Leaders at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center have announced recipients of the first round of the 2012 American Cancer Society seed grant awards.

These awards help junior faculty members and independent research scientists begin their careers in cancer research and provide them with funds to explore new ideas related to the cause, prevention, and treatment of cancer.

Each of the investigators below will receive $30,000 to support their research.

• Andrean Simons-Burnett, Ph.D., Pathology, will study molecules that affect sugar use by cancer cells and how they might impact on how well a new targeted treatment works in head and neck cancer.

• Melissa Fath, B.S. Pharmacy, Ph.D., Radiation Oncology, receives a second year of funding to study the use of a modified ketogenic diet in the treatment of pancreatic and lung cancers.

• Duane Hall, Ph.D., Internal Medicine, will investigate how free radicals impact the ability of breast cancer cells to invade and multiply with the goal of identifying a new pathway for future therapies.