Congratulations to Dr. Zigoneanu, a postdoctoral fellow working in Dr. Allbritton’s lab, on her recent Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Across the National Institutes of Health, the success rate for F32 applicants was nearly 25%; out of 265 applicants to the NCI, 50 were funded—only 18.9% of applicants.
Dr. Zigoneanu’s project, “Peptide Reporters for Estimation of BCR-Abl Kinase Activity in ALL Patient Cells,” aims to design, synthesize, and evaluate fluorescently labeled peptide substrates as a novel method of quantitatively estimating BCR-Abl kinase activity in patient samples. By gaining a greater understanding of kinase phosphorylation in tumor cells, Dr. Zigoneanu hopes to predict the efficacy of drug-targeted therapy for all patients and to facilitate the development of individualized therapies for cancer treatment.