Overview

On behalf of the Department of Cancer Biology, welcome to our website!

From a translational perspective, the Department of Cancer Biology is ideally located in a region rich with drug discovery and clinical advancements, having regular collaborations with the National Cancer Institute (NCI)’s designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCCC), of which Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Center is part. In addition, Cleveland Clinic Innovations, a branch of the Cleveland Clinic, facilitates technology transfer and commercialization of important findings developed by Cleveland Clinic investigators.

It goes without saying that all clinical advancement relies upon solid, rigorous, and insightful research at the basic science level. Established research programs within the Department focus on a number of interconnected areas of study, including molecular markers of cancer, new therapeutic targets, signal transduction pathways controlling oncogenesis, cell cycle regulation, histone modification and chromatin remodeling, regulation of cancer cell death, angiogenesis, and tumor cell migration. These projects are directly aimed at understanding and ultimately defeating human cancers, including those of the prostate, colon, brain, kidney and blood. Much of what is learned from one project or in one tumor type may be relevant to other types of malignancies, as well as to our understanding of normal human development and physiology.

We currently have research laboratories housed on the 4th floor of the Lerner Research Institute’s main building, whose new construction was dedicated in 1999. This building’s stylish design has many amenities that make the work environment both aesthetic and functional. A Departmental library, reading room, and computer room foster the scientific climate, and, among some, our Department is best known for its cappuccino machine!

Valuable in terms of both time and money, Research Core Services within the Lerner Research Institute offer centralized, in-house support to investigators by providing over 20 Clinic-subsidized Core Services, ranging from routine dishwashing and autoclaving to highly specialized mass spectrometry, at a reasonable cost.These services allow every laboratory access to the latest state-of-the-art equipment as technology progresses. Services that are of particular interest to the cancer researcher are the Animal Tumor Core, Gene Expression Core, and Small Molecule Screening Core.

Collaborations with physicians and scientists throughout the Institute and beyond are facilitated by regular seminars and symposia that showcase internal and external speakers, including Nobel laureates and others who have significantly contributed to our knowledge of physiology and disease.

The Department also embraces an active mentorship program by training tomorrow’s biomedical researchers, whether they come to our laboratories via the joint appointments held by several staff with Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, or Kent State University as summer students or as graduate students in our pre-doctoral training program, or via the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM) as medical students seeking basic/translational science training.

Mentorship at the postdoctoral level is recognized as an important extension of career development for these individuals, who comprise an international cadre of trainees. The training program includes a seminar series and meetings with the Taussig Cancer Center Translational Therapeutics group. Trainees are also encouraged to attend other relevant Institute events, including weekly seminars, the Annual LRI Retreat, and Cleveland Clinic-wide Research Day.

For all students and postdocs, the Research Education Office offers various resources including a Career Development Series that highlights presentation preparation, the grant review process, experimental design, and even immigration issues.  Also featured are links to granting agencies and other training resources, helping to make the most of the postdoc experience.

As you browse our website, please see that in the Department of Cancer Biology we enjoy the reality of stellar basic science providing integral insight and the platform to normal and diseased physiology, leading to productive interactions with clinical researchers and physicians in procuring drug development and clinical trials, all within the infrastructure of the Cleveland Clinic, which is designed to facilitate this bench to bedside process.