A team from the Anderson University Center for Cancer Research published an iBook research manual this year that provides insights into sterile techniques and data analysis during cancer research efforts.
Dr. Diana Ivankovic, a professor of biology and the center’s director, wrote the manual; Anderson University seniors Michael Stevens and Isaac Daffron, both cancer research fellows, formatted and published the iBook.
Students previously followed a print manual, but the new iBook provides digital access to the resource. Daffron said videos are included in the iBook, offering easy visualization of techniques. The publication is available for free to AU students and other scholars and universities.
“Having this iBook will allow students at the Anderson University Center for Cancer Research and beyond to learn proper techniques in tissue culturing,” Stevens said. “By doing this, our students not only have the opportunity to make new discoveries, but they can share these with others in the academic community, both at AU and abroad. I find it rewarding to have played a part in this publication, as I have personally performed these techniques and can now share them with others pursuing cancer research.”
Dr. Ivankovic directs the cancer center alongside professors Dr. Frank Norris, Dr. Dorota Abramovitch and Greg Robinson. Each year, research students apply to complete one or two semesters of cancer research. After a year as a cancer scholar, students can apply to be cancer fellows and lead their peers in cancer research. Many cancer research students have published and presented at conferences.
The cancer center’s facility was donated by AnMed Health and is located on Fant Street, near AU’s main campus. Students use state-of-the-art equipment to complete their research project using cancer cells. The new techniques manual navigates them through the research process.
“We train future physicians, future dentists, future professors, future pharmacists,” said Dr. Ivankovic, a cancer survivor. “We train them and get them excited about doing cancer research and making little strides forward towards the cure.”