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Tumor Biology PhD Student Wins AACR Minority Scholar Award

Anatasha Crawford, BS, and Rebecca Riggins, PhD, are working together to restore sensitivity to antiestrogen treatments, like Tamoxifen, for breast cancer patients who have become resistant to this class of drugs. Tasha, a third-year PhD student in Lombardi’s Tumor Biology Program is a 2007 recipient of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award.

This award is given annually to a group of junior scientists who are members of minority groups defined by the National Cancer Institute as under-represented in the field of cancer and biomedical research. Tasha’s winning abstract, which will be developed into a poster that she will present at the AACR conference in Los Angeles this spring, examines the role of a single family of proteins in Tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer cells. This protein family is called Bcl-2 and plays a key role in the process of programmed cell death, or apoptosis.

In normal cells that develop abnormalities such as mutations, apoptosis is initiated to prevent cells from getting out of control. But in cancer, apoptosis is blocked, allowing the tumor cells to continue to grow and divide. Bcl-2 is known to regulate how and when programmed cell death occurs, and Dr. Riggins found that the protein behaved differently in cells that were sensitive to Tamoxifen than it did in cells that were resistant. Knowing that Bcl-2 plays a key role in apoptosis, they wanted to see if they could reverse Tamoxifen resistance by blocking the activity of Bcl-2.

Tasha started working with Dr. Riggins during one of her rotations through different Lombardi laboratories. Once she had completed this segment of her program which is designed to give students experience in several different laboratories, she chose to focus her thesis research on this protein.

“In one of my classes, I had been studying apoptosis, and I thought it was really interesting,” she explained. “When Rebecca presented this project to me, I really understood the concepts well and I thought it was a very important question.”

Tasha is now testing small molecules that stop Bcl-2 from conferring the resistance to antiestrogen drugs like Tamoxifen. These molecules block, or inhibit, the normal function that Bcl-2 plays in the cell, which means that pre-cancerous cells should undergo apoptosis on their own before a cancer can develop. But ultimately, Tasha and Dr. Riggins see themselves laying the groundwork for a new and more effective generation of drugs that can restore sensitivity to Tamoxifen and other antiestrogens in breast cancer patients.

Beyond working together to develop and test new therapies to one of the key problems in breast cancer treatment, Tasha and Dr. Riggins, who is her mentor, have something else in common. Both women are here at Lombardi working in the laboratory of Robert Clarke, PhD, DSc, because of their grandmothers.

“I became very interested in breast cancer research when my grandmother had breast cancer. That was the main reason why I came to Lombardi; I wanted to learn in a place that has a focus on cancer research,” said Tasha.

Dr. Riggins joined Lombardi in 2003 as a postdoctoral fellow and was recently promoted to Research Assistant Professor. She received her PhD in microbiology, but focused some of her work on Tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer cells – a field that felt right to her because her grandmother is a breast cancer survivor.

“I came to Lombardi because I wanted to do basic science research that was clinical relevant,” Dr. Riggins said.

Dr. Riggins will be attending the AACR conference along with Tasha and several other members of the Clarke laboratory. But with the award, Tasha will be provided with additional opportunities for networking and making valuable to connections to others in the field of cancer research.

The Minority Scholars Award aims to draw more minorities into the field of cancer research by building a support structure for young scholars to attend the conference. Awardees are provided with a travel stipend for transport to and from the conference, the registration fee is waived, and special events are planned that give them the opportunity to meet with other researchers who can provide advice and guidance.

“I remember when I attended my first AACR meeting. I was so overwhelmed by the 15,000 people that attend each year,” recalled Dr. Riggins. “I think it will be great for Tasha to have a core group of people that she can meet and make connections with. I’m still in contact with people I met at my first conference.”

While completing her undergraduate degree at Spelman College, Tasha participated in another program that provided support for minorities interested in scientific research. She said that it was invaluable to her, and that it gave her the confidence to take the more difficult career path in research.

“I’m really looking forward to going to the conference this year,” she said. “I went last year when it was held in DC and it was hard to know what to concentrate on. And I know how important programs like this can be for under-represented minorities. I am here today thanks to a program like this one.”