Horizons Fall 2016

29 NSU HORIZONS REGIONALLY FOCUSED Jean Latimer, Ph.D., who leads the NSU AutoNation Institute for Breast and Solid Tumor Cancer Research, said that having the world-class immunologists just a stone’s throw away from her research is priceless. “They are studying how to revitalize the immune system to kill cancer cells, and the cultures that we create from breast tumors and sarcomas can be used for their research as well as our own,” she said. Latimer envisions a regional cancer center with doctors and scientists from the Univer- sity of Miami, University of Florida, Cleveland Clinic, and Florida State University all working with scientists in the NSU AutoNation Institute. “Most noteworthy cancer centers are regional centers in scope, so that they become a brain trust for the entire state. That, of course, improves health care for everyone who has cancer,” she said. Within the NSU AutoNation Institute is the Auto- Nation/Hunter-Reay Research Lab. IndyCar racer Ryan Hunter-Reay’s nonprofit organization, Racing for Cancer, Inc., made a donation to name the lab. “My wife, Alice, and I have personally pledged $1 mil- lion to cancer research at NSU,” said Mike Jackson, chairman, chief executive officer, and president of Auto- Nation. “We are proud to join forces with Ryan Hunter- Reay and enhance our commitment to finding a cure for cancer through the establishment of the NSU AutoNation Institute for Breast and Solid Tumor Cancer Research. Cancer research is a cause near and dear to our hearts.” Alice Jackson was diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer of 2011. “Finding a cure is so important to me, because even though I made it, there are so many others fighting the fight,” she said. “We are confident in NSU’s abilities to discover better treatments and cures.” The AutoNation Institute focuses on the following areas: 0 developing diagnostic and therapeutic cancer care strategies through basic research that can be trans- lated into clinical trials for the cure of breast and solid tumor cancers - developing a tissue repository of solid tumors and creating tumor and matching nontumor-adjacent cell lines for further investigation to generate targeted cancer therapies based on gene expression / evaluating the epigenetics (reversible genetic make- up) of cancer cells and determining possible uses of microRNA (the part of the genome that regulates gene expression) in blocking their ability to resist drugs, which could be used in future treatment protocols for metastatic disease 3 testing chemicals included in a variety of commonly used consumer products to determine if there is a possible link to cancer, and educating the public and regulatory agencies of concerning findings . using blood tests to check for specific biomarkers that could indicate if a patient is predisposed to cancer and assessing whether patients will be responsive to chemotherapy , analyzing the origin of cancer based on ancestral and racial disparities in cancer outcomes At far left top, the confocal microscope is equipped with three lasers, a transmitted light detector, and full incubation. At far left, below, Richard Jove heads up the NSU Cell Therapy Institute. At left, Jean Latimer, who leads the NSU AutoNation Institute for Breast and Solid Tumor Cancer Research, discusses an experiment with lab technician Stefanie Sveiven in the AutoNation/Hunter-Reay Research Lab. Continued on page 30