UAB Cancer Center Spotlight: Freda Lewis

Q & A with Freda Lewis
Clinical Trials Administrator

Tell us about yourself.

"I am a single mother to my daughter who is now 34, I am from Birmingham and have lived here all of my life. I enjoy volunteering at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama, Relay for Life, the Deep South Network for Cancer Control, and I am adviser to the Komen Foundation. I love reading and cheering on the Birmingham Barons and Auburn Tigers." 

How long have you been at UAB?

"I have been at UAB for 26 years, 14 of which have been at the Cancer Center. I started in the Clinical Trials Network, which evolved to where I work today."

Why Give Wednesday: Young Investigators Grants

Young Investigators Grants

In today’s economic climate, federal funding is more difficult to receive than ever, particularly for those scientists who are just beginning their careers. With even established investigators having difficulty obtaining funding, the chances of young researchers receiving substantial grants are even less likely. For today’s scientists, there’s only a 10-percent chance that their first grants – essential to establishing labs and launching studies – will be funded by the National Institutes of Health, the primary federal agency for supporting medical research.

Because today’s young scientists have such a tough time receiving funding, the Young Supporters Board of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, a group of young professionals to introduce the next generation of Alabamians to the importance of cancer research and awareness, donates the proceeds from all the board’s fundraising events to establish Young Investigator Grants. These grants are awarded to young scientists who have been at the Cancer Center for no more than five years in order to jumpstart their research.

Your investment in young investigators is critical to the advancement of cancer research and will benefit future generations to come. For more information, visit our website. All donations are welcome and accepted online at any time.

Fiesta Ball 2014

Just two weeks from today, on May 1st, we will celebrate our annual annual Fiesta Ball, hosted by the Young Supporters Board (YSB) of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. This is a fun and festive evening with Mexican food, drinks and live music, and an event that has become one of the most popular among Birmingham's young professionals.

Proceeds from the Fiesta Ball will benefit young cancer scientists at UAB. In tough economic times, federal funding for cancer research is extremely difficult for scientists to obtain. And if you're a young scientist just beginning your career, it's even more difficult. These young researchers are having to compete against more experienced and established scientists for grant funding. In other words, there's more competition, but less money available.

This is why events such as the Fiesta Ball are so important. Over the last few years, the YSB has been funding Young Investigator Grants, which go to cancer scientists at UAB who have been on campus less than five years. These grants are already showing results - David Schneider, Ph.D., the recipient of the first grant in 2008, was able to conduct research that allowed him to leverage that $40,000 grant into one for $1.2 million from the National Cancer Institute!  

We hope you will join us for this year's Fiesta Ball to help us make a difference in the fight against cancer!

What: Fiesta Ball 2014
When: Thursday, May 1st, 6 p.m.
Where: B&A Warehouse
Tickets: $30 in advance/$35 at the door
To purchase tickets, or for more information: www.uab.edu/fiestaball

The Long Road of Research

Dr. Chip Landen (center) with YSB members (L to R)
Gaines Livingston, Andrew Case, Sam Todd and
Walker Badham.

Today, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center hosted our Young Supporters Board, which is comprised of young up-and-coming professionals from around Birmingham. Our guest speaker was Charles "Chip" Landen, M.D., an assistant professor in the UAB Division of Gynecologic Oncology.

Dr. Landen joined the UAB faculty in 2009, and he has quickly become one of our rising stars. Last year, he was one of only seven early career investigators nationwide to receive an inaugural Ovarian Cancer Academy Award from the U.S. Department of Defense. Dr. Landen works to identify and characterize a subpopulation of ovarian cancer cells that have enhanced ability to survive chemotherapy and cause recurrence. Understanding this class of cells may lead to discoveries of key pathways than can be targeted with novel anti-cancer therapies.

Dr. Landen's presentation today focused not only on his research, but also on his career path. I've often talked about the amount of time it takes for young scientists to actually begin their careers. It's very common: after high school, these scientists spend four years of undergraduate education, three to eight years of graduate school to get a Ph.D., then followed by another two to three years of postdoctoral training. By the time their training is complete, they're 34 years old when they land their first "real" job.

The other issue these scientists face is funding. For today's young researchers, there's only 10-percent chance that their first grants, which are essential to establishing labs and launching their studies, will be funded by federal sources. This is where groups like the Young Supporters Board come in.

In the last few years, the Young Supporters Board has established a Young Investigators Grant, which funds the work of cancer researchers who are just beginning their careers. The board has taken tremendous initiative in this endeavor, and their work is already paying off. David Schneider, Ph.D., the first grant recipient, took the board's $40,000 investment and turned it into a $1.2-million grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Landen serves as another great example of why the work of the Young Supporters Board is so important and critical to the Cancer Center's success. Our young scientists are the next generation in the fight against cancer, but they can't do it alone.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.