UAB Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery Associate Professor Renata Jaskula-Sztul, Ph.D., was awarded the Pre-R01 grant in the fall cycle of 2022 O’Neal Invests Cancer Research Support Mechanisms for Basic and Population Sciences.

The preliminary data for the project, “A novel theragnostic approach for targeting Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Receptor (TSHR) in thyroid cancer,” were generated with close collaboration with Dr. Suzanne Lapi, Department of Radiology, UAB. This study was also supported by UAB Department of Surgery faculty members Andrea Gillis, M.D., and Jason Whitt, Ph.D., Diana Lin, M.D., from the Department of Pathology and Deepti Bahl, M.D., at the UAB Multidisciplinary Endocrine Tumor Clinic.

Dr. Jaskula-Sztul has contributed to a number of research projects investigating the role of small molecules in suppressing the growth of neuroendocrine cancers since joining the Department of Surgery. She has recently innovated nanomedicine techniques to develop targeted cancer therapies.

Her areas of interest are signaling pathways in neuroendocrine cancers, personalized cancer therapy, preclinical models of neuroendocrine cancers, targeted drug delivery, and nanomedicines.

About O’Neal Invests

O’Neal Invests program of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB awards cancer-focused basic and population science research grants. y.

Each year there are two funding cycles—one in the spring and one in the fall—where the Catalyst, Pre-R01, Pre-P01, and Pre-SPORE awards are evaluated and rewarded.

The grants support new cancer-related research projects for UAB investigators with considerable potential to impact cancer care.