In the News

Dr. Al Fornace and Dr. Dalong Pang showing their support at the Bellringer Ride to end cancer held on October 19-20, 2023

BellRinger is a community working together to support cancer research breakthroughs at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dr. Suman at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory

Photo Credit: S. Suman

October 02, 2023 -- Georgetown University's Associate Professor Dr. Shubhankar Suman's proposed study, "Senescent Cell Targeting to Alleviate Space Radiation-induced Neuroinflammation", was one of eight new studies selected by NASA to better understand how the human body reacts to spaceflight. NASA's communications team announced, "These studies will be done on Earth without the need for samples and data from astronauts. Collectively, these studies will help measure physiological and psychological responses to physical and mental challenges that astronauts may encounter during spaceflight. With this information, NASA may be better able to mitigate risks and protect astronaut health and performance during future long-duration missions to the International Space Station, the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

MAY 25, 2016 -- More than 70 years have passed since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the long-term health effects of nuclear radiation are still not fully known. But American and Japanese scientists have been studying survivors since the end of the war, and are uncovering valuable information about how to fight and prevent the bombs’ atomic consequences. 

Biophysicist David Brenner is also hoping to fill in some of this uncharted territory. He is director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Medical Center and works in partnership with the Fornace Laboratory and others on countermeasures against radiation.

MARCH 4, 2016-- On March 2, astronaut Scott Kelly returned from a year living on the International Space Station. Meanwhile, his twin brother Mark, a retired astronaut, has been going about his daily life here on Earth. The brothers met at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to participate in a twin study that will evaluate how the human body changes during a year in space. Mark Kelly will serve as a control in the study.

GUMC Update sat down with Albert J. Fornace, Jr., MD, who holds the molecular cancer research chair at Georgetown Lombardi, to discuss his work on cosmic radiation and potential health concerns for Scott Kelly.

May 1, 2014--"I think it’s concerning that we’re having these long-term changes, but it gives us potential druggable targets that could be used to lessen the chance of cancer and the like," Dr. Albert J. Fornace Jr., professor of Biochemistry and the Molecular Cancer Research Chair at Lombardi Cancer Center, on how his research is helping to prevent and treat galactic cosmic radiation. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

April 9, 2014--"Our objective is to develop a risk estimate based on mouse model studies and to identify molecular mechanisms contributing to it, so that we can develop strategies to protect astronauts during long duration space missions, such as one to Mars," Dr. Albert J Fornace Jr., professor of Biochemistry and the Molecular Cancer Research Chair at Lombardi Cancer Center, on recent studies that help explain why space radiation may increase the risk of colorectal cancer. EurekAlert!