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Doctoral Candidates Receive Louis J. Elsas Research Award in Biochemical Genetics

For their innovative genetic research supporting Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in its fight against cancer, two University of Miami Miller School of Medicine doctoral candidates have been named the 2018 recipients of the Louis J. Elsas Research Award in Biochemical Genetics.

Ph.D. candidate Ho Lam (Candy) Chan.

Ho Lam (Candy) Chan, Ph.D. candidate ’19, and Michael A. Durante, M.D. candidate ’21/ Ph.D. candidate ’19, were selected from a field of nine applicants for this year’s award, which was established by the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation in 2011.

The award was created to honor the legacy and contributions of the late Louis J. “Skip” Elsas, M.D., a renowned geneticist and the first director of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Center for Medical Genetics, which became the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics at the Miller School in 2007.

“The two students we selected are doing the type of research that Dr. Elsas pursued and supported,” said William K. Scott, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of education and training in the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics. “As a pediatrician and biochemical geneticist, Dr. Elsas’ interest was in seeing research done that would help understand diseases that had a biochemical, genetic component in children and adults.”

The award supports outstanding medical students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows who are performing research relevant to biochemical genetics, in areas including biochemistry, genetics, genomics, statistical genetics, or genetic epidemiology.

Chan, 29, was nominated by Lluis Morey, Ph.D., research associate professor in human genetics, for her work in the function of Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1) in breast cancer.

“I was very excited to hear that I had been selected,” said Chan, who is a student in the Cancer Biology Program at UM. “It is a good recognition of the work you are doing.”

According to Dr. Morey, Chan achieved significant insights regarding the contribution of epigenetic factors involved in breast cancer. Her preliminary studies revealed that approximately 40 percent of breast cancer patients have amplification of at least one PRC1 gene.

The PRC1 complex is among the most important epigenetic regulators in stem cells and cancer, yet very little is known about the crosstalk between PRC1 and signaling pathways in cancer.

“Specifically, Chan established that RING1B, the core enzymatic subunit of all PRC1 complexes, may directly regulate specific oncogenic pathways deregulated in different breast cancer subtypes,” Dr. Morey wrote in his nomination letter. “She has characterized, in a short time and detail, novel functions of PRC1 in breast cancer that correlate with the oncogenic transcriptome of the cells.”

The manuscript for her work was published recently in Nature Communications.
Chan has also published a co-authored manuscript in Cancer Research, as well as seven other publications. She is beginning a second project, which involves investigating mutations in histones, or oncohistones, and their interplay with PRC1.

A biology major at Caldwell University, Chan graduated magna cum laude before working as a research associate in the laboratories of Teresa A. Zimmers, Ph.D., currently at Indiana University School of Medicine, and then Xin-Hai Pei, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery at the Miller School, before deciding to follow her love of research by pursuing graduate school over medical school.

M.D./Ph.D. candidate Michael A. Durante.

Michael Durante, 28, is currently researching to find ways to reduce the mortality rate from cancer.

Nominated by J. William Harbour, M.D., director of ocular oncology, vice chairman for translational research, Mark J. Daily Chair in Ophthalmology, and associate director for basic research at Sylvester, Durante was recognized for his work in early and multi-regional uveal melanoma tumor analysis; single-cell analysis of uveal melanoma; epigenetic landscape of uveal melanoma; and clonal evolution of uveal melanoma.

“I am honored and blessed to win the Elsas award,” said Durante. “It is phenomenal that they provide this to recognize students.”

Durante started pursuing his M.D./Ph.D. in cancer biology six years ago after graduating from the University of Florida summa cum laude with dual degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology and chemical engineering.

He worked with prominent University of Miami cancer research faculty members, including Alan Pollack, M.D., ’87, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology; and Joyce M. Slingerland, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute at Sylvester.
According to Dr. Harbour, Durante is one of the most knowledgeable people on the UM campus regarding cancer genomics and bioinformatics. His work has revealed a previously unrecognized tumor complexity and has disclosed new insights into the interplay between mutations and the immune tumor microenvironment.

“In parallel with his bioinformatics and computational skills, Durante is developing expertise as an experimental cancer biologist,” said Dr. Harbour. “He has experience in biochemical and cell biology methods employed to examine the functional and physical interaction between proteins that are commonly mutated in ocular melanoma. He elucidated the transcriptomic profile of primary ocular melanomas at the single-cell level and is characterizing the micro-architecture of these tumors.”

Durante has contributed substantially to other projects, including a recent discovery of how genomic alterations evolve during the development of ocular melanoma.

A co-author of two high-profile papers in Nature Communications and Blood, Durante is preparing two more manuscripts for submission to top-tier journals within the next several months.

Stephan Züchner, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, says the recipients’ work is helping to lead to the discovery of novel genes that explain diseases or reveal a risk profile for a disease.

“This award is wonderful because it recognizes the important work they are doing to advance science and, ultimately, medicine,” said Dr. Züchner, who is also a professor of neurology and co-director of the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics.

A prominent force in the field of biochemical genetics, Dr. Elsas was also a clinician who knew the promise of research. He came to UM in 2002 thanks to another generous multimillion-dollar gift from the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, which allowed the university to establish a new program in medical genetics.

Dr. Elsas was recruited to lead the Miller School’s burgeoning work in the field by R. Rodney Howell, M.D., professor and chair emeritus of the Department of Pediatrics, a fellow geneticist, pediatrician, and longtime friend and colleague.

“It is very important to our university that the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation has endowed this award to honor Dr. Skip Elsas,” said Dr. Howell, who chaired the award committee and is also a board member of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation. “It provides important support to the careers of young professionals who will shape the growing field of medical genetics for years to come.”

In addition to Dr. Howell, the Elsas award committee is comprised of Nichole Klatt, Ph.D., associate professor and vice chair of research in the Department of Pediatrics; Mustafa Tekin, M.D., professor in the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, chief of the Division of Clinical and Translational Genetics, and clinical vice chair and professor in the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics; and Michal Toborek, M.D., Ph.D., Leonard M. Miller Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

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