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Congratulations to the team at the Body Composition Shared Resource Laboratory at our UH Cancer Center, which has received a prestigious designation as an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Collaborating Centre. The designation recognizes it as a center of excellence in assessing body composition, an important risk factor in cancer and other diseases. Led by lab Director Dr. John Shepherd, the lab is now one of only eight IAEA Collaborating Centres worldwide in human health, and of those, the only one dedicated to nutrition. The designation includes a work plan to provide training to Pacific island health workers through 2030. The full lab team was recognized in a plaque ceremony on Wednesday. Read the story on our website.

The public is invited for free for the next “Quest for a Cure” event, on Wednesday, September 16, which will focus on pancreatic cancer, and the newly FDA-approved drug daraxonrasib — a treatment developed with help from researchers here at the UH Cancer Center. The event at the Sullivan Conference Center — titled, “Quest for a Cure: New Breakthroughs in Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials” — will feature some of our center’s researchers, plus patients and caregivers, who will speak about scientific advances, clinical trials, and our center's role in developing innovative therapies. RSVP by September 12 at the event page to attend.

Patients/survivors/thrivers, caregivers, family members and supporters are invited on Saturday, October 17, to the next free quarterly event presented by our center’s Susan C. Hirano Cancer CARE Community, titled, “Let’s Move! The Importance of Physical Activity in the Cancer Journey." The event is co-presented by our ‘Ohana Pink program. From 8 to 11 a.m. at the Sullivan Conference Center, speakers will share inspiring research, and ways to increase physical activity to maintain and improve health. Two fun group activities will get your circulation going! Activities will be modifiable so that guests at all levels may participate. Reserve your spot at the event page by October 10 to attend.

Our UH Cancer Center's latest research and findings were highlighted when nearly 60 attendees participated in a daylong Faculty Retreat for the UH Cancer Center on Friday, Sept. 4. Twenty presentations by our researchers on their work, plans and opportunities were augmented with roundtable discussions. The aim of the meeting at Oahu Country Club was to increase understanding and cooperation among our investigators and programs. Ultimately the goal is to accelerate our scientific discoveries and human impact, and save more lives in Hawai‘i, the Pacific and beyond.

About 170 golfers participated in the 12th Annual Cooling Cancer Golf Tournament on September 4 at the Hoakalei Country Club in Kapolei. Organized by Drew Santos, longtime supporter of our center, and President of Coolingcancer.org, the tournament is focused on raising money for cancer research; promoting awareness of the UH Cancer Center and its vision, research and successes; and bringing hope to individuals and families affected by cancer. As of last year the tournament had raised $750,000 towards those goals. Our UH Cancer Center sent a team of volunteers to provide support for the event. Mahalo to everyone who participated!

The Kū Ola Mobile Clinic recently brought medical services to West O‘ahu Medical Office at Kapolei, where a blood drive was hosted in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi Blood Bank and Kaiser West. The Kū Ola team offered blood pressure checks, pulse oximetry, and spirometry readings. Future medical doctors worked with community members, practicing their craft and strengthening their bedside manner, while providing educational materials from the UH Cancer Center and promoting upcoming kūkākūkā sessions, or discussion groups. If you’d like to see the Kū Ola mobile clinic in your neighborhood, visit kuola.org.

‘Quest for a Cure: Cancer in the News; New Breakthroughs in Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials’
Free public event presented by UH Cancer Center Community Outreach and Engagement Office
Wednesday, September 16 | 5-7 p.m.
Sullivan Conference Center, UH Cancer Center
Register by September 12 on event page.

‘Let’s Move! The Importance of Physical Activity in the Cancer Journey,’ presented by the Susan C. Hirano Cancer CARE Community, UH Cancer Center
Saturday, October 17 | 8-11 a.m.
Sullivan Conference Center, UH Cancer Center
Public welcome; free admission; in person and Zoom options offered.
Register by October 10 on event page.

JOB BOARD

Assistant Professor - Cancer Biology

Assistant Professor - Cancer Epidemiology

For all University of Hawaiʻi Internal Civil Service Recruitments, please see the bulletin by the Human Resources Office for the most current vacancies.

Platanosides, a Promising Class of Plant-Derived Antibiotics, Are Effective against a Suite of Clinically Derived MDR and Drug-Sensitive Staph and Strep spp. Dickinson CF, Benjamin MM, Alford A, Moreno HL, Suleyman G, Trupiano M, Aldrich B, Valeriote FA, Arosemena N, Bialousow L, Benjamin R, Zhong Z, Tius MA, Choo YM, Lemasters JJ, Hamann MT. ACS Infect Dis. 2026 Aug 14;12(8):2642-2649.

Prospective multicenter validation of a Urine-Based multiplex assay for risk stratification of patients presenting with gross hematuria. Lotan Y, Gupta A, Miyake M, Anai S, Luu M, Ahdoot M, Messing E, Peers G, Chin AI, Liu M, Tikhonekov S, Sakatani T, Shimizu T, Pagano I, Zheng Y, Zhang Z, Kim H, Josephson D, Furuya H, Rosser CJ. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2026 Aug 17:djag282.

Cyanotoxin exposure as a novel risk factor for liver fibrosis and steatosis.   Hernandez BY, Zhu X, Macatugal E, Nagata M, Garvin K, Paulino YC, Wilkens LR, Wong LL, David AM, Biggs L. Int J Cancer. 2026 Aug 15;159(4):864-875.

Discovery of Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids Targeting CCN1 to Suppress Autophagy for the Treatment of Hypoxic Kidney Injury. Qiao X, Chen SQ, Sarotti AM, Zhang J, Zhong YT, Chen WC, Wang X, Wang W, Huang J, Wu XY, Wang HM, Cao S, Li Z, Wu Q, Xiao Y, Hong X, Cai YS. J Med Chem. 2026 Aug 18.

A Panel of Circulating Exosomal sncRNAs Associated With Lung Cancer Risk up to 10 Years in Advance. Feng Z, Nasu M, Abdul-Ghani A, Chen Y, Chen S, Ibrahim IM, Zhang H, Higa L, Gao Z, Yang H, Bueno R, Marchand LL, Deng Y. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2026 Aug 14:e76729.

Training Perspectives from the NIH T32 Artificial Intelligence for Precision Nutrition Programs. Mehta S, Huey SL, Massara P, Liu L, Whisner CM, Deng Y, Novotny R, Antwi J, Kim S, Musaad S, Erickson D, Estrin D, Finkelstein JL, Joachims T, Kageman CH, Tamimi R, Thomas D, Wells MT. J Nutr. 2026 Aug 22:101796

Selenoprotein I deficiency disrupts iron homeostasis in brain. Wurlitzer K, Ma C, Nunes LGA, Watanabe M, Griffin C, Khadka VS, Soares AG, Hoffmann FW, Hoffmann PR, Pitts MW. Neurobiol Dis. 2026 Aug 28;229:107588.

Regional Disparities in Case Volumes and Surgeon Distribution in Gastroenterological Surgery. Hasegawa H, Kumamaru H, Ara M, Kakeji Y, Yamauchi H, Inomata M, Akashi-Tanaka S, Ito K, Itoh S, Eguchi H, Kawase K, Kinoshita Y, Kiyozumi Y, Kobayashi S, Shibasaki I, Shirota C, Suzuki H, Takasu C, Fujikawa A, Bessho S, Horiuchi K, Maemura K, Maruo A, Miura T, Miyamoto Y, Yajima T, Yasuda A, Yamaguchi T, Iwanaka T, Baba H, Taketomi A. Ann Gastroenterol Surg. 2026 Jun 9;10(5):1646-1654.

Ensuring trustworthy AI assisted guideline development for clinical practice. Zhang Q, Fu Y. NPJ Digit Med. 2026 Aug 27;9(1):661.

Nonlinear Modeling Reveals Novel Associations Between Genetically Predicted Protein Levels and Pancreatic Cancer Risk. Zhu J, Wu C, Moaven O, Yamazaki H, Wei Y, Dai B, Wu L. Mol Carcinog. 2026 Sep;65(9):1025-1032.

Cancer incidence trends among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations in the United States, 2000-2022. Noone AM, Gomez SL, McKinley M, Vu A, Scoppa S, Gibson JT, Schwager EH, Lin K, Cheng I, Chua K, Hernandez BY, Miyagi K, Shariff-Marco S, Yu M. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2026 Sep 7:djag314.

Ho'oulu Me Ke Ikaika: A Community-Support Group that Improves Long-Term Emotional and Social Health of Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer. Enos M, Goto K, Wong J, Nishimoto PW, Bantum EO, Pagano I, Fochtman D, Yamada PM. J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. 2026 Sep 2:21565333261484109.

Single-Shot 2D Radial Echo Planar Imaging for Functional MRI.    Rettenmeier CA, Yu Z, Edwards-Calma K, Block KT, Stenger VA. Magn Reson Med. 2026 Sep;96(3):1245-1260.

Spatial Genetic Mapping of Normal Human Prostate Tissue Identifies Epithelial Compartments Enriched for Prostate Cancer Association. Liu S, Chan OTM, Zhong H, Shahabi A, Wu L, Zhu J. Mol Carcinog. 2026 Aug 30.

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