The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, which will open in 2017, has added five new translational cancer researchers to its staff in recent months.
The recruits hail from some of the nation’s top scientific and medical institutions. Collectively, they bring more than $5 million in cancer research funding to Nebraska. All have begun their work at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center during the past four months.
“When we launched this ambitious project to build the world’s finest cancer center right here in Omaha, we believed that it would attract the very best minds in cancer research from around the world,” said Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. “These recruits exemplify that vision. We are building a place where pioneering scientific exploration will shape the future of cancer science and medicine — and these recruits are just the start.”
They are:
- Michael Green, Ph.D.
- Recruited from Stanford University. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Nov. 1.
- $195,000 grant funded by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
- Dr. Green works to identify and understand the genetic alterations that give rise to lymphoma and allow it to evade the immune system. He is interested in the genetics of B-cell lymphoma, with the goal of using genetic profiling to understand disease biology and inform treatment decisions.
- For more information on Dr. Green, click here.
- Nick Woods, Ph.D.
- Recruited from H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Oct. 1.
- $400,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant in breast cancer.
- For more information on Dr. Woods, click here.
- Amar Singh, Ph.D.
- Recruited from Vanderbilt University. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Oct. 1.
- $1.65 million National Institutes of Health grant in colon cancer
- Brought one other Ph.D. level researcher with him to Nebraska.
- For more information on Dr. Singh, click here.
- Punita Dhawan, Ph.D.
- Recruited from Vanderbilt University. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Oct. 1.
- $950,000 Veteran’s Affairs Health Grant in colon cancer
- Recruited one additional Ph.D. postdoctoral fellow from Chicago.
- For more information on Dr. Dhawan, click here.
- Rebecca Oberley-Deegan, Ph.D.
- Recruited from National Jewish Hospital in Denver. Joined the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on Aug. 1.
- $1.65 million National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute grant in prostate cancer
- For more information on Dr. Oberly-Deegan, click here.