UCLA postdoctoral student receives research grant from American Cancer Society
By Basheer Alas
Sept. 29, 2011 12:38 a.m.
The American Cancer Society recently awarded a $150,000 grant to UCLA postdoctoral student Kevin Jones, drawing from a funding source partially derived from UCLA’s annual Relay for Life race.
The grant will help Jones pursue behavior of cancer-causing genes in fruit flies.
It is awarded to cancer researchers who might otherwise not receive funding, said Katherine Row, the director of corporate communications at the American Cancer Society.
Jones, who received his doctorate from UC San Francisco in 2009 and then began working at UCLA that same year, said that his research focuses on how different cancer-causing genes alter a cell’s metabolism to make the cell cancerous.
The research project involves inserting cancerous human genes into fruit flies and observing the resulting changes in cellular metabolism, Jones said.
By working with fruit flies, Jones said that he hopes to uncover the basic function of cancer by distinguishing healthy cells from cancerous cells.
Jones said he hopes to publish his initial findings about cancer genes by the end of 2013 and to continue developing a basic understanding of cancer.
Sarena Young, the growth chair for Relay for Life at UCLA and a second-year international development and Spanish and linguistics student, said that she interacts closely with the American Cancer Society to help organize the event.
The annual Relay for Life event donates its earnings to cancer research and patient treatment.
Last year, Relay for Life at UCLA raised more than $157,000 for cancer patient services, prevention and risk reduction, detection and treatment and research purposes, Row said.
At UCLA alone, more than $9 million was invested in cancer research in 2010, according to the American Cancer Society fiscal reports.
“The American Cancer Society is the largest nongovernmental research grant-giver in the country,” Row said.
Grants are particularly important to postdoctoral researchers because they provide stability to their projects and help further their research goals, Jones said.
In addition to providing funding for ongoing research projects, Jones said that students play a very valuable role in promoting cancer awareness through events such as Relay for Life.
