A researcher in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center has been selected for the inaugural Ovarian Cancer Academy Award, part of the U.S. Department of Defense funding for cancer research. Assistant Professor Charles Landen, M.D., of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, is one of seven early career investigators chosen for the grant. The award is $1.06 million from the Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research.
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.