Stanford Medicine Oncology Professor Shoshana Levy Dies at 83
Shoshana Levy, PhD, Professor of Oncology, died November 16 with her family by her side after developing metastatic cancer. Levy had been a professor at Stanford Medicine since 1994, and she held her last lab meeting by Zoom just days before her death. She was an active member of the Stanford Cancer Institute and Bio-X.
In 1990, Levy identified a new family of proteins called tetraspanins that span the cell membrane and affect how cells send and receive signals to interact with other cells, move, and divide. Since their discovery, they've been implicated in cancer metastasis and may be a target for cancer therapies. In 2000, Levy launched a recurring international scientific meeting on tetraspanins, and she presented her latest research on their role in cancer metastasis at that meeting in Prague in September 2022, just before her diagnosis.
"Shoshana was a consummate researcher and an engaging and generous collaborator and mentor of younger scientists," said Lloyd Minor, MD, Dean of the School of Medicine. "Her discovery of tetraspanins spawned a new field of cancer research. Her sudden loss is felt deeply at Stanford Medicine and internationally."
Levy, who was known as Shosh to her friends and colleagues, was also active on the Stanford Cancer Institute's scientific review committee, which assesses clinical research protocols for scientific merit prior to approval.
"Although not a clinician herself, Shosh took a keen interest in the science that should inform the best clinical studies and invariably asked the most penetrating questions," said Beverly Mitchell, MD, the George E. Becker Professor of Medicine and former director of the cancer institute. "Her research on developing new immunotherapies for invasive breast cancer based on a novel surface marker she had studied in the lab made her the ideal person to critically evaluate the ideas of others, and she indeed took that role to heart."
Levy was married to Professor of Oncology Ronald Levy, PhD, the Ronald K. and Helen K. Summy Professor. They worked side by side in neighboring labs for decades.
"Their professional and personal partnership was inspirational to all who knew them as they raised a wonderful family and made important scientific discoveries in side-by-side labs, always together," said Heather Wakelee, MD, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Oncology.
Levy was born in Israel in 1939 and raised in Tel Aviv, where she was active in the Israeli youth movement Hashomer Hatzair and became a keen amateur botanist determined to catalog all the country's indigenous plants. After serving in the Israeli Defense Force from 1957 to 1959, Levy earned her bachelor's in biology from Tel Aviv University, a master's in biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science-where she met her husband-and a PhD in biochemistry from Tufts University.
Levy first came to Stanford as a research fellow for a year in 1972 and returned as a senior research associate from 1975 to 1979, when she left for a position at SRI International in Menlo Park. She returned to Stanford as a senior research scientist in 1984; in 1994, she was appointed Professor of Medicine in the oncology division-a position she held until her death. From 1995 to 2000, she was an associate editor for the Journal of Immunology.
Levy enjoyed the opera and the symphony, was passionate about nature and enjoyed traveling. The family recalls that she and Ron were known for spending all their time together, hosting meals for family and colleagues, donning fabulous Halloween costumes, and always being the last ones on the dance floor.
Levy was also a strong supporter of women in science. She was Chair of the Katharine McCormick Advanced Postdoctoral Scholarship to Support Women in Academic Medicine committee and was a mentor for the Palo Alto chapter of the Association for Women in Science for many years. She also served as an advisor for Stanford University freshmen and an interviewer for the Stanford University Medical Admissions process.
"Shoshana was an engaged colleague, generous collaborator, and outstanding mentor with a warm heart and amazing smile," Wakelee said. "She will be greatly missed."
Besides her husband, Levy is survived by daughters Tali Levy, Naomi Levy, and Karen Levy, as well as six grandchildren. The family suggests donations in her memory to the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel or to the Association for Women in Science.
Andrea Schietinger, PhD, to Present 2023 AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lecture
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will award the 19th AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship to Andrea Schietinger, PhD, during the AACR Annual Meeting 2023, April 14-19 in Orlando, Fla.
Schietinger, an associate member of the Immunology Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Associate Professor of Immunology & Microbial Pathogenesis at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, is being recognized for her unparalleled scientific contributions to the field of immunology.
Her research has elucidated the molecular mechanisms of T-cell function and immune responses to disease, including how CD8-positive T cells may become dysfunctional in tumors and various chronic diseases. Schietinger's research has further helped to determine the cellular mechanisms by which antigen-specific T cells evade immune-suppressive mechanisms in normal tissue and tumor ecosystems. These findings have subsequently fueled the development of strategies for molecular- and immune-targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
The AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship was established in 2005 to acknowledge an individual whose outstanding personal innovation in science and whose position as a thought leader in fields relevant to cancer research has the potential to inspire creative thinking and new directions in cancer research. The recipient of this special lectureship is selected annually by the AACR President.
"I am thrilled that Dr. Schietinger is the 2023 Weinstein Foundation lecturer," said AACR President Lisa M. Coussens, PhD, FAACR. "As a classically trained immunologist, Dr. Schietinger brings to tumor immunology remarkable insights into T-cell functionality that are sure to impact strategies for immune therapy in patients with cancer."
Schietinger has been studying aspects of fundamental tumor immunology since graduate school, where she discovered a mechanism by which altered protein processing in tumor cells could create new targets for the immune system. As a postdoctoral fellow, she demonstrated that tumor-reactive T cells use similar gene regulatory processes as self-reactive T cells to dampen the immune response. Since establishing her own laboratory, she has demonstrated that T cells decrease their ability to respond to cancer cells early during tumor development, and has since helped define the underlying molecular mechanisms of this process.
Schietinger has been an AACR member since 2008. She has received many other awards throughout her career, including the AAI-BD Biosciences Investigator Award (2022), Cancer Research Institute Lloyd J. Old STAR Award (2019), NIH Director's New Innovator Award (2017), V Foundation Scholar Award (2016), Josie Robertson Young Investigator Scholar Award (2015), NIH-National Cancer Institute Pathway to Independence Award (2013), and Cancer Research Institute Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship (2011).
Schietinger received her doctoral degree with Hans Schreiber, MD, PhD, in biological sciences and tumor immunology from a joint program of the University of Chicago and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Philip D. Greenberg, MD, FAACR, and served as an acting instructor at the University of Washington before joining Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2015.
Roswell Park Epigenetics Expert Named Chair of Cancer Genetics & Genomics
Following an international search, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has promoted and appointed Joyce Ohm, PhD, as Chair of Cancer Genetics and Genomics, as well as the John & Santa Palisano Endowed Chair of Cancer Genetics. She previously served as interim Chair of the department.
Ohm joined the Roswell Park team in 2016 as an Associate Professor of Oncology, providing expertise in the genetic and environmental determinants of cancer. With over 25 years of experience in cancer research, she has made seminal contributions to science in the areas of tumor associated immune suppression, identification of genetic mutations driving response to therapy, and understanding how cells modify their genome and epigenome to contribute to tumor initiation, progression, and therapeutic escape. She's led the department in research published in several high-impact journals such as the American Association for Cancer Research's (AACR) Molecular Cancer Research and Nature's Scientific Reports.
An internationally known epigenetics researcher, she has made it her life's goal to find a cure for cancer. Her mission is personal-her mother passed away from a rare form of the disease when Ohm was just 10 years old. She routinely participates in the Ride for Roswell and Empire State Ride, which help to propel the future of cancer research in her lab and across the cancer center.
"As we look to position Roswell Park as a global leader in combining epigenetic therapy and immunotherapies, I can think of no better person to help guide our team than Dr. Ohm," said Renier Brentjens, MD, PhD, Deputy Director and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Roswell Park. "Her rigor and determination are palpable in a field that has tremendous potential and impact for cancer patients and loved ones. We are excited to see where she takes it next."
Ohm holds her doctorate in cancer biology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and completed her fellowship at the John Hopkins School of Medicine.
Tricia King, PhD, Receives Award to Study Brain Cancer Survivors
A brain researcher at Georgia State University has been awarded a 5-year grant from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health to create a model for personalized cancer treatments.
Tricia King, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Georgia State, has partnered with Tobey MacDonald, MD, a pediatric neuro-oncologist and Professor at Emory University, to conduct a multisite project identifying factors that contribute to cognitive impairments in young survivors of brain cancer. The project has the potential to improve treatment outcomes for patients with many types of cancer.
"We're looking at what are the most robust environmental resources, the strongest clinical risk factors, and the most important genetic DNA and RNA sequencing that relates to cognitive impairments," she said.
King studies medulloblastoma, a form of cancer in which a fast-growing tumor forms at the base of the brain, which requires radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. Though these treatments are largely effective in fighting the cancer, they also can result in devastating consequences, especially for pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients.
However, these outcomes range widely between patients. While some survivors thrive after treatment, others are left with severe impairments that limit their ability to live independently in adulthood. King has been studying which factors contribute to patients' outcomes.
"In some ways, we've been building up to this project for 20 years," King said. "We wanted to have the power to have a larger data set with a richer, more nuanced look at the areas we know are really important to outcomes. That is why we invited our collaborators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center and Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, to join in this larger-scale project."
Not only does she look at clinical factors, such as patient age and tumor type, but she also considers environmental factors such as material hardships, access to medical care, and school quality. However, King noted this still does not tell the whole story.
"One of the things that we're finding is that you take two different individuals-same age, same sex, same age at treatment, same exact tumor type, same environmental resources-and one is devastated, and one is doing ok," King said. "There's something else going on."
With financial support from this award, King and her colleagues will also study the impact of patients' genetics on their outcomes. Their approach is unique in that they are not focused on identifying genes that cause cancer, but rather those that may determine a patient's resilience through cancer treatment.
"If we can identify the genetics that put individuals at risk for cognitive problems, we might be able to reduce the chemo and radiation therapy that specific individuals receive so that targeted treatments cure the cancer, yet do not create cognitive difficulties," King said.
"For the other people that we know have the resilience-both genetic and environmental resiliencies-they can move forward with the traditional treatments," she added. In this way, the project will build a model for personalized treatment plans based on patients' environmental, clinical, and genetic risk factors.