CANCER
RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA
FELLOWSHIP
AWARDED
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| Dr.
Mariana De Lorenzo |
|
Mariana
De Lorenzo, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow working with Andrew
Dannenberg, M.D. and Kotha Subbaramaiah, Ph.D. in the Department
of Medicine of Weill Medical College of Cornell University,
was awarded a two-year research fellowship by the Cancer
Research Foundation of America.
Dr.
De Lorenzo received her Ph.D. from the University of Buenos
Aires in 2001. As a doctoral student, she worked on both
tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. The title of her newly
funded project is: "Tobacco smoke, cyclooxygenase-2 and
prevention of aerodigestive cancer." There is considerable
evidence that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a rate-limiting
enzyme in prostaglandin biosynthesis, is important for both
the development and progression of cancer. Smoking tobacco
is a risk factor for cancers of the aerodigestive tract.
In preliminary studies, tobacco smoke induced COX-2 and
prostaglandin production in cell lines derived from the
aerodigestive tract. During the next two years, Dr. De Lorenzo
will build upon these initial findings. She will elucidate
the molecular mechanisms by which tobacco smoke induces
COX-2. Moreover, she will utilize the cell culture systems
that this group has established to identify chemopreventive
(anti-cancer) agents that prevent the induction of COX-2
by tobacco smoke. The long-term goal of this research is
to develop mechanism-based strategies to prevent tobacco-related
cancers.
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