Research Insights

Karen Burg was appointed as University of Georgia’s Vice President for Research in July 2021. Focusing on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, her work has been supported by more than $20 million in grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense, as well as organizations such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Burg is the author of nearly 120 peer-reviewed journal publications and the co-author of four books and nearly 40 book chapters, and she holds nine U.S. patents. She also serves as the Harbor Lights Chair in Biomedical Research in UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine. In 2022, Burg received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from President Joe Biden.

UGA Cancer Center: Igniting the sparks of realization

Cancer, still the second-leading cause of death worldwide, is one of humanity’s oldest enemies. For many researchers, the fight against cancer is personal.

My own postdoctoral training was in the laboratories of the Chief of Surgical Oncology at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) in Charlotte, N.C. Working in that medical center, I remember the anguished, yet determined faces of cancer patients and their loved ones. More recently, as I became part of my father’s two-decade battle with cancer, I developed additional perspective and my own determination.

For a junior scientist eager to make an impact in the world, my experience in an oncology unit was wrenching and inspiring. It was a “full on” learning opportunity in multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration and in use-inspired discovery (i.e. listening, asking open ended questions, listening again even more intently, refining my ideas rather than racing blindly after an exciting engineering solution). I felt driven to give that hope to more families affected by cancer.

My time at CMC helped spark a realization of the urgency and need for thoughtful, impactful cancer therapy and prevention approaches; it led me to develop one of the first commercialized enabling technologies in the area of personalized precision cellular oncology. My experiences as a family member encountering the ravages of cancer taught me that the patient’s perspective is vital.

For researchers at the University of Georgia, the UGA Cancer Center offers an opportunity to conduct cutting-edge, translational research in a wide variety of related oncological fields, to work with colleagues at UGA, other research universities, and medical centers, and to engage the perspective of patients.

The center’s 40-plus affiliated faculty members, hailing from two dozen departments across the university, attack cancer from three fronts: prevention, detection and diagnosis, and treatment. In fiscal year 2023, Cancer Center researchers attracted nearly $11.8 million in research funding, along with $8.6 million to date in fiscal year 2024.

In 2022, Georgia Athletic Association Professor of Pharmacy Eileen Kennedy became the center’s new director, and she began to explore and expand avenues for collaboration and marketing. Under her leadership, the Cancer Center has opened its doors to all by invigorating its campus seminar series, holding events monthly throughout the academic year, and engaging in activities like a Research Live webinar in March.

The Center also has strengthened its partnerships with the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University and the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University. Just last week, the UGA Cancer Center and Winship co-hosted their third recent retreat featuring student poster sessions as well as keynote addresses by prominent physicians. When I attended the joint retreat in 2022, I noted UGA and Emory graduate students excitedly talking with each other about their research, as well as faculty members discussing inter-institutional opportunities with similar excitement. In December 2023, the center also held a joint retreat at Augusta University—three UGA student researchers received poster awards at this event! In addition, over the past year the Cancer Center funded $50K in seed grants for new collaborations of cancer researchers.

These opportunities for collaboration—with Emory, with Augusta, with researchers across UGA—represent the Cancer Center’s greatest appeal for faculty. Emory has an outstanding reputation in health sciences research, bolstered by a vast health care system that provides significant clinical research opportunities to partner institutions, including members of the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance (Ga-CTSA).

Both universities also benefit from the tremendous generosity of the Stamper family. Cancer survivor Richard Stamper, a 1984 UGA graduate, and his wife Kim (BBA ’89), have made possible the joint UGA-Winship retreats that have fostered fruitful research relationships over the past three years.

UGA’s unique resources and world-class expertise in veterinary research and our membership in Ga-CTSA—not to mention the soon-to-open School of Medicine—provide ample opportunities for clinical work. The Cancer Center also is working with the Office of Global Engagement to grow international research partnerships and collaborations—the differing perspectives and background automatically afforded by global interactions are absolutely paramount to robust medical research.

Finally, cancer research is also very much on the mind of our students. Among the incoming Fall 2024 class of Integrated Life Science graduate students, 20% declared an interest in cancer biology. The center’s retreats have allowed some 80 students to showcase posters of their work, and two delivered oral presentations of their research at the UGA-Emory retreat last summer.

If you have an interest in cancer research, I urge you to connect with Cancer Center Director Eileen Kennedy at ekennedy@uga.edu. In December, the center will hold another retreat, this time on the UGA campus, with Augusta’s Georgia Cancer Center. This will be an excellent opportunity to talk with center faculty and discover research opportunities.

I also encourage you to consider the Cancer Center seed grants, which the Stampers are generously supporting for the next five years. The grants are contingent on generating new joint projects with Augusta/Emory faculty, undergirding the three institutions’ commitment and recognition of the power of collaboration.

Despite tremendous advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment that have extended and improved life for millions of cancer patients, we are still a long way from our goal. My hope is that the collaboration opportunities afforded will create for you the sparks that lead quickly to the realization that your work is so much more than an academic exercise.

Best wishes as we close out another exciting semester.

Karen J.L. Burg
Vice President for Research
Harbor Lights Chair in Biomedical Research