School of Medicine & Health Sciences

DaCCoTA Awardees

Recipients of Feasibility Pilot Grants

	Interplay between cholesterol metabolism and extracellular vesicles in head and neck cancer PI - Kevin Francis, PhD (Sanford) Co-PIs - Chad Spanos, MD (Sanford); Paola Vermeer, PhD (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2021
	Artificial intelligence (AI)-based early cancer diagnosis using chromatin architectures in cell-free DNA PI - Xusheng Wang, PhD (UND) Co-PIs - Motoki Takaku, PhD (UND); Sabha Ganai, MD (USD) Award Year - Spring 2021
	Tumor-targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics for effective management of lung cancer PI - Buddhadev Layek, Ph.D. (NDSU) Co-PI - Cornelius Dyke, M.D. (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2021
	Defining the role of Integrin-talin complex in renal cancer progression and fibrosis PI - Sijo Mathew, Ph.D. (NDSU) Co-PI - Preston Steen, M.D. (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2021
	Promoting Radon Testing via Smartphone App: A Clinical Trial in a High Radon State PI - Soojung Kim, Ph.D. (UND) Co-PIs - Gary Schwartz, Ph.D. (UND); Marilyn Klug, Ph.D. (UND); David Schmitz, Ph.D. (UND) Award Year - Spring 2021
	Investigating the utility of circulating tumor DNA in predicting outcomes following definitive multimodality therapy for locally advanced esophageal/gastroesophageal junction cancer PI – Jonathan Bleeker, MD (Sanford) Co-PI – Michael Kareta, PhD (Sanford) Collaborator - Preston Steen, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2020
	The feasibility of the MAGIC-N tool for detecting clinical signs of CIPN in preverbal and non-verbal pediatric cancer patients PI – Samuel Milanovich, MD (Sanford) Co-Is – Dan Steventon, DPT (Sanford); Patti Berg-Poppe, PhD (USD) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Treatment of cognitive impairments in cancer PI – Patrick Ronan, PhD (USD/VA) Co-PI – Samuel Sathyanesan, PhD (USD) Co-Is - Steven Powell, MD (Sanford); Jason Peterson, PhD (Sioux Falls VA) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Groundwater contaminants and colorectal cancer outcomes in North Dakota PI - Amber Lyon-Colbert, PhD, MS (UND) Co-PI - Marc Basson, MD, PhD, MBA (UND) Advisors - Gary Schwartz, PhD, MPH, PhD (UND); Marilyn Klug, PhD (UND) Award Year - Fall 2019
	Use of pancreatic tumor organoids to identify personalized therapies PI - Katie Reindl, PhD (NDSU) Co-PI - Daniel Tuvin, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Fall 2019
	Neutrophil functions in breast cancer PI - Jyotika Sharma, PhD (UND) Co-PIs- Atul Sharmal, PhD (UND); Todar Dentchev, MD (Altru) Award Year - Fall 2019
	Tissue- and genotype-specific expression of C-reactive protein: Relation to cancer biology PI - Lyle Best, MD (Turtle Mountain Community College) Co-PI - Greg Gapp, MD (Quentin Burdick Health Care Center) Award Year - Spring 2019
	RAGE subcellular localization in human melanoma tumors PI - Estelle Leclerc, PhD (NDSU) Co-PI - Thomas Wambach, MD (Fargo VA) Award Year - Spring 2019
	Biomanufacturing of safe and non-viral CAR T-cells for cancer immunotherapy PI – Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna, PhD (NDSU) Co-PIs – Glenn Dorsam, PhD (NDSU); Samuel Amin, MD (Sanford); Melanie Chihak, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2019
	Point-of-care obstruction sleep apnea (OSA) monitoring and forecasting platform for cancer patients PI – Trung (Tim) Le, PhD (NDSU) Co-PIs – Arveity Setty, MD (Sanford); Radhakrishna Vegunta, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Fall 2018
	Prognostic and therapeutic value of two IDG-focus kinases in breast cancer treatment PI – Stefan Vetter, PhD (NDSU) Co-PI – Anu Gaba, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Fall 2018

Recipients of Ready-to-Go Pilot Grants

	Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis Testbed for Regenerative Bone Therapies for Bone Metastasis PI – Dinesh Katti, Ph.D. (NDSU) Co-PIs – Parth Vyas, M.D. (Sanford); Kalpana Katti, Ph.D. (NDSU) Award Year – Spring 2021
	Cytotoxic effects of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells manufactured by radio–frequency electric fields PI - Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna, Ph.D. (NDSU) Co-PI - Samuel Milanovich, M.D. (Sanford); Glenn Dorsam, Ph.D. (NDSU) Award Year – Spring 2021
	A Comprehensive Approach to Head and Neck Cancer Prehabilitation PI - Cheryl Hysjulien, PhD (Sanford) Co-Is - Amy Schmidt, RN (Sanford); Klaus Cavalhieri, NCL (UND) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Smart IoT system for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Monitoring and Forecasting in Cancer Patients Undergoing Treatment PI - Trung (Tim) Le, PhD (NDSU) Co-Is - Arveity Setty, MD (Sanford); Andrew Terrell, MD (Sanford); Miran Blanchard, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Therapeutic effects and cancer-selective mechanisms of piperlongumine PI - Katie Reindl, PhD (NDSU) Co-PI - Daniel Tuvin, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Site-specific delivery of Veratridine: A novel targeted therapy in colorectal cancer PI - Grigoriy Sereda, PhD (USD) Co-I - Khosrow Rezvani, MD, PhD (USD) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Design of humanoid testbeds of breast cancer bone metastasis PI – Kalpana Katti, PhD (NDSU) Co-PIs – Anu Gaba, MD (Sanford); Dinesh Katti, PhD (NDSU) Award Year - Fall 2019
	Efficacy of RAGE inhibitors with dacarbazine and PDX models of melanoma. PI - Estelle Leclerc, PhD (NDSU) Co-PI - Daniel Tuvin (Sanford) Award Year - Fall 2019
	Prognostic and therapeutic value of two IDG-focus kinases in breast cancer treatment PI – Stefan Vetter, PhD (NDSU) Co-I – Anu Gaba, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Fall 2019
	Nanoparticles for drug delivery to triple-negative breast cancer PI - Sanku Mallik, PhD (NDSU) Co-PI - Daniel Tuvin, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Fall 2018

Recipients of Community Engagement Pilot Grants

The ND Quit-Line as a Tool for Identifying Disparities in Radon Knowledge Among Smokers

PI - David Schmitz, MD (UND)

Co-I - Gary Schwartz, PhD, MPH, PhD (UND)

Award Year - Spring 2020

American Indian Adult Tobacco Survey Dakota Initiative

PI - Siobhan Wescott, MD, MPH (UND)

Co-I - Jacqueline Gray, PhD (UND)

Award Year - Spring 2020

Developing a colorectal cancer tribal community engagement strategy in North Dakota

PI – Nicole Redvers, ND, MPHc (UND)

Co-I – Don Warne (UND)

Award Year - Fall 2019

Recipients of Covid-19-Related Pilot Grants

	Comparison of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in cancer and non-cancer pediatric patients in South Dakota PI - Kayelyn Wagner, MD (Sanford) Co-PIs - Victor Huber, PhD (USD); Santiago Lopez, MD (Sanford); Khasrow Rezvania, MD, PhD (USD) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Phenotypic and Epigenomic Impact of SARS-Cov-2 (Covid-19) Nucleocapsid Protein in Breast Cancer PI – Archana Dhasarathy, PhD (UND) Co-Is -Motoki Takaku, PhD (UND); Ryan Askeland, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Detection of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in cancer patients PI - Victor Huber, PhD (USD) Co-Is - Santiago Lopez, MD (Sanford); Fernando Bula Rudas, MD (USD); Khosrow Rezvani, MD, PhD (USD) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Mechanistic studies on lung metastasis of breast cancer and Covid-19 infection PI - Sanku Mallik, PhD (NDSU) Co-I - Daniel Tuvin, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2020

Recipients of DaCCoTA Scholars Awards

	Validation of ExoIPThT a Novel Assay Targeting Exosomal Proteins’ Secondary Structure as a Pancreatic Cancer Screening Assay PI - Dali Sun, PhD (NDSU) Mentor - Preston Steen, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Spring 2020
	Artificial intelligence to correlate proteomic and genomic data together with clinicopathologic and demographic attributes to predict breast cancer outcome PI – Sandeep Singhal, PhD (UND) Mentor – Don Sens, PhD (UND) Award Year - Spring 2019
	Tumor innervation in ovarian cancer PI – Paola Vermeer, PhD (Sanford) Mentors – Maria Bell, MD (Sanford); Keith Miskimins, PhD (USD) Award Year - Spring 2019
	AKT/mTOR pathway in obesity and colorectal cancer (CRC): Molecular interconnections and potential clinical applications PI – Khosrow Rezvani, MD, PhD (USD) Mentors – George Angelos, MD (Sanford); Muslim Atiq, MD (Sanford) Award Year - Fall 2018

Recipients of DaCCoTA Community Engagement Scholars Awards

Intervention to promote breast cancer screening among American Indian women

PI – Soonhee Roh, PhD (USD)

Mentor – DenYelle Kenyon, PhD (USD)

Award Year - Fall 2019

Creating and administering a tribally informed risk and protective factor survey utilizing an indigenous mixed methods approach

PI – Melanie Nadeau, PhD, MPH (UND)

Mentor – Marilyn Klug, PhD (UND)

Award Year - Spring 2019

Clinical Research Opportunities Program Awardees

Breast cancer patterns and behavior in American Indians in the US

PI - Anu Gaba, MD (Sanford)

Mentors – Ross Crosby, PhD (Sanford); Kristi Egland, PhD (Sanford)

Award Year - Spring 2019

Tool for monitoring chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN)

Dan Steventon, DPT (Sanford)

Mentors – Sam Milanovich, MD (Sanford); Patti Berg-Poppe, PhD (USD)

Award Year - Fall 2018