Markey Cancer Center Research Day is a single-day event showcasing current cancer research projects throughout all disciplines at the University of Kentucky and will be held May 18, 2021, in an online format. 

For the eleventh year, the UK research community will have the opportunity to share its work in an atmosphere of learning and collaboration throughout the day via:

• Oral presentations (invited from abstract submissions)
• State of the Cancer Center Address, by B. Mark Evers, MD, Director, Markey Cancer Center
• Susan B. Lester Memorial Lecture, presented by Douglas R. Lowy, MD, Principal Deputy Director, National Cancer Institute.
• Gilbert H. Friedell, MD Memorial Lecture, presented by Edward E. Partridge, MD, Director Emeritus, University of Alabama at Birmingham O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.

New for this year’s event are a shortened agenda and an expansion of the student/trainee oral presentations. Among many outstanding abstracts, judges chose the following presenters and topics, representing the depth and breadth of research occurring on at the Markey Cancer Center:

First-Place Award Winners ($200 cash prize and a 15-minute presentation):

• Lindsey Conroy, “Visualization of lung tumor microenvironmental glycogen by MALDI-mass spectrometry imaging”
• Megan Hutchcraft, “Clinical Utility of Universal Genetic Predisposition Testing in Cancer Patients”
• Ashley Skaggs, “Inhibition of protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type F suppresses Wnt signaling in colorectal cancer”
• Rakshamani Tripathi, “ABL family kinase inhibitors block MEK/ERK re-activation and reverse acquired resistance to BRAF and MEK inhibitors in BRAFV600E mutant melanoma”

Second-Place Award Winners ($100 cash prize and a 5-minute presentation):

• Saptadwipa Ganguly, “Development of Highly Potent Small Molecules to Overcome Treatment Resistance in Prostate Cancer’
• Jenni Ho, “Extracellular vesicles released after cranial radiation reveal immune cell activation and neuron injury”
• Aasems Jacob, “Predictors of response to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in metastatic solid tumors”
• McKayla Riggs, "DACH1 mutation frequency in endometrial cancer is associated with high tumor mutation burden"
• Shaylla Shelton, “Multilevel Assessment of Barriers and Facilitators to Integrating Palliative Care into Advanced Stage Lung Cancer Care in Kentucky”
• Cuiping Zhang, “Latexin (Lxn) inactivation microenvironment attenuates leukemia development through osteopontin mediated increased Th1 response”

The day begins at 9:00 am (Eastern) in an online format as part of a daylong event that celebrates the latest advances in cancer research at the University of Kentucky.

For a full agenda and details about the day, visit our Website.

Registration is free to University of Kentucky students, faculty and staff -- as well as to Markey Affiliates, official exhibitors/sponsors, Patient Advisory Group members, Markey Cancer Foundation members and guests from the University of Louisville. 

Register online until May 15^th:  https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/markey-cancer-center/about/events/mccrd