Prestigious award helps fund additional brain cancer research
PHOENIX, AZ, December 1, 2004 - TGen researcher Mitsutoshi
Nakada, M.D., Ph.D., today received a prestigious fellowship from
the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The 2-year
$91,743 (10,000,000 yen) fellowship allows Dr. Nakada to continue
his work on brain tumors at TGen under Michael Berens, Ph.D., Head
of TGen's Brain Tumor Cancer Unit.
Dr. Nakada is currently working at TGen under a 2-year award from
the American Brain Tumor Association. His research focuses on
therapeutic targets of primary invasive brain tumors called
gliomas. A family of genes called ephrins control processes in the
brain during normal development, such as how neurons connect with
one another, how blood vessels form, and how cells migrate in the
brain
Mitsutoshi Nakada, M.D., Ph.D.
"My training in neurosurgery enables me to understand on a personal level the current challenges of treating brain tumor patients," said Dr. Nakada. "This fellowship from the JSPS fuels my strong motivation for brain tumor research, and I hope soon to discover the biological mechanism of glioma invasion. I want to establish a new strategy for treatment of glioblastoma."
Earlier this year, Dr. Nakada published findings that demonstrated the importance of the ephrin receptor in glioma invasion. This may be significant in understanding fundamental process of brain tumor formation and could lead to creating a clinical treatment to eliminate recurrent tumors in glioblastoma patients.
Prior to joining TGen, Dr. Nakada spent seven years as a neurosurgeon at Kanazawa University Hospital in Japan.
"The JSPS Fellowship is a much-deserved acknowledgement of the promise of Dr. Nakada's approach and the unique environment provided by TGen," said Dr. Berens. "He has demonstrated outstanding research progress over the last two years, finding specific genes that are misbehaving in brain tumors. In a rich collaboration with TGen's clinical, academic, and research partners, his experiments now are moving rapidly towards developing ways to target these genes with new medicines."
About JSPS
JSPS was founded in 1932 as a non-profit foundation through an
endowment granted by Emperor Showa. It is an independent
administrative institution that champions the advancement of
science in all fields of the natural and social sciences and the
humanities. JSPS plays a pivotal role in the administration of a
wide spectrum of Japan's scientific and academic programs. Its
primary goals include fostering young researchers and promoting
international scientific cooperation. The organization's operation
is supported in part by annual subsidies from the Japanese
Government.
About TGen
TGen is a not-for-profit research institute whose primary mission
is to make and translate genomic discoveries into advances in human
health. Translational genomics research employs innovative advances
arising from the Human Genome Project and applies them to the
development of diagnostics, prognostics, and therapies for cancer,
neurological disorders, diabetes and other complex diseases.
Media Contact:
Galen Perry - 602-343-8423
