Vol. 4, Nr. 1 (Spring 2008)
Research Education Office
Feng Dong, Ph.D., was thinking about returning to China to practice pediatrics when he received a call last summer that changed his future. It was from Guy Chisolm III, Ph.D., Vice Chair for Education at the Institute, who was notifying Dr. Dong that he was chosen to be one of two 2007 recipients of the David and Lindsay Morgenthaler Endowed Fellowship in the Lerner Research Institute.
“This call changed my plan and probably will change my life,” he said.
Dr. Dong received his Ph.D. in Physiology from, and was working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at, the University of Wyoming in Laramie when he received the call from Dr. Chisolm. Fellow recipient Pallavi Bansal, Ph.D., received a Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. These Morgenthaler Fellows are conducting research in the areas of stem cells and cancer biology, respectively.
The David and Lindsay Morgenthaler Endowed Fellowship has been created to support promising Postdoctoral Fellows who show the potential to be productive and independent researchers. David Morgenthaler is the Founding Partner of Morgenthaler Ventures and is an Emeritus Trustee and Distinguished Fellow of the Cleveland Clinic. He has a keen interest in science and remains personally involved in the fellowship program. The fellowship was created in 1998 when Mr. Morgenthaler approached George Stark, Ph.D., then chairman of the Institute, with this generous gift.
The fellowship provides up to three years of support with a yearly stipend salary of a minimum $50,000, travel expenses and fringe benefits. Selection is based on outstanding laboratory training, publication records, scientific merit of previous work, and recommendations from mentors.
The fellowship’s mission is to provide the opportunity for new biomedical research. This year’s fellows will be working in two very important areas of research at the Institute. With experience in cancer research, Dr. Bansal’s background provides valuable expertise in the laboratory of Robert Silverman, Ph.D., Cancer Biology, where the focus of her work is on innate immunity and tumor suppression.
This year’s recipients are Feng Dong, Ph.D. (picture on the right)., and Pallavi Bansal, Ph.D. (picture on the left).
Dr. Bansal, of Delhi, India, was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, when she learned of the fellowship award. There, she was working on elucidating the mechanisms by which oncogenic phosphatases contribute to the development of cancer from normal cells. In Dr. Silverman’s laboratory, she is working on identifying new drugs for prostate cancer by testing recently identified small molecule activators of the enzyme RNAseL, a potential tumor suppressor.
“I want to use this opportunity to strengthen my research background,” she said. “In five years, I see myself working in a collaborative and innovative environment where translational research is encouraged. The environment at the Cleveland Clinic is a perfect blend of basic and translational research, and I am confident that the training I receive here will prepare me for future challenges.”
With an extensive research background in diabetes and obesity-associated cardiovascular diseases, Dr. Dong, of Beijing, China, brings excellent research expertise to the laboratory of Marc Penn, M.D., Ph.D., Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
“Cleveland Clinic has a very good reputation. I feel very lucky to have the training opportunity here,” said Dr. Dong. He is conducting research in Dr. Penn’s lab that focuses on remodeling cell loss of the damaged heart utilizing stem cell technologies.
“I have been working on heart dysfunction for several years,” Dr. Dong said. “There are many outstanding researchers in Dr. Penn’s lab, and I want to learn all that I can from them. I believe that my training and experience at the Cleveland Clinic will be very valuable and benefit my future career as a physician scientist using stem cell technology to repair damaged hearts and restore cardiac function.”
Story by Andy Wrobel, Biological Resources Unit