Wistar Institute Female Scientist Team Receives Grant
by Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A team of female scientists has received a $900,000 grant to further its melanoma research.
The money comes from L'Oreal Paris USA, which has a history of rewarding women in science. Dr. Ashani Weeraratna, an associate professor at The Wistar Institute, says the team is trying to find out what happens to melanoma tumor cells as they metastasize and to look at a process called "tumor dormancy."
"Tumor dormancy is something that happens when you have a primary tumor, you treat it, you remove it, or you use chemotherapy and after several years go by the tumor comes back and it comes back with a vengeance," explained Dr. Weeraratna
There are five women in this group and Dr. Weeraratna says that's extremely unusual due to the ratio of women to men working in the sciences.