Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center

Patient Care
- Research Overview
- - Membership Directory
    Search a listing of full members of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, as well as directories of members by research program.
  - Membership Criteria
    Learn about the criteria for becoming a member of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
  - Become a Member
    Apply for membership in the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center by submitting a short form.
- - Shared Resources
    The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center is home to state-of-the-art facilities and provides support to shared resources at UNMC.
  - UNMC Cores and Shared Resources
    Researchers also have access to shared resources through the UNMC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
  - Request for Space in the Scott Research Tower
    Complete this form to request research space.
  - Research Funding Opportunities
    NCI-designated Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center supports Principal Investigators through pilot grants and seed funding to explore novel research ideas and engage in team science projects that address critical cancer care and treatment challenges.
- - Cancer Biology Program
    The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center Cancer Biology Program represents a long-standing commitment to cancer mechanisms-focused research.
  - Translational Cancer Research Program
    This program develops and delivers small molecules to modulate validated cancer targets as eventual cancer therapeutics.
  - Cancer Prevention & Control Program
    This program aims at identifying and understanding the factors influencing cancer risk, with a special emphasis on disparities and rural populations in the catchment area.
- - Registries
    View registries that are currently enrolling subjects through iCaRe2.
  - Information for Patients
    Participation helps researchers understand specific cancer types, determine risk factors, advance treatment for patients and discover cancer prognostic markers.
  - Information for Researchers
    iCaRe2 aims to foster clinical and epidemiological studies and accelerate the secondary use of cancer and health related data for translational research.
  - Information for Sponsors
    Your gift will support the continuous system growth and improve strides in personalized medicine, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer.
- Community Outreach Overview
- Mission
  We are committed to reducing the cancer burden across Nebraska through strong partnerships, community-driven initiatives, and programs informed by community needs and priorities.
- Community Advisory Board
  This board advises on the direction of cancer center research, dissemination of evidence from ongoing research activities, and policy recommendations.
- Speaker's Bureau
  The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center Speakers Bureau provides resources to community groups across Nebraska including experts to give presentations on cancer-related topics.
- Resources
  The Community Outreach and Engagement Office provides such resources as videos, infographics, reports and community needs assessments.
- Our Team
  Find members of the Community Outreach and Engagement Office team.
- Training & Education Overview
- Upper Midwest Emerging Scholars Exchange Program
  Learn about a new opportunity for Early Stage Investigators to share their research at peer institutions.
- Leadership Overview
- Director's Message
  Read a message from Joann Sweasy, PhD, director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
- About the Center
  Learn about the mission and vision of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.

Award and Grant Recipients

2026


Awards and Grants	Investigator(s)	Project Title
Cancer Biology Program Seed Grant	Grinu Mathew, PhD; Maher Abdalla, PhD	HO-1 as a Predictive Biomarker and Therapeutic Target for Prostate Cancer Radioresistance
Cancer Biology Program Seed Grant	Xuanhua (Peter) Xie, PhD; Nicholas Woods, PhD	Targeting Glioblastoma Cancer Stem Cells through SHP2 Inhibition
Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPCP) Seed Grant	Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, PhD; Jungyoon Kim, PhD; Deepak Khazanchi, PhD	Development of AI-Powered Chatbot - ColoBOT: Colorectal Cancer Screening Behavioral Optimization Technology
Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) Pilot Projects Program	Benjamin Teply, MD	HRT-PC Trial: Hormone Recovery after Treatment for Prostate Cancer Trial. An open label phase II study of clomiphene citrate in patients with persistent hypogonadism after ADT for treatment of localized prostate cancer
Transdisciplinary Research Award Program	Michael (Tony) A. Hollingsworth, PhD; Kelsey Klute, MD; Maneesh Jain, PhD; Kurt Fisher, MD, PhD	SPOTLIGHT - Symptom and Profile Optimized Triage for Lead time Improvement in Guided High-risk Testing
Transdisciplinary Research Award Program	Vimla Band, PhD; Jingjing Sun, PhD; Surinder Batra, PhD	Targeting ECD in breast cancer tumorigenesis and metastasis
Transdisciplinary Research Award Program	Sidharth Mahapatra, MD, PhD; Adrian Black, PhD; Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, PhD	EXPOCAN: Deciphering the cancer exposome in rural Nebraska
R01 Investment Program	David Oupicky, PhD	Development of Macromolecular Nanodrugs for the Treatment of Peritoneal Malignancies
Translational Cancer Research Program Seed Grant	Ruirui Liu, PhD; Michael Baine, MD, PhD	Real-Time Digital Twin Generation to Enable Adaptive Ultra-High Dose Rate (UGHDR) Brachytherapy for Prostate Cancer
Translational Cancer Research Program Seed Grant	Rebecca Oberley-Deegan, PhD; DJ Murry, PharmD	BMX-001: a chemo-protector during colorectal cancer treatment
Translational Cancer Research Program Seed Grant	Robert Lewis, PhD; Kurt Fisher, MD, PhD; Nicholas Woods, PhD	New Targets for Overcoming Therapy Resistance in Lung Cancer

2025


Awards and Grants	Investigator(s)	Project Title
Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPCP) Pilot Grant	Jacques Izard, PhD	Supporting Colon-Less Personalized Human Nutrition
Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPCP) Pilot Grant	Armen Petrosyan, MD, PhD	Alcohol-Triggered TNF-α Signaling in Prostate Cancer: A Mechanism Underlying Racial Disparities
Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPCP) Pilot Grant	Tanya M. Wildes, MD, MSCI	Cognition in Older Adults with Myeloma Undergoing CAR-T Therapy
Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPCP) Seed Grant	Brittney L. Dickey, PhD, MPH	Informing Rural Cervical Cancer Prevention Strategies: Screening Knowledge, Barriers, and Self-Collection Acceptability
Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPCP) Seed Grant	Mariah Kay Jackson, PhD, MMN, RDN, LMNT	Researching the Effects of Survivorship, Inflammation, and Neuro-Cognitive Enhancement through Cancer and Eating: The RESILIENCE Study
Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) Pilot Projects Program	Jungyoon Kim, PhD	Feasibility and Acceptability of a Blood-Based Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Under-Screened Rural Populations in Nebraska
High-Risk, High-Reward Pilot Projects Program	Nicholas Woods, PhD (Cancer Biology Program)	Targeting drivers of PDAC health disparities to prevent drug resistance
High-Risk, High-Reward Pilot Projects Program	Maher Abdalla, PhD (Cancer Biology Program)	Deciphering the Function of Heme Oxygenase-1 in Remodeling the Tumor Microenvironment and Promoting Therapy Resistance
High-Risk, High-Reward Pilot Projects Program	Jingjing Sun, PhD (Translational Cancer Research Program) and Svetlana Romanova	Metformin Derivatives for Combinatory Delivery with Gemcitabine via pGem Nanoparticles for Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
Investigator-Initiated Clinical Trial Team Award	Vijaya Raj Bhatt, MBBS, MS; Windy Alonso, PhD	Exercise Intervention to Halt Aging in Older Survivors of Blood Cancer: the HALTAging-1 trial
Investigator-Initiated Clinical Trial Team Award	Chi Lin, MD, PhD, MS; Rebecca Oberley-Deegan, PhD	Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Coenzyme Q10 and Vitamin E dual Therapy in Mitigating Chronic Off-Target Radiation Toxicity
R01 Investment Program	Wasim Nasser, PhD	Delineating The Role Of CD276 In Metabolic Reprogramming And Evaluate The Potential Of CD276-Targeted Therapy In Brain Metastasis
R01 Investment Program	Polina Shcherbakova, PhD	POLE-Mutant Tumors: Mechanisms of Genomic Instability and Discovery of New Driver Alleles
R01 Investment Program	Jennifer Black, PhD	Antitumor Effects of PP2A Activation in Pancreatic Cancer
R01 Investment Program	R. Katherine (Kate) Hyde, PhD	Evaluation of Novel Polymeric Nanoparticles with Anti-Leukemic and siRNA
R01 Investment Program	Ying Yan, PhD	R55alpha-Directed PP2A in Cellular Senescence
Team Science Awards Program	Kurt Fisher, MD, PhD; Jennifer Black, PhD; Benita McVicker, PhD	Novel Strategies for Preventing Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Metastasis

2024


Awards and Grants	Investigator(s)	Project Title
American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (ACS IRG) Pilot Awardees	Ruirui Liu, PhD	Development and Validation of a Dynamic Treatment Planning System for Ultrasound-Guided High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy in Prostate Cancer
American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (ACS IRG) Pilot Awardees	Bhopal Mohapatra, PhD	Targeting of Cbl-b as a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Cancer Cachexia
American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (ACS IRG) Pilot Awardees	Mariah Kay Jackson, PhD, MMN, RDN, LMNT	Researching the Effects of Survivorship, Inflammation, and Neuro-Cognitive Enhancement through Cancer and Eating: The RESILIENCE Study (colorectal cancer survivorship and nutrition)
American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (ACS IRG) Pilot Awardees	Thais Favero Alves, PhD, MS, BSN	Chatbot Development to Support Rural Nebraskans with Breast Cancer
R01 Investment Program	Jennifer Black, PhD	Protein Phosphatase 2A as a Tumor Suppressor in Pancreatic Cancer
R01 Investment Program	Prakash Radhakrishnan, PhD	Targeting Disease Specific TN Antigen in Pancreatic Cancer
R01 Investment Program	Sushil Kumar, PhD	Mechanisms of Pancreatic Cancer Stromal Heterogeneity and Dissemination
R01 Investment Program	Imayavaramban Lakshmanan, PhD	MUC16 A Determinant of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Racial Disparity
R01 Investment Program	Nicole Shonka, MD	Targeting the Histamine Receptor Axis in Gliomas
Team Science Awards Program	Jered Garrison, PhD; Paul Trippier, PhD; Gloria Borgstahl, PhD; Grinu Mathew, PhD	AKR1C3 as a Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in Cancer: Drug Development, Diagnostics, and Precision Delivery Approaches