White House Science Official Comes to CU Anschutz for Cancer Briefing, Moonshot Updates
Arati Prabhakar, PhD, and a panel of elected officials and CU leaders shared information on the fight against cancer.
Dr. Sabrina Spencer, a CU Boulder Biochemistry Professor and CU Cancer Center member, recently presented her lab's cancer research to White House Cabinet member and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Arati Prabhakar, PhD. The Biden Cancer Moonshot event took place at CU Anschutz on July 17, 2024. Also in attendance were CU President Todd Saliman, CU Anschutz Chancellor Don Elliman, Lieutenant Governor of Colorado Dianne Primavera, Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Cancer Center Deputy Director James DeGregori, and several other Anschutz faculty and staff. Dr. Spencer described her work using fluorescent sensors and time-lapse imaging to film and track cancer cells over many days. As an example of the discoveries her CU Boulder lab has made, she described the identification of rare cancer cells that can rewire in just 3 days to escape from cancer drugs meant to block proliferation. “We detect these rogue cells across multiple cancer types and multiple drugs, and think they are a general seed population for resistance mutations months to years later. We are therefore working to limit this cancer cell plasticity in the hopes of reducing cancer relapse in patients."
Photo (left - right): Sabrina Spencer, PhD, Professor, CU Boulder Andi Dwyer, Director, Colorado Cancer Screening Center Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Arati Prabhakar Sarah Reynolds, Nurse Navigator in GI Oncology, UCHealth.
Photos Courtesy: University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
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