Scientist wins research award for prostate cancer cell study

M. Saeed Sheikh, M.D., Ph.D., a research scientist at SUNY Upstate Medical University whose study may lead to more effective and less toxic therapies for prostate cancer, was named a Sinsheimer Scholar by the Alexandrine and Alexander L. Sinsheimer Fund. The distinction includes an award of three-year $120,000 grant to further his research.

Sheikh's study involves two proteins found in prostate cancer cells, c-Abl and p73, and their downstream targets in radiation-induced prostate cancer cell death. By using cell and molecular biology, genetic and biochemical methods, Sheikh hopes to identify existing and new molecules and pathways that could serve as targets in the development of better anticancer agents, including a more effective use of radiation or the use of radiation in combination with other therapies.

Sheikh, an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology at SUNY Upstate, has published numerous papers, review articles and book chapters. He is the principal investigator of three grants that seek to explore important problems in cancer biology: two from the National Institutes of Health and one from the Department of Defense. He is also co-investigator of two additional NIH studies dealing with cancer biology.

The Sinsheimer Scholar awards are given to promising faculty members who are at the beginning of their careers. This year's Sinsheimer Scholar awards competition involved faculty members of medical schools in New York and New Jersey. Sheikh resides in Manlius.