Nicole Marie Anderson Receives Award for Pediatric Cancer Research

Nicole Marie Anderson, PhD, post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Hui Feng, has been awarded a three-year, $150,000 Young Investigator Award from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF).

Anderson, whose research interests involve understanding the metabolic changes that occur during cancer development, is currently working on the project “Targeting Metabolism as a Therapeutic Approach for High-Risk MYCN-Driven Neuroblastoma.” The award will help fund this research.

Cancer cells reprogram their cellular metabolism in order to meet the increased energy and nutrient requirements of uncontrolled cell division and metabolic reprograming represents a fundamental difference between normal and cancer cells. Recent experimental and pre-clinical evidence provide encouraging perspectives to target this metabolic difference in treating cancers driven by C-MYC, a close relative of MYCN.

Anderson’s previous studies on T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia identified a key metabolic enzyme, dihydrolipoamide S-succinyltransferase (DLST), whose partial inactivation significantly inhibits c-MYC-driven leukemia development in zebrafish yet minimally affects fish development. Her current research will determine viability of targeting DLST and will also generate information to guide metabolism-based therapy as a new strategy to treat high-risk neuroblastoma.

ALSF is a childhood cancer foundation dedicated to raising funds for research into new treatments and cures for all children battling cancer.

“I am grateful and honored to receive a Young Investigator Grant. Their support is critical in enabling young scientists to pursue research careers dedicated improving our understanding of childhood cancer and for developing new cures,” said Anderson.

Anderson has received numerous awards and honors. She received her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Waterloo (Canada) and earned her doctorate of philosophy at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto.