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“It is with great sorrow that I inform you of the death of Dr. Ellsworth (Buster) Alvord, a beloved colleague, friend, teacher and mentor. Buster received his M.D. from Cornell University in 1946, trained in Pathology and Neurology at New York Hospital, Walter Reed Hospital and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and from 1953 to 1955 was Chief of the Neuropathology Section of the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Blindness.  From 1955 to 1960 he was an Associate Professor of Pathology and Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine. He joined the Department of Pathology at the University of Washington in 1960 as an Associate Professor, was promoted to Professor in 1962, and became an Emeritus Professor in 2002. In addition to the Pathology appointment, Buster had an adjunct appointment in Neurological Surgery.

Buster was the founder of Neuropathology at UW, and was not only a pioneer, but also had an active involvement on research, teaching and service activities in neuropathology for almost 50 years. ”

Read all about him here.

Susan Massey was awarded the 2010 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship!

Right now, Susan is working on developing and testing a new mathematical model for glioma genesis and evolution mediated by the dynamics of platelet-derived growth factor. This work is in collaboration with Dr. Peter Canoll at Columbia University.

“Rita is recognized by the CRA for her research on modeling and predicting the growth of highly invasive brain tumors called gliomas. The current treatment and management of gliomas is limited by the ability of present imaging technologies to assess the true extent of the tumors. To address this limitation, Rita’s research focuses on enhancing a mathematical model of tumor growth to more accurately reflect observed growth. Instead of assuming isotropic tumor cell diffusion, she is investigating anisotropic diffusion because it has been observed that glioma cells migrate preferentially along white matter tracts in the brain. She compares simulated growth with the observed growth in individual patients to determine which technique more accurately predicts the growth of gliomas in vivo…”

Read the full article here.

“Rita Sodt was so motivated in her desire to experience research first-hand that she contacted a researcher early in her freshman year at the UW. She learned about Kristin Swanson, research associate professor of pathology, from the TA in her honors calculus class and took the initiative to arrange an interview, securing a place in the lab by Winter Quarter. Continue reading “Dr. Swanson and Rita Sodt featured in UWeek article”

“University of Washington researchers have discovered a way to more accurately predict life expectancy in patients newly diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme, the most aggressive form of primary brain tumors — and the type that took the life of Senator Ted Kennedy earlier this year.

This type of tumor accounts for 70% of malignant brain tumors diagnosed in the U.S. each year, and patients on average live only 12 to 18 months following diagnosis.

Researchers in the lab of Dr. Kristin Swanson, UW associate professor of pathology, have found the combination of biomathematical modeling and routinely available pre-treatment magnetic resonance images (MRI) allows physicians — for the first time — to quantify and visualize patient-specific tumor growth patterns and dynamics. The results are published in the Dec. 1, 2009 issue of Cancer Research.”

Read the whole article here.

As part of an interdisciplinary team, Dr. Swanson will lead project # 3, titled “E = mc2: Environment-driven Mathematical Modeling for the physical microenvironment in clinical cancer imaging.”

An overview:

“The physical microenvironments of primary and metastatic cancers are highly heterogeneous and almost invariably different from normal tissue. Abnormal tumor vasculogenesis and chaotic blood flow lead to chronic and acute (often cyclical) hypoxia.  Abnormal glucose metabolism due to hypoxia and aerobic glycolysis leads to acidosis.. This program will examine the role of the physical microenvironment in carcinogenesis, tumor progression and metastases. A major focus will be translational as we actively perturbations in the microenvironment as novel cancer prevention and treatment strategies…”

Read all the information here.

“Brain cancer is a difficult and scary diagnosis for anyone. However, doctors are using innovative technologies to locate the cancer and help guide an individualized treatment plan. Host Andrew Schorr is joined by Dr. Jason Rockhill, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC). Dr. Rockhill shares the latest advances in radiation oncology and how these advances are working in conjunction with other modalities to give patients the best chance in fighting brain cancer.”

Read/listen to the full story here.

Complementary but Distinct Roles for MRI and 18F-Fluoromisonidazole PET in the Assessment of Human Glioblastomas, a Swanson lab publication, has been honored by the Journal of Nuclear Medicine for being one of the three best clinical investigations for 2009!

“Glioblastoma multiforme is a primary brain tumor known for its rapid proliferation, diffuse invasion, and prominent neovasculature and necrosis. This study explores the in vivo link between these characteristics and hypoxia by comparing the relative spatial geometry of developing vasculature inferred from gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted MRI (T1Gd), edematous tumor extent revealed on T2-weighted MRI (T2), and hypoxia assessed by 18F-fluoromisonidazole PET (18F-FMISO). Given the role of hypoxia in upregulating angiogenic factors, we hypothesized that the distribution of hypoxia seen on 18F-FMISO is correlated spatially and quantitatively with the amount of leaky neovasculature seen on T1Gd….”

Read full here.

“The combination of mathematical models and biological data will change cancer research into a quantitative and predictable science.”

The combination of mathematical models and biological data will change cancer research into a quantitative and predictable science.Kristin Swanson is a 33-year-old female mathematician, and is an Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Washington in the United States. Her work sounds very cool –using mathematics to study cancer.“For mathematicians, all of the world’s problems are mathematical. All phenomena in daily lifecan be explained by math,” she told our reporter. “Cancer is no exception.”

Read full here in Chinese.  For our translation by Mindy Szeto, click here.