WUSTL receives $1 million grant from Amgen Foundation for undergraduate research

By Beth Miller

Washington University in St. Louis has received a four-year, $1 million grant from the Amgen Foundation to provide hands-on biomedical laboratory experience to undergraduates through the Amgen Scholars Program.

The 10-week, intensive undergraduate summer research program, which will begin in May 2011, will allow U.S. citizens or permanent residents to participate in activities designed to build confidence and maturity as a scientist. Scholars will conduct independent research with Washington University scientists; participate in workshops, team-oriented activities and weekly research lectures; mentor a high school student interested in science; and receive career and academic advice. They will also write a paper and present a scientific poster at the end of the summer.

“Research is at the heart of Washington University’s academic mission,” said Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. “We are grateful to the Amgen Foundation for their generous support of the Amgen Scholars Program – a program that will encourage talented undergraduates to improve their skills in the area of scientific inquiry and research. This is a very forward-thinking gift that will serve to increase the pool of future scientists.”

The program is similar to a summer research program already in place at the School of Medicine called the BioMedical Research Apprenticeship Program (BioMedRAP). That program is specifically for undergraduate students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the biomedical sciences.

Kathryn G. Miller, PhD, professor of biology and chair of the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences, and John Russell, PhD, professor of developmental biology and associate dean for graduate education, are co-program directors.

“We are very excited to have been selected to partner with other outstanding institutions in the Amgen Scholars Program,” Russell says. “The Amgen Foundation has been visionary in establishing the Scholars Program to encourage outstanding American students to pursue careers in biomedical research. The program will allow us to build on an existing, nationally recognized summer program infrastructure to recruit outstanding students both from within Washington University as well as the Midwest and nationally to obtain a world-class research experience.”

"We have a big focus on undergraduate research at this university," Miller says, "and that's largely as a result of programs that we've had for a number of years in the biomedical sciences that are now blossoming into campus-wide opportunities to engage in scholarship in every discipline. Amgen scholars might work with people studying the cell's cytoskeleton, doing computational biology, or using chemical methods to understand problems in neurobiology. We have the faculty interested in having undergraduates in the lab that I think can make this program a terrific success."

"Even if students in the program decide not become bench scientists, they'll gain an understanding of science through this program and what it means to have data that does or does not support a conclusion, and that too is important," she says.

Washington University’s program will be administered through the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS), a university-wide consortium that provides scholars with a choice of 450 potential faculty mentors. Rochelle Smith, manager of Diversity Affairs, Summer Programs and Community Outreach for DBBS, is program manager.

The Amgen Scholars Program was launched by the Amgen Foundation in 2006 with 10 partner universities in the United States to provide undergraduates the opportunity for laboratory research experiences under the guidance of leading scientists in academia. In 2008, the program expanded to include three European universities. Washington University joins the program this year and is the only university in the Midwest to participate.

In the past four years, nearly 1,200 Amgen Scholars — representing 327 different colleges and universities across the United States and Europe — have explored areas of research beyond what they may be able to do as part of their regular undergraduate education. Today, more than 70 percent of program alumni who have graduated from college are now pursuing an advanced degree or a career in science or engineering, with many in scientific doctoral programs at top universities worldwide.

“The success of the Amgen Scholars program is due in large share to our university partners,” said Jean J. Lim, president, Amgen Foundation. “These leading universities provide undergraduates from around the country with an inspiring, hands-on research experience that often leads them to pursue advanced degrees and a career in the sciences.”

The U.S. and European programs will each continue to host a summer symposium allowing students to share their summer research projects, learn about biotechnology, and hear firsthand from leading industry and academic scientists. In addition, travel awards will help support Amgen Scholar alumni currently enrolled in masters, PhD, and MD-PhD programs in scientific fields to share their research at scientific conferences.

In its first year, the Amgen Scholars program received about 2,200 applications. By 2010, that number increased to more than 5,200 applications, with only 315 openings available across the U.S. and Europe.


The 10 U.S. program partners are:

• California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

• Columbia University/Barnard College

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

• Stanford University

• University of California, Berkeley

• University of California, Los Angeles

• University of California, San Diego

• University of California, San Francisco

• University of Washington

• Washington University in St. Louis



The three European program partners are:

• Cambridge University, UK

• Karolinska Insitutet, Stockholm, Sweden

• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich, Germany

Financial support for students is a critical component of the program, which seeks to ensure that eligible students, regardless of their financial status, are able to participate.

Washington University will support about 25 students in the program each summer. About one-third will be Washington University undergraduates, while the rest will be from other colleges and universities, Russell says.

"We get a lot of requests from students outside the university looking for summer research opportunities, so it's really good, both for the students and for us, that the program is open to students from other schools," Miller says.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2011 Amgen Scholars program. For more information about Amgen Scholars or an application, please visit http://www.amgenscholars.com./

‘That Girl’ visits Genome Center

Photo by Robert Boston

Actress Marlo Thomas (left) talks with Richard Wilson, PhD, director of The Genome Center, Oct. 28 in The Genome Center at the School of Medicine. The Genome Center is partnering with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis on the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, the largest research project to date aimed at understanding the genetic origins of pediatric cancers. Genome Center scientists and St. Jude investigators are sequencing the genomes of both normal and tumor cells from 600 young cancer patients, comparing differences in the DNA to identify genetic mistakes that lead to cancer. The project is estimated to cost $65 million over three years, with the bulk of the funding provided by St. Jude. Thomas, the daughter of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas, is national outreach director for the hospital.



WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY RECEIVES $1 MILLION GRANT FROM AMGEN FOUNDATION IN SUPPORT OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Eight-Year, $34 Million Program, in Partnership with 13 Top Universities, Will Reach Nearly 2,500 Undergraduates

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. Nov. 10, 2010/PRNewswire/ — Today, Amgen Scholars, the signature initiative of the Amgen Foundation, moves into its second phase of what has become a $34 million program to advance science learning and inspire the next generation of scientists.

“There continues to be a shortage of qualified scientists and engineers entering the workforce each year,” said Jean Lim, president, Amgen Foundation. “The Amgen Scholars Program encourages students to pursue a scientific career by providing critical hands-on experiences in laboratories of top scientific research universities across the U.S. and Europe. By 2014, a significant portion of the nearly 2,500 undergraduates who are Amgen Scholars will use their experiences to pursue PhDs and careers in a scientific field.”

For the second phase of the program, which extends through 2014, each of the 13 partner universities participating in the program will receive approximately $1 million over the next four years to support undergraduate students across the United States (U.S.) or Europe. The U.S. and European programs will each continue to host a summer symposium allowing students to share their summer research projects, learn about biotechnology, and hear firsthand from leading industry and academic scientists. In addition, new to Phase 2, travel awards will help support Amgen Scholar alumni currently enrolled in masters, PhD, and MD-PhD programs in scientific fields to share their research at scientific conferences.

Amgen Scholars launched in 2006 with 10 partner universities in the U.S. to provide undergraduates the opportunity for laboratory research experiences under the guidance of leading scientists in academia. In 2008, the program expanded to include three European universities. As a result, in the past four years, nearly 1,200 Amgen Scholars — representing 327 different colleges and universities across the U.S. and Europe — have explored areas of research beyond what they may have been able to do as part of their regular undergraduate education. Today, over 70 percent of participants who have graduated from college are now pursuing an advanced degree or a career in science or engineering, with many in scientific PhD programs at top universities across the world.

In its first year, the Amgen Scholars Program received approximately 2,200 applications. By 2010, that number increased to more than 5,200 applications, with only 315 openings in the U.S. and Europe.

MIT serves as the U.S. Program Office for the Amgen Scholars Program. “Research is at the heart of education at MIT,” said MIT President Susan Hockfield. “The Amgen Scholars Program is built on an assumption we share: that one critical way to inspire students is to get them actively involved in exciting laboratory work. The nation and the world need more scientists, and this young program is an answer to that call.”

University of Cambridge serves as the European Coordinating Centre. “Many countries in Europe have limited science research opportunities for undergraduates. Our partnership with the Amgen Foundation enables us to offer the brightest minds a unique summer research program, and to inspire them about career opportunities at the cutting edge of scientific research,” said Professor John Rallison, pro-vice-chancellor for Education at the University of Cambridge.

The 10 U.S. program partners are:

•California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

•Columbia University/Barnard College

•Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

•Stanford University

•University of California, Berkeley

•University of California, Los Angeles

•University of California, San Diego

•University of California, San Francisco

•University of Washington

•Washington University in St. Louis


The three European program partners are:

•Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

•Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich, Germany

•University of Cambridge, UK

Financial support for students is a critical component of the program, which seeks to ensure that eligible students, regardless of their financial status, are able to participate. Financial support details vary by host university.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2011 Amgen Scholars Program. For more information about Amgen Scholars or an application, please visit http://www.amgenscholars.com./

About the Amgen Foundation

The Amgen Foundation (www.amgen.com/citizenship/overview.html) seeks to advance science education; improve patient access to quality care; and strengthen the communities where Amgen staff members live and work. Since 1991, the Foundation has made $140 million in grants to nonprofit organizations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Europe that impact society in inspiring and innovative ways, and those that provide disaster relief efforts both domestically and internationally.

Washington University receives $23 million grant, renewal of comprehensive status for Siteman Cancer Center

The Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine has received renewal of its designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).


The designation recognizes Siteman’s clinical research, basic science, community outreach and education activities. The renewal includes $23 million in research funding for the next five years.

“NCI designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center confers the highest recognition of our exceptional cancer-focused scientists, clinicians and staff throughout Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital,” says Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, director of the Siteman Cancer Center. “Most importantly, we are translating our cutting-edge science into better treatments for the more than 40,000 cancer patients we see each year.”

To achieve comprehensive status, a cancer center must succeed in a rigorous, multi-stage review process, which included a 1,700-page grant proposal followed by a site visit by a panel of national experts in January.

NCI is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health.

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Genes influence how much people smoke and who gets lung cancer

Jerry Stitzel, University of Colorado, Boulder

The CHRNA gene is active in brain areas linked to addiction. In this image from a mouse brain, the bright white areas are the brain regions in which the gene is highly active.

Your DNA influences how much you smoke and whether you will develop lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to an international team of researchers led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.


The study is the first large-scale effort to match genetics with smoking, lung cancer and COPD combined. The investigators studied 38,000 smokers and found that two groups of gene variants on chromosome 15 influence risk for all three problems. Their findings appear in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Genetics.

“We put together a consortium from around the world and analyzed DNA variants that we know cause biological changes in smokers,” says the study’s senior investigator Laura Jean Bierut, MD. “We were able to demonstrate that both of the variants affect the amount a person smokes. Then we showed that the same pattern of variants contributes to lung cancer and COPD.”

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At the heart of prevention

Photo by Bob Boston

Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH (left), goes over epidemiological research with Victoria Anwuri, project manager of the Siteman Cancer Center. “Graham Colditz is an exceptional leader,” says Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “He has a clear vision for what it takes to build a world-class program and the keen ability to bring out the strengths in those he works with to accomplish that vision.”


By Caroline Arbanas
 
Growing up in Sydney, Australia, Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, always knew he wanted to be a primary-care physician — just like his father.


But when he got to medical school, Colditz was struck by the kinds of patients he saw in the hospital. Too many were suffering from heart attacks or lung cancer — conditions linked to smoking. “It made me wonder: Couldn’t we do a better job at prevention?” he says.

That line of questioning changed the trajectory of Colditz’s career. Today, he is an internationally known leader in cancer prevention. Rather than treating patients after they get sick, his life’s work focuses on understanding the preventable causes of chronic disease, particularly among women, and translating that research into guidelines and policies aimed at promoting healthier lives through prevention.

After 23 years at Harvard University, Colditz joined the School of Medicine faculty in 2006 as the Niess-Gain Professor and associate director of Prevention and Control at the Siteman Cancer Center. His longtime associate at Harvard, Carol Leighton, joined Colditz, bringing her knowledge of research structures and implementation planning. Since his arrival, he has broadened the scope of prevention research, education and community outreach and markedly raised the profile of the university’s public health initiatives.

“Graham Colditz is an exceptional leader,” says Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “He has a clear vision for what it takes to build a world-class program and the keen ability to bring out the strengths in those he works with to accomplish that vision.”

Colditz has recruited more than a dozen new faculty members whose research focuses on cancer’s link to physical activity, obesity and other lifestyle factors, and on public health strategies to help eliminate cancer disparities. He also has brought in more than $30 million in federal funding to expand the breadth and depth of cancer prevention research and programs.

Working with Edward F. Lawlor, PhD, dean of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Colditz was instrumental in establishing the university’s Institute for Public Health. The institute has expanded its interdisciplinary research and education programs to improve public health throughout the city, region and world.

Ahead of his time

After finishing medical school and an internal medicine residency at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Colditz headed to Harvard University’s School of Public Health. He came with a dual interest in epidemiology and health policy.

As it turns out, Colditz was way ahead of his time. From the outset, Harvard epidemiologists advised him to steer clear of health policy.

“Clearly, their thinking was that epidemiology generates the truth and that policymakers could debate the research, but epidemiologists shouldn’t be involved in those discussions,” he says.

Colditz, however, wanted to bridge the divide. He wanted to apply the data, not just generate it. Colditz took courses in health economics and decision analysis and joined forces with health-care economists building a model that estimated the costs to society of smoking. Early in his career, he also was at the forefront of efforts to develop cancer prevention programs on the local, state and national levels, working with the city of Boston, the state of Massachusetts and the American Cancer Society.

Colditz earned a master’s degree in public health in 1982 and a doctorate in public health in 1986, also from Harvard.

For his dissertation, he worked on the landmark Nurses’ Health Study. This long-term study, initiated in 1976, has tracked the health of more than 238,000 nurses and is one of the largest investigations into the risk factors for chronic illnesses in women.

After finishing his doctorate, Colditz ran the day-to-day operations of the Nurses’ Health Study and, in 1996, became its principal investigator.

Through his efforts, the study was expanded to include data on fractures, diabetes, quality of life after breast cancer, tissue samples from premalignant and malignant lesions, and other health measures. Hundreds of studies since have been published based on data from the study. Among its major findings:

Smoking increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes in women.

Hormone replacement therapy increases the risk of breast cancer.

Even modest weight gain in adulthood increases a woman’s risk of diabetes.

Weight loss after menopause reduces risk for breast cancer.

“The Nurses’ Health Study is a massive undertaking,” Colditz says, “but it really gave us a incredible opportunity to look at how diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors influence a woman’s risk of disease.”

New opportunity

Colditz’s son, Andrew Butler, PhD, began doctoral studies in psychology at Washington University in 2003, so Colditz knew of the school’s reputation and its academic rigor. Several years later, when former Harvard colleague Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, director of the Siteman Cancer Center, was looking to recruit someone to lead the Cancer Prevention and Control program, Colditz was intrigued.

Colditz was well aware of health disparities in the region. Missouri and Illinois both have cancer death rates higher than the national average; the problem is particularly worrisome in urban and rural areas with high poverty, where rates of smoking and obesity also are high. Some might look at those statistics as hopeless, but Colditz saw them as an opportunity and a challenge.

“We’ve got a phenomenal opportunity here to bring people together to change some of these disparities,” Colditz says.

Colditz and Aimee James, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, and other colleagues recently received additional National Institutes of Health funding for a major project to increase colorectal cancer screening among underserved and underinsured people in St. Louis and in Illinois.

Colditz also has spearheaded the development of the new master of population health sciences program for physicians and clinical trainees. He directs the one-year program, which launched this fall and is designed to give clinicians the research skills to evaluate the effectiveness of medications or clinical procedures in large populations.

“Graham has accomplished so much in such a short time,” Eberlein says. “Graham has a real gift for creating an environment where people want to work together. He’s a fantastic mentor, and everyone wants to work with him.”

In recent years, Colditz’s own research has focused on how diet and lifestyle during adolescence can influence cancer risk in later years. He has shown that regular exercise in girls as young as 12 can reduce their risk of breast cancer. In another study, he found that girls and young women who drink alcohol increase their risk of benign breast disease, which in itself raises their risk of breast cancer.

He also has initiated an effort to collect blood samples and health histories of the 25,000 women who get mammograms at the Joanne Knight Breast Health Center at Siteman. The information will be used as part of clinical studies to determine why certain women get breast cancer and why they respond differently to treatment.

“Washington University has enormous strength in basic science research and in understanding how disease develops,” Colditz says. “The challenge is to add ways to identify disease risk — both for individuals and within whole communities — and to change behavior to lower risk and improve people’s lives.”

Fast facts about Graham Colditz

Hometown: Sydney, Australia

Family: Wife, Pat Cox; son, Andrew Butler, PhD, 30, postdoctoral research associate at Duke University; daughter, Louisa Butler, 26, studying communication planning and information design at Carnegie Mellon University; daughter-in-law Anne Butler, 29, second-year epidemiology doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Honors and awards: Member, Institute of Medicine; fellow, Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine; Royal Australasian College of Physicians; Distinguished Alumni Award, Harvard School of Public Health

Valuable tool: Colditz and colleagues developed Your Disease Risk, an online tool to assess a person’s risk for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and osteoporosis.

Tradition of excellence

Kerry Kornfeld, MD, PhD (right), professor of developmental biology, and lab manager Luke Schneider observe C. elegans nematodes, the model organism Kornfeld uses to study cell pattern formation during development and aging. “(Kerry) is an outstanding developmental biologist and geneticist, a superb thinker and a wonderfully thoughtful person who was able to quickly forge connections between faculty and students in several departments, including molecular biology and pharmacology and genetics,” says Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and professor of medicine, of pathology and immunology and of developmental biology.

When Kerry Kornfeld, MD, PhD, says his life began at the School of Medicine, he means that literally.
 
“I was born at Barnes Hospital,” says Kornfeld, whose research laboratory is located a stone’s throw from the place of his birth.

As the youngest branch on a family tree with deep roots at the School of Medicine, Kornfeld, professor of developmental biology, is carrying on the family’s tradition of excellence in both research and service.

The first of Washington University’s elite cadre of faculty members known as “Dr. Kornfeld” was Kerry Kornfeld’s grandfather Max Kornfeld, the youngest member of the Washington University School of Dentistry’s Class of 1924. Max Kornfeld began teaching metallurgy and comparative dental anatomy at his alma mater in 1925.

The next Dr. Kornfeld at WUSTL was Max’s son Stuart, who completed a medical degree at the School of Medicine in 1962 and joined the faculty in 1966. Today, Stuart Kornfeld, MD, is the David C. and Betty Farrell Distinguished Professor of Medicine, co-director of the Physician Scientist Training Program at the School of Medicine and a world-renowned physician-scientist.

It was Stuart Kornfeld’s marriage to graduate student Rosalind Hauk during his medical training that led to Kerry Kornfeld’s aforementioned birth at Barnes Hospital.

“My mom (the late Rosalind Kornfeld, PhD) had my older sister and me while she was working on a doctorate in biochemistry,” says Kornfeld of his mother, who completed the doctorate in 1961 when Kerry still was an infant.

In 1966, Stuart and Rosalind Kornfeld joined the medical school faculty and began a professional collaboration that would lead to significant scientific discoveries.

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