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The Hawai‘i Skin Cancer Coalition, which includes the UH Cancer Center, will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a dynamic free community event on Saturday, November 15. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in our center’s Sullivan Conference Center, family activities, informational and inspirational presentations, and light refreshments will be offered. Free skin-cancer screenings, from 1 to 3 p.m., will be provided by dermatologists from the Hawai‘i Dermatological Society on a limited basis. Preregistration is required by Nov. 10 at aarii@cc.hawaii.edu or (808) 564-3809; a reservation is required for a dermatologist appointment. Click here to learn more about the coalition, and the event.

Cheers for UH Cancer Center faculty members Dr. Jami Fukui, Chief of Clinical Breast Oncology, Ka ‘Umeke Lama; and Dr. Linda L. Wong, Professor of Translational and Clinical Research, who were honored as Hawaii Healthcare Heroes at a gala event on October 25 at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel! The patient-nominated award presented by the Healthcare Association of Hawaii celebrates five healthcare professionals in our islands who provide exceptional care. Both Dr. Fukui and Dr. Wong were nominated by patients who credited their outstanding compassionate care and medical expertise in helping them to overcome cancer — Dr. Fukui, by a patient she treated at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children; and Dr. Wong, by a patient she performed surgery on at The Queen’s Medical Center. All five awardees were profiled by The Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now. Click here to view Dr. Fukui’s story; click here to view Dr. Wong’s story.

For October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month observance, UH Cancer Center Chief Scientific Officer Dr. John Shepherd was interviewed on the issue of breast density for a video package distributed nationally via The Associated Press. Shepherd, who is principal investigator of the Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands Mammography Registry, shares what people should know about breast density, a key factor in both cancer risk and detection. Shepherd also explains a new federal mandate requiring that every person undergoing mammography in the U.S. be informed about their breast density. Click here to read the UH News story; click here to view an edited version of Shepherd’s interview.

More than 300 people turned out in person and online for our “Diet & Nutrition for the Cancer Journey” event on October 4 at our Sullivan Conference Center. Participants learned how food plays a vital role in supporting those affected by or concerned about cancer. Among key features of the ‘Ohana Pink event, presented by Susan C. Hirano Cancer CARE Community, were a presentation by Hawai‘i Good Food Alliance Executive Director Sharon Kaʻiulani Odom; a cooking demonstration in our Metabolic Kitchen by Native Hawaiian chef and cultural practitioner Tammy Mahealani Smith, followed by a lū‘au stew tasting; and a panel discussion with Odom, Smith, Get Redy Farm founder Nai Vasha, Breast Cancer Hawaii President Joanne Hayashi, and UH Cancer Center faculty members Dr. Jami Fukui and Marie Kainoa Fialkowski Revilla. Attendees also took in scientific poster presentations, resource tables and produce samples.

Click here for more information on the Susan C. Hirano Cancer CARE Community. The next quarterly event, supporting caregivers, is set for January 17, 2026; details to come.

Hear stories of hope and remembrance, connect with the community, and celebrate the progress in the fight against blood cancers, at “Ka ‘lke Ola: The Knowledge of Life — Blood Cancer Survivorship Program and Light the Night Walk,” on November 8 in our Sullivan Conference Center. Sponsored by Blood Cancer United, the free educational program will share information on new blood-cancer treatments, as well as survivorship knowledge. Light refreshments and entertainment will be provided from 5-5:45 p.m. A ceremony will begin at 5:45 p.m., followed by a walk around the UH Cancer Center. Among the featured speakers is Mari Galiher Martin, whose childhood leukemia was resolved by a clinical-trial treatment received through our UH Cancer Center. For registration and information, click here.

Pictured, from left, UH Cancer Center Director Dr. Naoto T. Ueno; Shinsuke Kasagi, Senior Vice President, ITO EN (Hawaii) LLC; Yosuke J.O. Honjo, President and CEO, ITO EN, LTD. (North America); Meito Mochizuki, Chief Administrative Officer, ITO EN, LTD. (North America); and UH Cancer Center faculty members Dr. Hideko Yamauchi, Director, Clinical Affairs; and Dr. Toshi Iwase, Medical Director, Clinical Trials Office.

Three executives from ITO EN, the international green tea company, took a learning tour of our UH Cancer Center on Oct. 8. Our faculty and staff welcomed Yosuke J.O. Honjo, President and CEO, ITO EN, LTD. (North America), and a member of the East-West Center Board of Governors; Meito Mochizuki, Chief Administrative Officer, ITO EN, LTD. (North America); and Shinsuke Kasagi, Senior Vice President, ITO EN (Hawaii) LLC. Following their visit, they donated 50 cases of ITO EN green tea to our center, which will be used for special events. Mahalo to our friends at ITO EN for their support!

Mahalo to In Line Flooring, a local flooring and general contractor that has run a social media campaign throughout October to raise money for the UH Cancer Center! Through tomorrow, October 31, you can still help by following them on Instagram, viewing this message, and reposting it to your own friends and followers. In Line Flooring will donate $10 per action (a share, a like, etc.), up to $10,000, with funds supporting research, clinical trials, and prevention programs at our center.

‘Ka ‘lke Ola: The Knowledge of Life — Blood Cancer Survivorship Program & Light The Night Walk’
Sullivan Conference Center
Saturday, November 8 |  3-7 p.m.
Click here to register

Hawai‘i Skin Cancer Coalition 30th Anniversary Celebration
Saturday, November 15 | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sullivan Conference Center
Registration required: aarii@cc.hawaii.edu or (808) 564-3809
Click here for information

Caregivers support event
Presented by the Susan C. Hirano Cancer CARE Community
Saturday, January 17, 2026
Sullivan Conference Center
Details to come; click here for program information

JOB BOARD

Graduate Research Assistant - Population Sciences in the Pacific

Professor - Ho‘ōla Early Phase Clinical Research Center Director

For all University of Hawaiʻi Internal Civil Service Recruitments, please see the bulletin by the Human Resources Office for the most current vacancies.

Polygenic risk score for type 2 diabetes shows context-dependent effects across populations. Guo B, … Sun Q, Wilkens LR, Carlson CS, Easton CB, Liu S, Manson JE, Marchand LL, Haiman CADarst BF. Nat Commun. 2025 Oct 1;16(1):8632. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63546-4.

Integrative epitranscriptomic and transcriptomic characterization in human colorectal cancer. Gong T, Rai SK, Zhu Y, Wang Y, Chen Y, Ma L, Wei X, Ling Z, Pandey A, Qin Y, Huo M, Jijiwa M, Nasu M, Zhang Z, Chen S, Gao Z, Hu X, Nakastu K, Yang H, Fu Y, Wu L, Huang G, Fei P, Deng Y. J Adv Res. 2025 Sep 21:S2090-1232(25)00741-6.

Stratifying lung adenocarcinoma risk with multi-ancestry polygenic risk scores in East Asian never-smokers. Blechter B … Le Marchand L, .. Zhang H. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Oct 1:djaf272.

Artificial Intelligence, Ghost Writers, and Scientific Integrity. Carbone M, Adjei AA. J Thorac Oncol. 2025 Oct;20(10):1356-1358. 

Bioactive constituents from the edible seaweed Halymenia hawaiiana (Rhodophyta). Raksat A, Atanu MSH, McDermid KJ, Wall MM, Chang BL, Wongwiwatthananukit S, Chang LC. Pharm Biol. 2025 Dec;63(1):447 

Dietary patterns and risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias across 5 racial and ethnic groups in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Park SY, Setiawan VW, Crimmins EM, White LR, Haiman CA, Wilkens LR, Le Marchand L, Lim U. Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 Oct;122(4):923-931. 

Tissue specificity of ageing in cancer risk prediction. LaBarge MA, Binder AM. Nat Rev Cancer. 2025 Oct;25(10):753-754. 

Neoadjuvant HER2-targeted regimens with or without anthracyclines for HER2-positive inflammatory breast cancer: a multicenter retrospective study. Iwase T, Sridhar N, Kai M, Dong W, Shen Y, Krishnamurthy S, Lucci A, Le-Petross HTC, Nasrazadani A, Saleem S, Layman RM, Valero V, Tripathy D, Woodward WA, Cheng YC, Nakhlis F, Bellon JR, Lynce F, Ueno NT. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2025 Nov;214(1):69-77

Increases in Suicides and Overdoses During the 2023 Wildfires in Maui, Hawai'i. Purtle J, Machavariani E, Rivera-González AC, Mauri AI, Stimpson JP, Kaholokula JK, Ortega AN. JAMA. 2025 Sep 16;334(11):1019-1021

The impact of community-based childhood obesity prevention interventions in Australia by socio-economic position: An individual participant data meta-analysis. Jacobs J, Backholer K, Allender S, Brown V, Orellana L, Novotny R, Wolfenden L, Moodie M, Nichols M. Pediatr Obes. 2025 Oct;20(10):e70031. 

A mixed-method exploration of #vapingcessation videos on TikTok. Amin S, Chae SW, Washington PY, Okamoto SK, Youkey T, Pokhrel P. J Addict Dis. 2025 Oct-Dec;43(4):368-376. 

From paradise to precarity: Hawai'i's public health gaps foreshadow U.S. coastal vulnerabilities. Chi H, Yang H, Shomaker TS, Deng Y. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2025 Sep 27;51:101259. 

Utility of quantitative pathologic analysis of pT1 colorectal carcinomas to improve prediction of lymph node metastasis. Nayak P, Kosiorek H, Pai RK, Shivji S, Hagen CE, Graham RP, Buchanan DD, Jenkins MA, Phipps AI, Le Marchand L, Wu C, Samadder NJ, Swallow CJ, Gallinger SJ, Grant RC, Westerling-Bui T, Conner J, Cyr DP, Kirsch R, Pai RK. Virchows Arch. 2025 Oct 8. 

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Oncuria-Detect Multiplex Immunoassay in Detecting Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma. Fujita K, Miyake M, Hashimoto M, Shimizu T, Linehan J, Gottlieb J, Pagano I, Tikhonenkov S, Luu M, Tanaka S, Siguencia F, Murakami K, Lee R, Sakatani T, Rosser CJ, Furuya H. J Urol. 2025 Oct 3:101097JU0000000000004803. 

Integrating population-level and cell-based signatures for drug repositioning. He C, Xu Y, Zhou Y, Fan J, Cheng C, Meng R, Wu L, Pan R, Shah RV, Gamazon ER, Zhou D. Bioinformatics. 2025 Oct 2;41(10):btaf498. 

PKM2 is a key regulator of cardiac lipid metabolism in mice. Lee KCY, Williams AL, Fujimoto A, Gerschenson M, Schuller C, Polgar N, Alfulaij N, Shimada BK, Seale LA, Shohet RV. Mitochondrion. 2025 Nov;85:102070. 

Evaluation of Proliferative Activity of Hawaiian Plants on PC-12 and Neuro-2a Cells and Their Effect on the TPH and TH Genes. Meesakul P, Shea T, Wu X, Kuroki Y, Wada A, Cao S. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2025 Sep 18;18(9):1403. 

Artificial intelligence-enhanced handheld breast ultrasound for screening: A systematic review of diagnostic test accuracy. Bunnell A, Valdez D, Strand F, Glaser Y, Sadowski P, Shepherd JA. PLOS Digit Health. 2025 Sep 22;4(9):e0001019. 

Using gene-environment interactions to explore pathways for colorectal cancer risk. Bouras E, Yu R…, Cheng I, Devall MA, Diez-Obrero V, Dimou N, Drew DA, Gruber SB, Gsur A, Hoffmeister M, Hsu L, Huyghe JR, Kawaguchi E, Keku TO, Kundaje A, Küry S, Le Marchand L, Lewinger JP, Li L, Lynch BM, … Tsilidis KK. EBioMedicine. 2025 Oct 11;121:105964. 

Associations Between Social Determinants of Health and Adherence in Mobile-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment: Scoping Review. Sun Y, Jaiswal A, Slade C, Phillips KT, Benzo RM, Washington P. J Med Internet Res. 2025 Sep 23;27:e69831. 

Trastuzumab deruxtecan in HER2-low metastatic breast cancer: long-term survival analysis of the randomized, phase 3 DESTINY-Breast04 trial. Modi S, Jacot W, Iwata H, Park YH, Vidal Losada M, Li W, Tsurutani J, Ueno NT, Zaman K, Prat A, Papazisis K, Rugo HS, Yamashita T, Harbeck N, Im SA, De Laurentiis M, Pierga JY, Wang X, Gombos A, Tokunaga E, Orbegoso Aguilar C, Yung L, Xiao F, Cheng Y, Cameron D. Nat Med. 2025 Oct 8. 

Genetic architecture and analysis practices of circulating metabolites in the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine Program. Wang N, Ockerman FP, Zhou LY, Grove ML, Alkis T, Barnard J, Bowler RP, Clish CB, Chung S, Drzymalla E, Evans AM, Franceschini N, Gerszten RE, Gillman MG, Hutton SR, Kelly RS, Kooperberg C, Larson MG, Lasky-Su J, Meyers DA, Woodruff PG, Reiner AP, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Silverman EK, Vasan RS, Weiss ST, Wong KE, Wood AC, Wu L; NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Consortium; Yarden R, Blackwell TW, Smith AV, Chen H, Raffield LM, Yu B. Am J Hum Genet. 2025 Sep 18:S0002-9297(25)00356-8. 

Benchmarking the Current Landscape: Insights From an Association of American Cancer Institutes Survey on Academic Cancer Service Lines. Fracasso PM, Simone NL, Si Lim SJ, Reckamp KL, Sosa JA, Lieu C, Lee C, Werner TL, Ly QP, Vose JM, White J, Honeycutt H, Shaw K, Cameron K, O'Brien DM, Wilke LG. JCO Oncol Pract. 2025 Sep 24:OP2500073.

Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation Provides an Alternative for Patients with Chronic Granulomatous Disease Lacking HLA-Matched Donors: a PIDTC Report. Arnold DE, Leiding JW, Logan B, Marsh RA, Griffith LM, Grunebaum E, Murguía-Favela L, Mallhi K, Chellapandian D, Deal CL, Lim SS, Prasad V, Heimall J, Chandrakasan S, Chen K, Yu LC, Seroogy CM, Gillio A, Bednarski JJ, Kapoor N, Moore TB, Cuvelier GDE, Touzot F, Rayes A, Ebens CL, Schaefer E, Bauchat A, Chopek A, Burroughs L, Cowan MJ, Dvorak CC, Haddad E, Kohn DB, Notarangelo LD, Pai SY, Puck JM, Pulsipher MA, Torgerson T, Malech HL, Kang EM, Parikh S. Transplant Cell Ther. 2025 Oct 2:S2666-6367(25)01204-7. 

Evaluation of the gut microbiome and sex hormones in postmenopausal women with newly diagnosed hormone receptor-positive breast cancer versus healthy women: a prospective case-control study. Kwa M, Hussey G, Novik Y, Franke AA, Volkova A, Flores K, Blaser MJ, Speyer J, Oratz R, Meyers M, Jhaveri K, Fadel E, Heguy A, Schluter J, Ruggles KV, Adams S. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2025 Oct 4;151(10):275. 

Investigating the causal effect of potential therapeutic agents for colorectal cancer prevention: a Mendelian randomization analysis. Fryer E, Bishop DT, Campbell PT, Chan AT, Le Marchand L, Li CI, Moreno V, Gunter MJ, Phipps AI, Grant RC, Schmit SL, Martin RM, Yarmolinsky J, Haycock P. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2025 Oct 14. 

Peripheral immune progression to long COVID is associated with mitochondrial gene transcription: A meta-analysis. Maison DP, Khadka VS, Mohd-Ibrahim I, Peluso MJ, Henrich TJ, Deng Y, Gerschenson M. Mitochondrion. 2025 Nov;85:102072. 

Unravelling the distinct effects of VHL mutations and chromosome 3p loss in clear cell renal cell carcinoma: Implications for prognosis and treatment. Wang X, Li JR, Chowdhury NR, Wu L, Chao C. Clin Transl Med. 2025 Oct;15(10):e70465. 

Evaluating the Science of Diversity in Clinical Trials: Design and Goals of an American Heart Association Strategic Focused Research Network. Michos ED, Himmelfarb CR, Lewis EF, Hsiai T, Norris KC, Kaholokula JK, Raman R, Grooms J, Halpern SD, Pemu P, Rodriguez F, Valantine H. J Am Heart Assoc. 2025 Oct 7;14(19):e041831. 

The effects of the potent antioxidant 3,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzyl alcohol on mutagenicity in microorganisms and chromosomal aberrations in cultured mammalian cells in vitro. Watanabe M, Yoshiike K, Watanabe H, Yamaguchi M. Food Chem Toxicol. 2025 Oct;204:115619. 

Randomized phase II comparison of single-agent carboplatin versus combination of carboplatin and everolimus for advanced triple negative breast cancer. Patel R, Fukui J, Klein P, Moshier E, Kocyigit H, Fiedler L, Bucwinska W, Xing XY, Shapiro C, Goel A, Fasano J, Shao T, Bhardwaj A, Kim E, Vaccaro R, Lee K, Wilck E, Tiersten A. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2025 Nov;214(2):159-170. 

Translon: a single term for translated regions. Świrski MI, … Seale LA, .. Baranov PV. Nat Methods. 2025 Oct;22(10):2002-2006

Race-neutral Pediatric Reference Ranges for Bone Mineral Density Predict Prospective Fractures in Childhood. Zemel BS, Winer KK, Kelly A, Freedman DS, Mitchell JA, Weber DR, McCormack SE, McWilliams T, Lappe JM, Oberfield SE, Shepherd JA, Grant SFA, Kalkwarf HJ. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2025 Oct 16;110(11):3034-3048. 

CYP2A6 Activity and Deuterated 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) Metabolism in Cigarette Smokers. von Weymarn LB, Thomson NM, Le Marchand L, Murphy SE. Chem Res Toxicol. 2025 Oct 20;38(10):1771-1777. 

Gendered Motivations for E-Cigarette Use Among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Youth: A Relational-Cultural Perspective. Song SD, Kon ZK, Stephens TA, Saladino PA, An KJ, Carson AB, Okamura KH, Marshall SM, Chin SK, Kaholokula JK, Subica AM, Pokhrel P, Okamoto SK. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2025 Oct 17:10105395251384144. 

Development and analytical validation of a multiplex diagnostic qPCR-array as a potential application in predicting the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in muscle invasive bladder cancer. Sakatani T, Tanaka S, Murakami K, Aguilar F, Chan OTM, Bresee C, Luthringer DJ, Rosser CJ, Hogrefe W, Furuya H. Transl Oncol. 2025 Nov;61:102528. 

Reconsidering the definition of triple-negative breast cancer in the immune checkpoint inhibitor era: an optimal cut-off value for hormone receptor percentage of HER2-negative invasive breast cancer. Fujii T, Iwase T, Shen Y, Fukui J, Ueno NT. Br J Cancer. 2025 Oct 18:10.1038/s41416-025-03197-w. 

Cardiac Redox Imbalance Upon Disruption of Selenocysteine Decomposition In Mice. Shimada BK, Watanabe M, Apo Takayama NK, Soares AG, Hallam KA, Rivers OS, Ewell K, Santiago PJ, Swanson SM, Toh P, Alfulaij N, Berry MJ, Seale LA. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2025 Oct 24. 

Fine Mapping Regulatory Variants by Characterizing Native CpG Methylation with Nanopore Long-Read Sequencing. Tian Y, McDonnell SK, Wu L, Larson NB, Wang L.HGG Adv. 2025 Oct 17:100532. 

Aiding Large Language Models Using Clinical Scoresheets for Neurobehavioral Diagnostic Classification From Text: Algorithm Development and Validation. Lin K, Rasool A, Surabhi S, Mutlu C, Zhang H, Wall DP, Washington P. JMIR AI. 2025 Oct 21;4:e75030. 

Chiral Semibuckminsterfullerene: Synthesis, Resolution, and Chiroptical Properties. Dickinson CF, Tian X, Yang JK, Baldridge KK, Yap GPA, Tius MA, Siegel JS. Org Lett. 2025 Oct 28.

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