Ferdos Abdulkader and Mustafa Saeed into the 2023 program. Mentored by Dr John Tentler and Dr. Tejas Patil, the Interns worked hard and persevered; at the end of the internship, they were able to present their research projects:

Ferdos Abdulkader
Project: Immunotherapy outcomes in KRAS NSCLC who are never smokers

Mustafa Saeed
Project: Incidence and outcomes of patients with large-cell neuroendocrine or sarcomatoid lung carcinoma with driver oncogenes

Cancer Center Student Symposium (C2S2) 2022

The kick off of the Cancer Center Student Symposium (C2S2) was a huge success as Cancer Center Director, Dr. Richard Schulick, presented on cancer, cancer careers, his path and commitment to fighting cancer, and the importance of finding a mentor to nearly 50 Colorado  high school students.  C2S2 was created by the CRTEC office to connect the CU - Cancer Center with Colorado high school students and teachers through a monthly virtual symposium on cancer-focused topics.

CC2STEM Students Conducting Research on Campus

CC2STEM’s pilot cohort of students are finishing up a successful summer of research! Community College to STEM (CC2STEM) is a program that gives Community College of Aurora students the opportunity to have a high caliber mentored biomedical research experience. This program was founded by the CU-AMC Chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native American Scientists (SACNAS), led by Katia Nino, PhD Candidate in the Molecular Biology Program and HHMI Gilliam Fellow, and is collaboratively funded by a CU-President’s DEI Award and the CRTEC office.

This year’s CC2STEM students are Shrostina Magar mentored by Dr. James DeGregory and Mariana Olono mentored by Dr. Eric Pietras. They are working with their mentors and lab teams to gain valuable experience in the biomedical sciences. CRTEC will continue to work with the SACNAS student chapter to secure external funding to expand this already amazing program.

LaCOTA Travel Award Recipients Present at Oncology National Conferences

This spring, five 2nd-year CU-SOM medical students received an amazing opportunity to present their cancer research nationally via the LaCamera Oncology Travel Awards (LaCOTA), thanks to funds generously donated by the LaCamera family specifically to support oncology training of CU-SOM medical students.

LaCOTA awards provided funding support for these medical scientists in training to present their research and participate in professional development activities at oncology-focused national conferences.

The five students who received the award in Spring 2023 were, Luis Barrientos, Jamie Burke, Bridget Foy, Sarah Shortall, and Caroline Walsh.

• Luis Barrientos, mentored by Dr. Jessica L. Jack, presented his project titled “Receptiveness to Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Counseling and Administration During Dental Visits” at the Pediatric Academic Societies Conference.
• Jamie Burke, mentored by Dr. Sarah Tevis, presented her research titled, “Safety net hospital patients face unique barriers to accessing care in addition to health and literacy challenges” at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Conference.
• Bridget Foy, mentored by Dr. Sarah Tevis, presented her work on “The Usability of MedED: A Novel Patient Engagement Technology” at the American Society for Breast Surgeons Conference.
• Sarah Shortall, mentored by Dr. Jessica L. Jack, presented her project on “Dental Professionals Perspective on Participating in a Medical Dental Integration Program to Promote and Administer HPV Vaccines” at the National Oral Health Conference.
• Caroline Walsh, mentored by Drs. Julie Friedman and Christene Conageski, gave an oral presentation of her work on “Complementary and Alternative Medications for HPV Infections” at the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology Conference.

Through the LaCOTA program, these medical students had the opportunity to present at prestigious national conferences and gain valuable oncology training experience. Please join us in congratulating these future oncology medical scientists.

Cancer Center Research Rangers (C2R2)

On Friday June 23rd, 2023, CRTEC hosted an amazing group of students from the Challenge Foundation to educate them about cancer research at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus through the Cancer Center Research Rangers (C2R2) program. The C2R2 program provides middle school students the opportunity to learn about cancer and cancer research through hands-on experiences.

C2R2 students got the opportunity to participate in interactive sessions, from seeing their own cells under a microscope to being able to see and touch lungs (simulated) that were affected by smoking. Through this program, C2R2 students learned about cancer basics, prevention, control and careers from highly experienced educators and researchers, Dr. Adela Cota Gomez, Dr. Kristin Schaller, Shawndra Fordham, Alexa Bauer, and Ben Kooiman.

Throughout the day, these amazing Rangers were very engaged and excited to learn from these experts, as well as participate in the hands-on activities. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for these Rangers, and they gained valuable knowledge that we hope will carry with them throughout their lives.

February 2023 Learn About Cancer Day

In February, we hosted around 100 local high school students to help them learn more about cancer research and cancer-related careers. Following an introduction to cancer presentation by John Tentler, PhD, students identified cancer-relevant genes during a DNA microarray lab hosted by the CRTEC office, participated in a simulated cancer-focused clinical trial designed and facilitated by Meredith Tennis, PhD, toured multiple cancer-research laboratories as well as shared resources facilities, and learned about cancer-related careers during a lunchtime career panel visit. It was a day filled with educational opportunities for students to connect their science understanding to relevant, cutting-edge science occurring right here at the CU Cancer Center.

New CC2STEM Program Awarded the CU-President’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Award

In collaboration with the CU-AMC student chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native American Scientists (SACNAS), CRTEC was awarded a CU-President’s DEI award to fund a pilot of the CC2STEM program which will offer a summer mentoring and research training experience to local community college students interested in investigating a future career in the biomedical sciences. The program is led-by Katia Nino, a graduate student Dr. Eric Pietras’ Lab, with administrative support and mentorship from CRTEC leaders and will begin in the summer of 2023. After the pilot year, CRTEC will seek external funding to continue and expand the program.