Dr. Jain will be receiving the enormously prestigious National Medal of Science from President Obama early next year in a ceremony at the White House. Dr. Jain is among 9 esteemed recipients of this award; 8 additional awards will be presented for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Click here for the official press release from the White House.

Researchers from the Steele Lab in collaboration with other MGH investigators recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that treatment with an antibody blocking the angiogenic factor VEGF improves neurologic function in an NF2 mouse model by alleviating tissue edema, which may further improve neurologic function by decreasing muscle atrophy and increasing nerve regeneration. Furthermore, combining anti-VEGF with radiation therapy allows use of a lower radiation dose, which can achieve better tumor control and minimize radiation-related neurological damage. See press releases from MGH and MedicalResearch.

Researchers from the Steele Lab in collaboration with investigators at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that preoperative treatment with bevacizumab, an antiangiogenic drug, primarily benefitted breast cancer patients with highly perfused tumors. This may, in part, explain why antiangiogenesis treatment fails to benefit some breast cancer patients. See the press release from MGH and Targeted Oncology.

Dr. Jain has been awarded the highly prestigious NCI Outstanding Investigator Award, a seven year award that supports innovative research by established leaders in cancer research. Check out all the 2015 awardees, including Dr. Jain, here.

Check out the 5th place winner of this year's Nikon Small World photo, by postdoctoral fellow Giorgio Seano, of glioblastoma in a mouse brain featured on CNN, TIME, CBSNews, and The Huffington Post.

Read about adapting tumor-fighting strategies to combat tuberculosis here.

Dr. Padera's research group recently published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute that the growth of metastases in lymph nodes does not require new blood vessels but instead takes advantage of existing blood vessels. This may, in part, explain why antiangiogenesis therapies have been largely ineffective in preventing new metastases. See the press release here.

Dr. Jain was among six distinguished recipients who received an honorary degree from Duke University at the university commencement on May 10, 2015. A press release detailing the honorary degree awardees can be found here. Duke University President, Richard Brodhead, introduces the awardees at 1hr49min here.

Dr. Jain was one of six distinguished recipients who received honorary degrees from Duke University at this year's commencement on May 10. See the press release here and an introduction to the recipients by the university President, Richard Brodhead, at 1 hr 49 min in to the commencement ceremony here.

Dr. Dai Fukumura, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology in the Edwin L. Steele Laboratories, was awarded the Eugene M. Landis Research Award from the Microcirculatory Society. This annual award recognizes one outstanding investigator who has made significant contributions to the field of microcirculation. Dr. Fukumura gave an award lecture on March 28, 2015 at the Microcirculatory Society Annual Meeting in Boston.

Gino Ferraro, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in the Edwin L. Steele Laboratories, has been awarded a three-year fellowship by the Susan G. Komen foundation for his research in breast cancer brain metastasis. Gino Ferraro is the second fellow from the Steele Labs to recently receive this prestigious award; it was previously awarded to Giorgio Seano, Ph.D., in 2014.

At the 68th Annual Meeting of the MGH Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) on April 1-2, 2015, sponsored by the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR), two members from the Edwin L. Steele Laboratories won awards for Posters of Distinction: Giorgio Seano, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow, and Meenal Datta, M.S., a graduate student.

Dr. Dan Duda was selected as an honoree of the one hundred in 2015. Created and supported by the Mass General Cancer Center, the one hundred is an awareness and fundraising initiative that celebrates hope in the cancer community. Each year, it honors 100 Everyday Amazing individuals and groups – caregivers, researchers, philanthropists, advocates and volunteers from around the globe – whose commitment to the fight against cancer inspires all to take action. Selection as an honoree of the one hundred is one of the highest forms of recognition awarded by Mass General Cancer Center.

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Read an interview about vascular normalization in tuberculosis granulomas here.

Use of the same antiangiogenesis drugs that have improved treatment of some cancers could also help surmount persistent difficulties in treating tuberculosis (TB). In their PNAS Early Edition report, investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) show that blood vessels supplying pulmonary granulomas – dense masses of immune cells that surround pockets of the TB bacteria in the lungs of infected patients – have the same sort of structural and functional abnormalities seen in solid tumors and that treatment with the antiangiogenesis drug bevacizumab (Avastin) significantly improved delivery of a small-molecule drug surrogate within granulomas in an animal model. Read more here and here.

Rakesh Jain, PhD, director of the Steele Laboratory in the MGH Department of Radiation Oncology, Jay Loeffler, MD, chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology, and Jules Dienstag, MD, a physician in the MGH Gastrointestinal Unit, have been selected as 2014 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows, honoring them for the contributions to innovation, education and scientific leadership. The tradition of electing AAAS Fellows began in 1874 to recognize members for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. The honorees will be celebrated at the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in February. More details can be found here.

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