National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) Meeting

Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Time: 10:45 AM - 12:30 PM

Speaker Bios

   Anna D. Barker, Ph.D.
   Harold Craighead, Ph.D.
   Gregory J. Downing, D.O., Ph.D.
   James R. Heath, Ph.D.
   Charles M. Lieber, Ph.D.
   Jennifer West, Ph.D.

Anna D. Barker, Ph.D.
Deputy Director for Advanced Technology and Strategic Partnerships
National Cancer Institute

Dr. Barker serves as Deputy Director for Advanced Technologies and Strategic Partnerships of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health. In this role, she develops and implements programs to specifically accelerate the movement of laboratory discoveries through development into new interventions to prevent, detect, and treat cancer. Dr. Barker completed her Ph.D. degree at Ohio State University, where she trained in immunology and microbiology. Her research interests include experimental therapeutics, tumor immunology, and free-radical biochemistry in cancer etiology and treatment.

Dr. Barker has a long history in research and the leadership and management of research and development in the academic, nonprofit, and private sectors. She served as a senior executive at Battelle Memorial Institute for 18 years, where she developed and led a large group of scientists and technical staff working in areas such as drug discovery and development, pharmacology, and biotechnology, including several NCI-sponsored research programs. She is a cofounder of OXIS International Inc. and BIO-NOVA, Inc., focused in experimental therapeutics development and cancer technology development, respectively. She is a member of the Steering Committee of C-Change (formerly the National Dialogue on Cancer) and chairperson of the C-Change Cancer Research Team. She is a member of the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Integration Panel and a past chairperson of the BCRP Integration Panel.

Dr. Barker has served in several capacities for the American Association for Cancer Research, including as a member of the Board of Directors and as chairperson of the Public Science Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee. At NCI, Dr. Barker has been a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Division of Cancer Etiology and Chairperson of the Cancer Center Support Review Study Section.

Dr. Barker has received a number of awards for her contributions to research, cancer patients, professional and advocacy organizations, and the ongoing national effort to prevent and cure cancer.

Harold Craighead, Ph.D.
Charles W. Lake Professor of Engineering
Professor of Applied and Engineering Physics
Co-Director, Nanobiotechnology Center
Cornell University

Harold Craighead received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics, with High Honors, from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1974. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1980. His thesis work involved an experimental study of metal nanoparticles. From 1979 until 1984 he was a Member of the Technical Staff in the Device Physics Research Department at Bell Laboratories. From 1984 until 1989 he was Research Manager of the Quantum Structures Research Group at Bellcore. Dr. Craighead joined the faculty of Cornell University as a Professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics in 1989. From 1989 until 1995 he was Director of the National Nanofabrication Facility at Cornell University. Dr. Craighead was Director of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics from 1998 to 2000 and Director of the Nanobiotechnology Center from 2000 to 2001. He served as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering from 2001 to 2002. In July of 2002, he returned to the Nanobiotechnology Center as Co-Director for Research. He has been a pioneer in nanofabrication methods and the application of engineered nanosystems for research and device applications. Throughout his career he has contributed to numerous scientific journals with over 250 published papers. He is an inventor on 12 issued patents. Dr. Craighead's recent research activity includes the use of nanofabricated devices for biological applications. His research continues to involve the study and development of new methods for nanostructure formation, integrated fluidic/optical devices, nanoelectromechanical systems and single molecule analysis.

Our work also focuses on advances in the understanding and manipulation of the physical properties of systems of reduced dimensions. Present research topics include high-resolution electron-beam processes and the physics of ultra-small structures. We are investigating the application of these advances to the fields of optics, magnetism, and biology

Gregory J. Downing, D.O., Ph.D.
Director, Office of Technology and Industrial Relations
Office of the Director
National Cancer Institute

Dr. Downing is Director of the Office of Technology and Industrial Relations (OTIR) in the Office of the Director at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health. In this role, he facilitates the collaboration among Federal, academic, and private biomedical research sectors to support technology development that will yield innovative diagnostic, detection, and targeted treatment strategies for cancer. Through the OTIR, he supervises the administration of grants and contracts for programs in nanotechnology, biosensors, therapeutic delivery systems, and new technology platforms and imaging systems. He currently serves on several committees, including the NCI-FDA Interagency Oncology Task Force and the Biomedical Information Science and Technology Consortium.

Dr. Downing began his career at the NIH in 1994 as a fellow at the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, and subsequently served in the Office of Science Policy and Planning as a health science policy analyst and deputy director. Today, he continues to lead the implementation of training and programs that support the research policy goals of the NIH.

Dr. Downing earned his medical degree from Michigan State University and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Kansas. He completed his residency in pediatrics and fellowship in neonatology before joining the faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the Department of Neonatology at The Children’s Mercy Hospital.

Dr. Downing is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in pediatrics and neonatology— perinatal medicine. He sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Maternal-Fetal Investigation and is Associate Editor of Disease Biomarkers. He has published numerous articles and research in the fields of pharmacology and medicine and has contributed to three books. 

James R. Heath, Ph.D.
Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor
Caltech

James R. Heathis the Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor and Professor of Chemistry at Caltech, and Professor of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology at UCLA.  Heath received a B.Sc. degree in 1984 (Baylor) and his Ph.D. in Chemistry (Rice) in 1988 where he was the principal student involved in the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of C 60 and the fullerenes.  Heath was a Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley from 1988-91, and on the Technical Staff at IBM Watson Labs from 1991-94.  In 1994 he joined the faculty at UCLA, where he was promoted to tenure (1996) and then to Professor (1997).  He founded the California NanoSystems Institute in 2000 and served as its Director until moving to Caltech. Heath has investigated quantum phase transitions, and he has developed architectures, devices, and circuits for molecular electronics.  His group has recently been applying their nano/molecular electronics work toward addressing problems in cancer and infectious diseases.  He has received a number of awards, including a Public Service Commendation from Governor Grey Davis, the Sackler Prize, the Feynman Prize, the Jules Springer Prize, and the Arthur K. Doolittle Award.

Charles M. Lieber, Ph.D.
Mark Hyman, Jr. Professor of Chemistry
Harvard University

A native of Philadelphia, Prof. Lieber received his B.A. in chemistry from Franklin and Marshall College in 1981. After completing his Ph.D. at Stanford University in 1985 and an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech, Lieber began his independent academic career at Columbia University in 1987. Since moving to Harvard as Professor of Chemistry in 1991, Prof. Lieber has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award of the ACS (1995), the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (2001), the Harrison-Howe Award (2002), the APS McGroddy Prize for New Materials (2003), the New York Intellectual Property Law Association Inventor of the Year (2003), the Scientific American Award in Nanotechnology and Molecular Electronics (2003), the ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials (2004) and election into the National Academy of Sciences (2004).

Research Interests
Chemistry and physics of materials with an emphasis on low dimensional and nanoscale materials. Rational synthesis of new nanoscale materials and nanostructured solids; development of methodologies for hierarchical assembly of nanoscale materials into complex and functional systems; investigation of fundamental electronic, optical and optoelectronic properties of nanoscale materials; design and development of nanoelectronics and nanophotonic systems, with emphasis on electrically-based biological detection, digital and quantum computing, and photonic systems.

Revolutionary, in contrast to evolutionary, progress in condensed matter research (high-temperature superconductivity and the quantum Hall effect are two examples) frequently requires the synthesis or fabrication of new materials or structures. So that they can control synthesis more rationally and synthesize new classes of materials and nanostructures, Professor Lieber and his group are developing new growth techniques and investigating fundamental features of the growth process. He is currently: (1) investigating carbon nitride solids prepared by both thin-film and high-pressure techniques and (2) growing carbon nanotubes, carbide nanorods, and other new one-dimensional nanostructures.

Jennifer West, Ph.D.
Isabel C. Cameron Professor of Bioengineering
Rice University

Jennifer West research interests include bioactive biomaterials, biocompatability, tissue engineering, gene therapy, drug delivery, vascular biology, wound healing, polymer synthesis and characterization. Dr. West received her B.S. (1992) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her M.S. (1994) and Ph.D. (1996) from the University of Texas.

Dr. West’s research in biomaterials and tissue engineering focuses on the synthesis and development of novel biofunctional materials and on the use of biomaterials and engineering approaches to study biological problems. Several of the projects ongoing in her laboratory are described below.

Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts:
There is tremendous need for materials for small diameter vascular grafts. Synthetic materials have not proved suitable, and tissue transplantation is limited. Tissue engineering may provide an answer. Dr. West’s laboratory is approaching this problem from two directions; synthesis of novel scaffold materials that mimic extracellular matrix and genetic manipulation of the cells seeded into these scaffolds. The scaffold materials under development provide signals to promote cell adhesion, to control synthesis of matrix proteins, to regulate cell growth, and to allow degradation of the polymer as new tissue forms. The goals for genetic engineering of smooth muscle and endothelial cells are to reduce thrombosis and improve the mechanical properties of the engineered arteries.

NO-Releasing Polymers:
Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to have anti-thrombotic activity and to inhibit smooth muscle cell proliferation. Thus, NO may be useful in the prevention of restenosis, a frequent complication of procedures such as balloon angioplasty that is related to thrombosis and smooth muscle cell proliferation. Dr. West’s laboratory is developing novel biomaterials that produce NO for sustained periods under physiological conditions. In addition to the potential therapeutic applications, these materials can be utilized as a powerful new tool to allow us to investigate the effects of nitric oxide on cells and tissues.

Mechanisms of Restenosis:
Thin hydrogel coatings can be used to prevent thrombosis and isolate the arterial wall from blood contact after injury. When this is done after angioplasty procedures in animals, restenosis is virtually eliminated. To gain insight into the roles of factors derived from thrombosis and blood, local drug delivery approaches can be combined with arterial coatings to provide exposure to these factors individually and at known levels. Through this, Dr. West hopes to gain unique insight into the biological mechanisms involved in restenosis and arterial wound healing.