Two decades ago, Mary Aakre was doing what she had been doing every day for 12 years as a research specialist, when the lab in which she worked made cancer history.

She was working alongside Harold (Hal) Moses, M.D., emeritus director of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, when his team and others across the country identified TGF-beta, transforming growth factor beta. This protein, which stimulates growth in some cells while inhibiting growth is others, is a key player in cancer development and progression. It is the Moses Lab's primary focus to this day.

"It was a crazy time," she recalled. "The media were all over and that was a first-time experience."

Today, most days are quieter, but Aakre said no two are ever the same. A self-described morning person, Aakre starts her day as manager of the Moses Lab at 6 a.m. Her work to assist others and order supplies is instrumental for the lab's study of cancerous tissues, mostly breast and pancreas.

Aakre has been working for Moses her entire career. She followed him to Vanderbilt in 1985 after working as part of his team for 12 years at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Having such longtime technicians and other support personnel in the laboratory is key to the success of the research, Moses said. Post-doctoral fellows and students move through for shorter periods, but people like Aakre are the backbone. She, in particular, has been instrumental, he said.

"When she goes on vacation everyone at the lab realizes how much she really does," Moses said.

Anna Chytil, senior research specialist in the Moses Lab, agrees. "Without her, the lab would collapse," said Chytil. "She is one of the most enthusiastic people I've ever met when it comes to getting work done."

In the years she's spent as a researcher, Aakre has seen great changes in technology. "The tools have improved. There was no micro-pipetting 30 years ago," she said, describing a tube-and-mouth technique to transfer cells onto a Petri dish that would make today's safety officials cringe. Due to advances in equipment and technology, researchers can now get more results with smaller amounts of material.

When she's not at work in the lab on the sixth floor of Vanderbilt-Ingram's Preston Research Building, Aakre enjoys spending time with her husband and 22-year-old son, volunteering in her church nursery, and cooking. She is also an avid biker, and longs for the day when Nashville will have plentiful bike paths.

Aakre takes pride in the work she and her colleagues are doing to make cancer advancements and in the history that she has helped build under Moses' direction.

"In the long run," she said, "it's good to think that something we're doing will help people with cancer. Curing cancer won't happen overnight, but we've made progress. Cancer deaths are on the decline.

"I like to think that we're making a difference."

- by Nicole Schneider