Guest lecturer Carlo Croce, M.D., (second from left) with Tom Kieber-Emmons, Ph.D. (left); Buff Blass; and Cancer Institute director Peter Emanuel, M.D. April 7, 2010 | This token of appreciation featuring an Arkansas crystal is presented to each Blass Lecture guest speaker. The wooden base is handcrafted by Robert McGehee Jr., Ph.D., dean of the UAMS graduate school, who also selects the crystal.

April 7, 2010 | A world-renowned expert in cancer genetics was welcomed April 5 as a special guest to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Carlo M. Croce, M.D., presented the Elizabeth Weitzenhoffer Blass Lecture in Cancer Genetics to a capacity crowd of basic and translational scientists, and other health care professionals, at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. He spoke on the topic of “Causes and Consequences of microRNA Dysregulation in Cancer.”

Croce is director of Human Cancer Genetics; chairman of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics; and director of the Institute of Genetics at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus, Ohio. His research has revealed the variety of mutated genes involved in leukemias, lymphomas and other cancers,

Croce also has uncovered the early events involved in the development of lung, nasopharyngeal, head and neck, esophageal, gastrointestinal, and breast cancers. His discoveries have led to revolutionary innovations in the development of novel and successful approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment based on gene-target discovery, verification and rational drug development.

Croce is principal investigator on seven federal research grants and has more than 800 peer-reviewed, published research papers.

The Blass Lecture was established by Elizabeth “Betsy” Weitzenhoffer Blass to help researchers further their efforts in finding cures for cancers.

Blass was a founding member of the UAMS Foundation Fund Board, serving as chairman in 1983-84. She led the first $1 million fundraising drive, which was followed by her chairing the $7 million drive to build Phase I of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. She also chaired the UAMS “Invest in Life Campaign,” which raised $65 million, exceeding its goal by $2 million.

Blass continued to be a member of the University of Arkansas Foundation Fund Board from 1992 until her death in 2005.