Genomic instability: Oncogenic mechanisms of HPV oncoproteins -- Elizabeth Ann Kostas-Polston, PhD, RN

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars program was designed to increase the stature and academic standing of nursing faculty and draw more nurses to teaching careers by creating a cadre of national leaders in academic nursing through career development awards to outstanding junior nursing faculty.Elizabeth Ann Kostos-Polston, Ph.D., R.N., was selected as a 2010 RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholar. She has recently moved to the University of South Florida. The goal of her project is to determine whether benign (low-risk) Human Papilloma viruses (HPVs) suppress the oncogenic activities of the high risk HPVs. The controlled experimental design cell culture model study will measure the transforming activities of HPV 16 E7 & E6. These laboratory experiments should lead to important insights into strategies, such as the development of pharmacologic molecules, which may be used to inhibit the oncogenic activity of high risk HPVs.