Wednesdays, 10 a.m. – 12 pm January 7 – May 1, 2015 Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Room 7-605

 Introductions  Course Contact Information  Course Overview - Goal, Format  Course Schedule  Course Evaluation  Term Project – Midterm Assignment, Term Paper and Oral Presentation  Significant Dates

 Name  Research area  Objective for attending this class  Personal tidbit you would like to share

 Course Coordinator: Dr. Michael Reedijk   Teaching Assistant: Julia Izrailit (Day-to-day contact person)  PMH, Room  Tel: Ext.3590 

 To expose graduate students to the concepts of translational oncology (“from bench to bedside”) through a series of seminar-type presentations highlighting recent advances of translational research And,  To motivate graduate students to apply the concepts of translational oncology to their own research through a series of written and oral assignments.

 Didactic lecture, led by experts in the field, minutes in length; followed by discussion/Q&A  Class discussion on 2-3 papers chosen by lecturer, led by students (“Journal Club”-1hr)

DateTitleSpeaker January 7, 2015IntroductionJulia Izrailit January 14, 2015 Imaged based monitoring of individual response to treatment Greg Czarnota January 21, 2015The importance of genetic variation in oncologyGeoffrey Liu January 28, 2015 Novel models and methods for assessment of new targeted agents in oncology David Hedley February 4, 2015Perils and pitfalls in translational researchNorman Boyd February 11, 2015Epigenetic modifications as therapeutic targetsDaniel De Carvalho February 18, 2015Cancer ImmunotherapyLinh Nguyen February 25, 2015Breast cancer oncogenesis and new targetsAnne Koch March 4, 2015Towards personalized epigenomicsMathieu Lupien March 11, 2015Lung cancer genomics and patient individualizationMing Tsao March 18, 2015 Tumor microenvironment and metabolism in radiation oncology Mike Milosevic March 25, 2015 Novel targeted drugs and their introduction in the clinic Phil Bedard April 1, 2015Novel targets in leukemiaMark Minden April 8, 2015Proposal presentations - part 1 April 15, 2015Proposal presentations - part 2 May 1, 2014Final assignment due

 All students are expected to read the assigned papers in advance of the class  2-3 students will be assigned to lead the journal club discussion in class  Come to the session with prepared questions and/or discussion topics that arise from the selected manuscripts  Be creative with the discussion period! Leaders can feel free to coordinate with each other and develop ways to engage their fellow students and the lecturer in discussion

Focus on “big picture” – implications of the papers; integration with earlier concepts in the course; impact on personalized medicine; what comes next? Engage all students in the discussion Spread the facilitation duties among the team Keep discussion lively and interesting

Facilitate! Be creative  Mock debates (pro/con)  Play games with the audience  Snap group discussions  …The sky’s the limit For advice and assistance, contact me

Rely only on Powerpoint presentations Dissect/critique the papers, figure by figure Monopolize the discussion Fail to engage your classmates

 Participation (20%)  Class attendance (if you are unable to attend with reason, please notify me in advance)  Leadership of journal club  Participation in journal club  Midterm Assignment (15%)  Oral Presentation (15%)  Term Paper (50%)

 MANDATORY  If you are unable to attend (for e.g., ill; committee meeting; conference), please notify  “My experiment got in the way” is not an acceptable excuse (speaks to time management skills)  “I needed to finish my assignment for X course” is also not an acceptable excuse

Group-developed project - grant application  Midterm: Individual letters of intent  Oral: Group presentation of project proposal  Final: Group project proposal In these types of grants, often three to four linked initiatives are submitted as part of a larger overall research.  For example, a project in head and neck cancer may involve biomarker identification and validation; imaging; and new therapy development, all linked by common themes and integrated with one another. Demonstrates “team science” and the ability to integrate concepts and ideas in a collaborative environment

Groups of 3-4 Each group identifies an overall topic or theme  MUST be approved by me  No two groups can do the same topic  Topic choice is made on a first come-first served basis What’s a topic/theme? Examples:  A given tumor site  Multiple approaches to biomarker discovery/validation  Novel target discovery/experimental therapeutics  Combinations of the above  Anything you can think of!

“Letter-of-intent”/Statement of Research Interests  INDIVIDUAL SUBMISSION  2 pages  Single spaced  Not including any necessary references or the title page Contents  Clearly stated research question  Well-defined hypothesis  Two clearly-stated aims/objectives  Translational relevance/Human impact  Integration with overall group project “Set the Stage” for your final assignment

What is NOT necessary  Detailed methodology  Discussion of experimental plan DO NOT make this about your research directly!

 To verify this, we ask for a copy of your research abstract (e.g., your project proposal abstract from your first committee meeting or qualifying/reclassification exam; or your student seminar abstract)  Failure to abide by this rule will result in an automatic failing grade in the course; there will be no opportunity for a make-up assignment  You may stay within the same disease, but you must choose a different aspect of it (for e.g., if you are working on a particular signaling pathway, you cannot do that, but you can do something based on imaging modalities in the same disease, or experimental therapeutics, etc.)  You cannot work on the same protein  You may apply a technique you’re learning or working on currently to your research question, but remember that a research question isn’t based around a technique  You can, also, if you like, extrapolate from your research if it is very basic, and consider how you would apply it 5 or 10 years from now, in the clinical setting  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me

 “Set the Stage”  Background of your question  Clinical and translational relevance  Rationale for your choice  What models and systems will you be using  You may outline your proposed study design, but don’t make this the focus of your discussion

 Why are we making you do this?  Experience with a different style of scientific writing  Grad students, post-docs and people applying for faculty positions have to write these statements of research interest in applying for fellowships/positions  Write for a general audience – OK to be nontechnical  Good practice to solidify your ideas before launching into the more complex – and technical – grant writing exercise

Group (20-25 minute) oral presentation outlining your research proposal Focus on translational aims and impact “Interview” for grant proposal

“Medical Biophysics Translational Research Grant” Full research proposal  4 pages per group member  Single spaced  Not including figures, tables, references, title page This grant is to be built around the translational research aim(s) you designed for the Midterm Assignment

 Longer and more complex than the midterm assignment  Similar to grant and fellowship proposals you will be writing as a graduate student  Similar to the design for a reclass/qualifying exam proposal  Intended to give you a sense of the form and function in a scientific proposal  Meant to be a “window into your thought processes” if well written

Components  Abstract of overall project (1 page)  Introduction and statement of relevance (2 pages)  Rationale and outline of objectives/hypotheses (1 page)  Each group member’s specific research proposal (4 pages, max, each – including a review of preliminary data from the literature, 2 aims, and a statement of translational implication)  A section on integration and an overall conclusion (1 page)

 For the purposes of this grant, “Translational Research” is defined to be use of clinically obtained samples in at least one major aim of the proposal  Specifically, use of:  Human subjects (with malignancy or disease)  Primary tissues/fluids (e.g., bone marrow samples or tumour biopsies) derived from patients with malignancy or disease  You CANNOT use for this purpose:  Mice or other animal models  Cell lines derived from patients  Other cell culture systems

 Don’t worry! Fewer of us than you might think do purely translational research  Objective of MBP 1018 is to develop your ability to conceive of and integrate translational concepts into your thinking  If you do:  Basic research (with cell lines or animal models)  Structural research  Photonics or imaging research  …There are translational applications in the future – just think about them!

 That’s OK – think about the pathways you work on.  Do they have application to cancer in some way?  Can you draw connections outside of your own immediate sphere of research?  If you can, write about those connections.

 January 7 - Introductory session  January 21 - Submission of abstract of term project; groups identified and topics selected  February 4 - Submission of midterm assignment  February 23 - Last date to drop Y/S courses without academic penalty  April 1 - Last session  April 8 - Oral presentations – part 1  April 15 - Oral presentations – part 2  May 1 - Submission of term paper