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For Release: August 10, 2004
Contact: DMS Communications(603) 650-1492
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Nancy Speck Appointed Carroll Chair in Oncology
HANOVER, NH - Nancy Speck, PhD, professor of biochemistry and associate director for basic science at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, has been appointed the James J. Carroll Professor in Oncology at Dartmouth Medical School (DMS). Dr. Speck succeeds E. Robert Greenberg, M.D., director of the Cancer Center from 1994 to 2001, and previous holder of the chair.
"Nancy has distinguished herself as a research scientist, teacher, mentor, and institutional citizen. She has played a pivotal role in elevating the Cancer Center to a center of excellence," said Stephen P. Spielberg, MD, PhD, Dean, Dartmouth Medical School. "The Carroll Chair in Oncology will enable her to sustain superior scholarship across the spectrum of translational research in molecular, genetic, immunologic and chemopreventive approaches to solving the challenges that cancer presents."
Dr. Speck's research focuses on hematopoietic stem cells, the building blocks of blood cells. Through her work on normal blood cell development, Speck has isolated the proteins involved in certain types of leukemia. "Nancy Speck has made seminal contributions to our understanding of how blood cells develop and how the process goes awry in certain leukemias," said Mark Israel, Director of Norris Cotton Cancer Center. "Her work is innovative, elegantly designed, meticulously executed, and provides a strong basis for new strategies to more effectively treat several different leukemias. She is a highly respected cancer researcher of international repute, and greatly deserving of this recognition."
Dr. Speck is currently working with her long-time collaborator, John Bushweller of the University of Virginia, to isolate compounds that will bind with the proteins involved in leukemia, in order to develop drugs to halt the process. Bushweller, Speck and their co-investigators were recently awarded a prestigious Leukemia and Lymphoma Society grant, which funds multidisciplinary programs linking basic science and translational research in an effort to prevent or cure leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma. Through this grant, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society recognizes Norris Cotton Cancer Center as a "Specialized Center of Research Excellence".
Dr. Speck studied at Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) and Northwestern University. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Cancer Research and the Whitehead Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before joining the Dartmouth Medical School faculty in 1989.
Norris Cotton Cancer Center is a premier cancer research, education, and treatment facility that combines advanced cancer research at Dartmouth Medical School with compassionate care at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Designated as one of a select group of Comprehensive Cancer Centers by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), it is also ranked one of the top cancer facilities in America by U.S. News & World Report.
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