Michelle E. Howard, PhD, DABR, assistant professor in the University of Iowa Department of Radiation Oncology, has been awarded a $50,000 Aiming For A Cure Foundation Grant through Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. The award will support Howard’s project, “Exploiting Differential Redox Capacity to Develop Precision Therapies for pediatric High-Grade Gliomas.” The research will explore differences in redox capacity—the ability of cells to manage oxidation and reduction processes—as a potential avenue for developing precision treatments for these pediatric brain tumors. The two-year grant period begins November 1, 2026, and runs through October 31, 2028. Congratulations to Howard on this award supporting her pediatric cancer research.

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Michelle E. Howard and her team have received a two-year NIH R21 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant (Project No: 1R21CA307014-01A1) for their project titled, “Leveraging redox dysregulation to advance DIPG treatment strategies.” This crucial funding will support the lab’s ongoing mission to break through the therapeutic resistance of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). Congratulations to Dr. Howard and everyone in the lab whose hard work made this milestone achievement possible! We look forward to seeing where this research leads.

The annual HCCC Scientific Retreat was hosted at the Hyatt Regency Conference Center in Coralville, Iowa. At this event, students, postdocs, fellows, residents, faculty, and clinicians gathered to hear and discuss the latest updates in cancer research at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center (HCCC). At this event, post-baccalaureate fellow, Bogdan Buzdugan, gave an oral presentation titled “Differential Redox Landscape in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) and Adult Glioblastoma (GBM) Reveals Targetable Therapeutic Vulnerabilities” Congratulations to Bo for being one of eight scientists chosen to present at this event! In addition, Dr. Katie Spitler gave a poster presentation titled "Disrupting intracellular redox homeostasis through repurposing Auranofin and Cu-ATSM to induce diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma cell death" & did a great job during the interactive poster session.

Sarah King has fulfilled the Ohiowa prophecy and will begin her MSTP program at Ohio State University this summer where she will progress towards receiving both her MD and PhD by the end of her program. Congratulations Sarah!

The Howard Lab came out in full force for this year's American Cancer Society Relay for Life, with every member of the lab taking part. Some ran, some walked, but all showed up to support cancer survivors and raising money for cancer research. This year, the relay raised over $17,000 for the American Cancer Society.

A University of Iowa researcher is leading efforts to develop new treatments for a rare and extremely aggressive pediatric brain cancer. “The pediatric patients I have had the privilege of helping treat have had a profound impact on me, both in my training and in my current clinical position, as these patients are incredibly resilient in the midst of a scary time,” says Michelle Howard, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology. Howard and her team are leading efforts to develop treatments for DIPG, a pediatric cancer with a median five-year survival rate of only 2%.