Luke Awtry From left: Sarah Vandal; Katie Queen; Hannah Poquette; Katie Schutt, PhD; Alex Thompson; Jason Stumpff, PhD; Carolyn Marquis; Leslie Sepaniac; and Cindy Fonseca, MS Significant advances in the fight against cancer aren t always made by a single inspired scientist; often they re accomplished by a team. The University of Vermont Cancer Center excels at supporting and promoting team science. Sometimes, those teams even include undergraduate students at UVM. During their time at Groovy UV, alumnae Lisa Wood, 18, and Carolyn Marquis, 19, contributed to foundational scientific research that could someday lead to new ways of fighting triple negative breast cancer. Both worked in a molecular physiology and biophysics lab run by UVM Larner College of Medicine associate professor Dr. Jason Stumpff. He s one of more than 210 members of the
Image of a triple negative breast cancer cell undergoing abnormal division after inhibition of KIF18A. (Credit: Cindy Fonseca, Stumpff Lab, UVM)
Vermont Business Magazine Unraveling the unique characteristics of cancer cells and finding less-harmful ways to stop their growth have long been a focus for cancer researchers worldwide. New findings, reported today in
Nature Communications, describe the discovery of a unique dependence of cancer cells on a particular protein, which could lead to desperately-needed treatment for hard-to-treat cancers.
The publication caps off a series of groundbreaking studies appearing in
Nature journals over the last month by members of a powerful international research collaboration.