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Garry Betty Scholars Program: Meet the Scholars

The Garry Betty Scholars Program pays for international researchers to come to U-M for training in adrenal cancer research

Claudimara Ferini Pacicco Lotfi, Ph.D. (2008-2009)

Claudimara Ferini Pacicco Lotfi, Ph.D., earned her doctoral degree at the University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. She received additional postdoctoral training at the Hugo A. Armelin’s Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Chemical Institute of University of São Paulo, where she began pioneering work on how growth factors control the proliferation of adrenal cancer cells. In 1999 she obtained a Young Investigator award by the São Paulo Research Foundation to develop her own research project in this area at the Biomedical Science Institute of University of São Paulo, where she is now an Assistant Professor. Through the support of CAPES (Coordenação e Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) and the Garry Betty Foundation, Dr. Lofti becomes the first Visiting Professor of the Garry Betty Scholar Program. In her studies, she will research growth factor gene methylation related with the maintenance and growth of adrenocortical stem/progenitors cells and adrenal cancer.

Isabella Finco (2008-2010)

Isabella Finco, studied Biotechnology at Europe’s prestigious University of Padua, Italy. She then entered graduate school at the same University in the laboratory of Franco Mantero, M.D., one of the world’s leading scientists in adrenal cancer research where she began pursuing the role of vascular growth factors in adrenal cancer.  Based on her excellent work, she was selected as a 2008 International Scholar of the Endocrine Society.  Isabella will use her tenure as a Garry Betty Scholar to research the relationship of adrenal stem and progenitor cells to their supporting cells and how defects in communication between these cells can contribute to the development of adrenal cancer.  It is predicted that understanding how these cells interact will provide insights for targeted therapy for this deadly disease.

Tobias Else, M.D. (2007-2008)

Tobias Else, M.D., received his medical training at the University Hospital Hamburg, Germany and the Leopold Franzens University of Innsbruck, Austria. He then specialized in Endocrinology/Internal Medicine with a main focus on diseases of the adrenal gland. During his doctoral thesis and early post-doctoral work, Dr Else investigated the mechanisms of adrenal hormone action and the role of peptide hormones in the regulation of adrenocortical cell growth. As a Garry Betty Scholar, Dr. Else is researching the role of genomic maintenance and genomic stability in adrenocortical cancer.

 

Alessia Trovato (2007-2009)

Alessia Trovato, studied Medicine at Europe's prestigious University of Padua, Italy and Charitè in Berlin, Germany. She received her basic scientific training in the laboratory of Franco Mantero, M.D., one of the world*s leading scientists in adrenal cancer research. Through the generous support of the Garry Betty Foundation she is researching uniquely expressed genes in adrenal cancer that can be used as molecular targets for therapeutic intervention in the disease.

You can help make a difference, and support this program!
Make a Donation.     Or, visit the Garry Betty Foundation.

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