Dr. Goldie Lui receives funding from Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance
Dr. Goldie Lui, a translational researcher in the Human Biology Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has received a one-year, $75,000 grant from the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance. The funding will support her efforts to develop new treatments for ovarian cancer, the fifth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in U.S. women.
Lui, a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Christopher Kemp, is among 20 scientists from 16 U.S. research institutions who received more than $5.3 million in OCRFA grants this year.
She is working toward identifying targeted drug therapies for ovarian cancer that is driven by an oncogene called MYC. “We’ve developed a pipeline to enable us to target this cancer’s Achilles’ heels,” she said, first in preclinical models and, ultimately, in patients.
The standard of care for ovarian cancer is platinum-based chemotherapy, which works for a subset of patients — but then they relapse, usually within a year. “There’s a huge clinical need for more targeted treatments based on [cancers'] unique molecular signatures,” she said.
For the past 20 years, OCRFA has invested more than $80 million in ovarian cancer research, making it the largest nongovernmental funder of research on this disease.
"Our 2018 grantees are truly some of the most talented researchers in the field today,” said Dr. Jeff Boyd, chair of OCRFA’s Scientific Advisory Committee and director of translational research and genomic medicine at Miami Cancer Institute. “Through their hard work and dedication to the cause, we hope to see significant progress that will one day help us find a cure for ovarian cancer.”
— Kristen Woodward / Fred Hutch News Service
Fred Hutch, SCCA receive SLU Chamber awards
The South Lake Union Chamber honored Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance at its annual SLU Business & Community Awards event Jan. 17 at 415 Westlake.
For the second time, the Hutch received its “Good Neighbor of the Year” award (the first was in 2013) and SCCA was honored for the second time as “Nonprofit of the Year” (the first time was in 2013). The Hutch also received this distinction in 2016.
Finalists in the Good Neighbor category included REI and UW Medicine South Lake Union. Contenders in the Nonprofit category included FareStart and Mary’s Place.
The annual SLU Business & Community Awards were established in 2008 to “recognize individuals, organizations and companies that contribute in a meaningful way to the improvement and success of our community,” according to the organization’s website.
Past recipients of the Good Neighbor award include PEMCO, Amazon, Seattle BioMed (now Center for Infectious Disease Research) and Vulcan Real Estate; former Nonprofit recipients include Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Pacific Medical Centers and the Center for Wooden Boats.
Other winners this year included Lunchbox Laboratory (Restaurant of the Year), Goodwill (Retailer of the Year), The Barking Lounge (Small Business of the Year), Ba Bar (New Business of the Year) and Sarah Worley (Changemaker of the Year).
Each year, a committee organized by the SLU Chamber nominates 10 businesses in seven categories that have demonstrated “participation in, support of or good works in/for the community.” The public then votes on the nominees, which are narrowed down to three finalists in each category.
— Kristen Woodward / Fred Hutch News Service
