The Hirshberg Foundation enlists USC in its fight against pancreatic cancer with $25,000 grant to fund new treatments

Pancreatic cancer is among the most lethal of all cancers, but the least funded for research. According to American Cancer Society estimates, more than 45,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2013, and nearly 38,500 will die. The incidence of this cancer has been slowly increasing over the past decade.

The Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, now in its 15th year, funds projects and programs designed to improve patient care, treatment and, ultimately, survival rates. In its quest to discover the biologic mechanisms of pancreatic cancer, the Hirshberg Foundation recently provided $25,000 to the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is the foundation’s first gift to USC. Read More »

July 26th, 2013|Announcements|

USC Legacy Circle members learn more about individualized cancer care

By Ina Fried

A frightened 39-year-old woman with young children was referred by a friend to the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital because of recurrent lung cancer. A multidisciplinary team, including a radiologist, pathologist, surgeon and oncologist, evaluated her case.

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Stephen Gruber (left) and Legacy Circle member Jim Bonorris at the Legacy Circle luncheon  Photo/Steve Cohn USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Stephen Gruber (left) and Legacy Circle member Jim Bonorris at the Legacy Circle luncheon
Photo/Steve Cohn

Within a week, the woman came to USC Norris, where a lung cancer expert performed minimally invasive robotic surgery. The pathologist performed molecular profiling of her tumor to determine which targeted drugs would be helpful to her.

When USC Norris Director Stephen B. Gruber, MD, MPH, visited the woman the day after surgery, “she was sitting up in bed laughing with her husband and eating ice cream,” he said. Read More »

July 26th, 2013|Announcements|

USC NORRIS HOSTS STOP CANCER

Ram Subramanyan, assistant professor of surgery, speaks at a June 13 STOP CANCER event at the Health Sciences Campus. The event, hosted by USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Stephen B. Gruber, recognized STOP CANCER members for their many years of support, and provided an update on the progress of the USC Norris STOP CANCER awardees. Read More »

July 26th, 2013|Announcements|

OPHTHALMOLOGY FELLOWS FETED

Keck School of Medicine of USC ophthalmology fellows Anne Elizabeth Barañano, MD (left), and Jennifer Hu, MD (right), chat with Keck School Dean Carmen A. Pulifito, MD, MBA, at a party at the dean’s home. The June 26 event celebrated the graduation of the school’s retina fellows. Read More »

July 26th, 2013|Announcements|

In Memoriam: Kathleen Ann Burke, 66

Kathleen Ann Burke, a longtime research scientist at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, died June 30. She was 66.

Kathleen Ann Burke Kathleen Ann Burke

Born in in Newark, New Jersey, Burke graduated from Douglas College and received her Master of Science from Penn State. After graduate work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked at USC for more than 20 years until her retirement in 2011.

As a scientist, she specialized in researching gene therapy, and managed two large labs. Her last project focused on developing a new therapy for AIDS patients. Read More »

July 26th, 2013|Announcements|