LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has received a five-year nearly $5.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue research into the often overlooked side effects of cancer therapies, including radiation and chemotherapy.

The $5,737,500 grant awarded by the NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences funds Phase 3 of the UAMS Center for Studies of Host Response to Cancer Therapy, a Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) initiative, bringing the total federal investment in the center to more than $27 million since it was established in 2015.

Led by Marjan Boerma, Ph.D., associate director of basic science at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and the J. Thomas May Distinguished Endowed Chair in Oncology at UAMS, the center is the first COBRE research center of its kind in the United States dedicated exclusively to studying the side effects of cancer treatment.

“Most cancer patients experience side effects from their treatment, sometimes mild, sometimes severe,” said Boerma, a professor in the UAMS College of Pharmacy Department of Radiation Health. “If we can predict who will develop those side effects, or develop strategies to reduce them, we can make therapies safer, increase patients’ quality of life and even allow doctors to safely deliver higher doses when needed. That’s clinically significant, and I believe that’s why NIH continues to support our research.”

Since its founding, the center has fostered interdisciplinary collaboration across UAMS, uniting chemists, biologists, clinicians and other scientists who might not otherwise work together. These collaborations have produced innovative approaches and helped build new research core facilities, one of which now operates as the Radiation Biology Shared Resource within the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is how the center supports researchers from across UAMS, often bringing people together with very different expertise but a shared goal of making cancer treatment safer,” Boerma said. “It’s been exciting to see those collaborations grow.”

One example is a collaboration between Amanda Stolarz, PharmD, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UAMS College of Pharmacy, and Ping-Ching Hsu, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. Stolarz studies chemotherapy and lymphedema, while Hsu focuses on cardiac side effects of chemotherapy. Through the center, they now work together to examine both lymphedema and cardiac side effects, combining preclinical models and real-world data from Arkansas cancer patients.

“Through this center, I’ve been able to collaborate with colleagues like Dr. Hsu, who bring a completely different perspective to the table,” said Stolarz. “By combining our expertise, we can better understand how cancer treatments affect patients’ hearts and lymphatic systems at the same time. That’s important because these side effects don’t happen in isolation.”

Over the course of the first two phases, the center has supported 12 research project leaders and 14 pilot studies, helping early and mid-career faculty launch innovative studies and advance their research careers.

“This NIH award is a strong validation of the extraordinary research environment at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute,” said Michael Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Cancer Institute and UAMS vice chancellor. “Dr. Boerma and her team are tackling an issue that affects nearly every patient with cancer. Their work not only improves survivorship and quality of life but also helps position Arkansas as a leader in this critical area of cancer research.”

“Dr. Boerma is to be commended for establishing a highly productive research center that is making impactful discoveries,” said Dan Voth, Ph.D., UAMS vice chancellor for research and innovation.  “The center has spurred the careers of numerous junior faculty and provides critical core resources that drive cancer-related research.  Dr. Boerma and her team have established a program that will have long-lasting impacts on UAMS and Arkansans.”

“This grant has had a tremendous impact on the recruitment and retention of talented teams of scientists to the UAMS College of Pharmacy and within the greater UAMS research community,” said College of Pharmacy Dean Cindy Stowe, Pharm.D. “I’m incredibly proud of the leadership and innovation of our pharmacy faculty and its contribution to the work being done at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.”

Boerma said she is eager to expand the center’s research into new areas, including immunotherapy, which can cause significant, but poorly understood, side effects.