Bassett names Research award recipient
Cooperstown, N.Y. – Potjana (Sung) Jitawatanarat, M.D., a second year postgraduate medical resident at Bassett Medical Center, was presented with the E. Donnall Thomas Outstanding Research Presentation Award for 2010. Her research project and poster was among 12 recently presented as part of the E. Donnall Thomas Research Day.
The 2010 E. Donnall Thomas poster event was held in honor of the late Guy W. Amsden, Pharm.D., who was a dedicated research scientist and member of the Institutional Review Board at Bassett since 1996. Dr. Amsden was a member of the E. Donnall Thomas Resident Research Committee since it's inception.
The E. Donnall Thomas Award is given annually to a Bassett trainee who has conducted exceptional research while at Bassett for medical training. The award is named in honor of E. Donnall Thomas, who served as Bassett’s physician-in-chief from 1955 to 1963.
Dr. Jitawatanarat’s research study project, titled "Role of PDK1 in breast cancer cell proliferation and PCNA expression" examined how important cellular pathways for breast cancer development and growth are turned on when animals are exposed to artificial light at night, and how the information gained from these studies might contribute to future breast cancer prevention and treatment.
“Dr. Jitawatanarat’s excellent work relates directly to the clinical puzzle of increased rates of breast and other cancers among people who work nightshifts,” said John May, M.D., director, Bassett Research Institute. “A better understanding of how light-dark cycles affect the behavior of human tumors is clearly very important.”
The study was conducted under the direction of Bassett research scientist Mike Greene, Ph.D. and Jinghai Wu, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Jitawatanarat's research was done in collaboration with former Bassett research scientist Dr. David Blask, who continues light at night studies at Tulane University. Dr. Jitawatanarat earned her medical degree at Mahidol University, in Bangkok, Thailand. She is interested in becoming a hematologist/oncologist and will continue working on basic science research.
Dr. E. Donnall Thomas was awarded the 1990 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation, which he began at Bassett. Dr. Thomas performed the world’s first human bone marrow transplant at Bassett in 1956.
