Thirteen members of Phi Chapter attended this year’s 116th National Convention of Phi Beta Psi in Lexington, Kentucky. There were 200 members and 30 auxiliary members in attendance, representing 43 chapters and nine states.
Phi Beta Psi was founded 121 years ago, and Phi Chapter of Columbus, Indiana, was honored to have two local members serve as national officers at the convention, Adrienne Hatton was National Secretary and Stephanie Smotherman was National Editor.
This year, six doctors were each awarded $95,433 to be used in cancer research, with the total for the six grants at $572,598. Attending members gave extra donations of $53,000 during the convention. Since 1941, cancer research has become the National Project for Phi Beta Psi and so far has donated $12,538,721.33 to cancer research.
Grants went to:
Dr. Rui Tang, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, new grant. Genetic drivers’ contribution to lung cancer immune microenvironment.
Dr. Yang Chen, Ph.D., Anderson, Houston, Texas, new grant. The role of TREM2 in restraining the pro-inflammatory tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Anna Bianchi-Smiraglia, Ph.D. Roswell Park, Buffalo, New York, new grant. GTP metabolism as vulnerability for treatment of chemo-resistant TNBC.
Dr. Robert Eil, Oregon Health & Science University, renewal grant. Engineering T Cell K+ transport to enhance effector function and prevent exhaustion during treatment.
Dr. Michael C. Brown, Ph.D., Duke University, renewal grant, resolving targetable sex differences in the immunobiology of gliomas and grain metastases
Dr. Victoria Wang, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, renewal grant, interrogating the role of cytoskeletal modulation on adaptive resistance to KRAS inhibition in lung cancer.
Tickets for the organization’s next Pursue Bingo event are on sale, with the event set for Sept. 23 at The Commons.
Those interested in donating designer purses or items to be raffled during intermission should contact phichaptercolumbus@gmail.com.
