MSU ALUMNUS WINS AWARD FOR CANCER RESEARCH

Jelani C. Zarif earned his PhD from the College of Natural Science in 2014. He was recently awarded the 2016 Ray Chambers–PCF Young Investigator Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Zarif's proposed paper, Targeting M2-Tumor Associated Macrophages (M2-TAMs) in Lethal Prostate Cancer, shows how the tumor microenvironment includes many non-tumor cells that support tumor growth and represent potential therapeutic targets. He will identify and credential new targets on a tumor-supportive immune cell type which may lead to new treatments for prostate cancer patients.

Currently, Zarif is a Post-Doctoral fellow in Dr. Kenneth Pienta's Laboratory at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute) conducting research to target M2-Tumor Associated Macrophages (M2-TAMs) in prostate cancer.