FORT WORTH, Texas—Cancer researcher Ronald H. Goldfarb, Ph.D., of the University of North Texas Health Science Center, will present an overview of his research November 15.

The seminar will begin at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, November 15, in Luibel Hall in the Education and Administration Building of the health science center. The event is free and open to the public.

During the presentation, he will summarize his studies into how some cancer cells spread through the body to form malignant tumors and how natural killer cells (a type of white blood cell) find and infiltrate highly malignant tumors, directly kill tumor cells and/or transport anti-cancer drugs to advanced tumors for non-toxic and localized cancer therapy. Its title is “Degradative proteolytic enzymes and migratory properties of invasive tumor cells and IL-2 activated natural killer cells: Implications for therapy of cancer metastases.”

Dr. Goldfarb is presenting the seminar as a result of his being named the 2000-2001 Outstanding Graduate Faculty Member last spring. Each year, the health science center’s graduate students select an outstanding faculty member who is then invited to present the history of his or her research programs. The seminar series was created to foster an understanding of the long-term efforts of the award recipients.

At the health science center, Dr. Goldfarb serves as professor and chair of the department of molecular biology and immunology. He is also the director of the Institute for Cancer Research at the health science center.

Dr. Goldfarb has an international reputation in several areas of cancer research related to invasive tumor cells and natural killer (NK) cells. He was among the first to identify the crucial role that plasminogen activators play in cancer angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. He has also investigated the role of these enzymes, as well as matrix metalloproteinases and the multicatalytic proteasome complex in NK cells, and their potential uses as targets for novel approaches for anti-cancer drug delivery and discovery.

He joined the health science center in 1997 after six years as deputy director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Research Institute, one of the country’s Comprehensive Cancer Centers as designated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Goldfarb is also a former manager of cancer research and anti-cancer drug development for Pfizer, Inc., and a former staff fellow of the National Cancer Institute of the NIH.

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