By FRED KRONER
Most of us would like to see our life’s work move forward by leaps and bounds.
Mahomet resident Dr. Timothy Fan has been satisfied to see his progress inch along.
A veterinarian, Fan has devoted much of the past 15 years to finding solutions and treatments for animals with cancer.
“We all wish for mega breakthroughs with fast improvements, but I look at this not as a sprint, but more as a marathon,” Fan said. “We look for incremental advancement.
“While we want major breakthroughs, we have to temper the great expectations with taking little wins all along your career.”
He has made enough of an impact to be recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) as the recipient of the 2020 Career Achievement Award in canine research. The award was established in 2009.
Ironically, due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, Fan won’t formally receive his award until sometime in 2021, though he was recognized at the organization’s virtual meeting in August.
That’s OK with Fan, who has worked at the University of Illinois for the past 22 years. His work isn’t based on the potential to receive recognition or honors.
“My hope is to work hard and advance veterinary oncology medicine,” Fan said. “Being a recipient of a national award is a great honor and I appreciate the recognition.”
His efforts are based on helping animals, and his rewards are present when those in need develop a better quality of life.
Fan, who has lived in Mahomet for 15 years, acknowledged that he was “pleasantly surprised,” by the honor to be bestowed upon him.
“There are a lot of people in veterinary medicine doing great things and advancing treatment for dogs and cats with cancer,” Fan said. “There are many, many people who are meritorious and there are not enough awards to go around.”
Fan’s passions were developed at a young age while growing up in northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.
“I had a lot of pets when I was growing up,” Fan said, “and enjoyed giving care to them.
“I always did gravitate to animals when I was younger. I loved animals, and that set me on the path to being a veterinarian.
“As of high school, I knew I wanted to go into a field with dogs and animals, and veterinary medicine seemed to be a good fit.”
His primary area of interest evolved slowly.
“As I was more and more involved, I tended to gravitate more to pets with cancer,” Fan said. “I thought what causes this and how can you improve therapy as a clinical service, and treat dogs and cats with cancer.”
Fan leads the Comparative Oncology Research Laboratory at the UI.
According to Renee Scaletta, the marketing and communications assistant at AVMA, Fan is “an expert in the field of bone sarcoma research, authoring or co-authoring more than 30 published manuscripts specifically pertaining to osteosarcoma pathology.
“Tim’s expertise with osteosarcoma biology, which spans both dogs and children, has been recognized nationally within the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) bone sarcoma section, including Dr. Richard Gorlick at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Dr. Chand Khanna at the National Cancer Institute.
“Given this prominence in the bone sarcoma arena, he was appointed as the Osteosarcoma Biology chair for the Children’s Oncology Group and has assumed a leadership role in this research group.
“As direct evidence for his respected opinion and expertise in comparative oncology, Tim works closely with national osteosarcoma leaders (such as Gorlick, Khanna and Lee Helman) and, in 2013, facilitated the organization of a focused meeting held in Washington, D.C., on ‘Developing Drugs that Target Progression in Osteosarcoma.’”
Fan has been touched by cancer, which he said is “emblematic of how cancer touches everyone.”
His father passed away from liver cancer and, he added, “I had a dog afflicted with cancer. The discovery component is what drove me to explore this career. Most of the time when you discover new therapies, you’re trying to accelerate drug development to fight cancer.”
In addition to his commitment to research, Fan is also part of the UI faculty.
“For our veterinary college, the courses are mega courses with multiple instructors for the vet students in training,” he said. “I contribute lectures, and also teach graduate students.
Fan has been on the UI campus since 1998. For the past 15 years, he has worked with chemistry professor Paul Hergenrother in developing new therapies.
“The biggest part of veterinary medicine and research is to explore the use of class drugs and improve bone strength,” Fan said. “The U of I is the most prolific group in the veterinary field helping dogs with bone cancer so they have a better quality of life.”
The Comparative Oncology Research Laboratory at the UI is a nationally recognized clinical research program with an emphasis on utilizing dogs with spontaneous tumors as comparative models of human disease, according to Scaletta, and expediting the drug development pathway as well as the identification of biologically relevant therapeutic options.
“The laboratory has developed scientific collaborations with a nucleus of academicians and scholars on and off the University of Illinois Urbana campus interested in bone destruction, tumor cell metastases and the evaluation of novel anti-cancer agents,” Scaletta said.
A long-term goal in his translational cancer research is to find carryover from what works with canines to what will be beneficial for humans.
“There is one human-phase clinical trial now for brain cancer that has great potential,” Fan said.
Throughout the years, Fan has played a key role in the process.
“Tim has leveraged the use of dogs diagnosed with cancer as spontaneously arising tumor models,” Scaletta said, “allowing for the unparalleled characterization of in-vivo pharmacokinetics safety and activity of procaspase-3 activating compounds.
“Tim has collaborated with other researchers at Illinois to establish a start-up company called Vanquish Oncology. The research team have developed procaspase-3 activators and evaluated these through proof of concept clinical trials in dogs with naturally occurring tumors with marked success.
“The products show real promise as anti-cancer agents and are now entering clinical trials for humans. Tim’s collaborations with other university researchers have resulted in studies to evaluate the safety and therapeutic activity of chemotherapy containing nanoconjugate formulations in sophisticated murine tumor models, as well as in dogs with spontaneously arising cancer.”
For now, Fan is content and satisfied with the work he is doing, but he has given a brief thought to what might be an appealing project once he retires.
“One of my sons is interested in animals and we’ve talked about opening a local pet store together and educating people on the value and benefits of pets in your life,” Fan said.
