Patrick Hu granted a Kimmel Scholar Award for cancer research
April 11, 2008 - Dr. Patrick Hu, LSI Research Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, was awarded a Kimmel Scholar Award from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research.
The Kimmel Scholars Program, through a distinguished medical board of advisors, provides research grants each year to fifteen of the nation's most promising young cancer researchers. The goal of the grant program is to improve the basic understanding of cancer biology and to develop new methods for the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Dr. Hu investigates oncogenes and tumor suppressors primarily by using a model organism, the 1 mm nematode worm C. elegans. Many of these genes have been retained throughout evolution and appear in C. elegans, suggesting that the experimental manipulability of this organism can be exploited to dissect mechanisms of oncogene and tumor suppressor function. Evolutionary conservation suggests that these mechanisms will be relevant to cancer pathogenesis. Using this strategy, Dr. Hu seeks to generate new ideas about cancer gene function and test these hypotheses in mouse models of cancer. The ultimate goal would be to identify novel targets for anticancer drugs.
The Kimmel Scholar Awards were created in 1997 to further the careers of gifted young scientists involved in cancer research. Scientists are selected who show the greatest promise and innovation but whose careers have not been sufficiently advanced to provide them the critical mass of prior research that typically justifies receiving major awards from the National Cancer Institute and other funding sources.
Many of the exceptional young scientists who have their careers 'jump started' by the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research go on to receive millions of dollars in funding from the NCI and NIH and make significant contributions to the field of cancer research. Many report that they might never have achieved such success without first receiving the Kimmel grant.
For more information on the Kimmel Scholars Program visit www.kimmel.org.
