Caltech - City of Hope Biomedical Research Initiative Symposium

The Caltech and City of Hope Biomedical Research Initiative will be showcasing some of our research and findings on Tuesday, October 30th from 6:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at City of Hope (COH).

This special symposium will share CIT and COH's collaborative research and will be held at Caltech every other year. We encourage faculty, staff and students to attend this enlightening event. Due to limited seating, we ask you to RSVP to Karen Payne at [email protected] or 626-395-2928 to assure your space in the auditorium.

This year's presentations will be on Tracking Tumors and Pulse Power with researchers from both CIT and COH presenting:

YUMAN FONG, M.D., The Sangiacomo Family Chair in Surgical Oncology and chair of the Department of Surgery, City of Hope, and YU-CHONG TAI, Ph.D., the Anna L. Rosen Professor of Electrical Engineering and Medical Engineering and Andrew and Peggy Cherng Medical Engineering Leadership Chair, Caltech Presenting their research on TRACKING TUMORS Being able to keep an eye on organ and tumor movement during surgery and radiology from inside the body and without the use of large, invasive equipment like MRI machines could result in better precision at much lower costs. Now, researchers from City of Hope and Caltech believe they have found a way to do just that. Yuman Fong, M.D., Julia Greer, Ph.D., and Yu-Chong Tai, Ph.D., have collaborated to develop tiny surgical beacons made out of natural magnets that can be implanted directly in the body using minimally invasive procedures. When coupled with an electro-magnetic compass, this inexpensive navigation system is accurate down to one millimeter. The team is testing their surgical navigation instrument in the tracking and targeting of small breast cancer tumors and have applied for a patent for this invention. AND

JOANNE MORTIMER, M.D., Baum Family Professor in Women's Cancers, and vice chair and professor of the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutic Research, City of Hope, and DANNY PETRASEK, M.D., Ph.D., Visiting Associate in Medical Engineering and Lecturer in Biology and Biological Engineering, Caltech Presenting their research on PULSE POWER Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that can develop as a result of cancer therapies and increases one's risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. In addition, it can lead to worse outcomes for cancer patients. In an effort to simplify the detection of possible metabolic syndrome in vulnerable populations, Joanne Mortimer, M.D., along with Danny Petrasek, M.D., Ph.D., and Morteza Gharib, Ph.D., tested a handheld device called Avecina to assess insulin resistance—a key characteristic of metabolic syndrome—by measuring pulse wave velocity in the carotid artery. This type of measurement is typically done by an echocardiogram at a hospital, but the Avecina device could be used at home and also has the potential to monitor the efficacy of interventions including exercise and medications.