Researchers from North Carolina A&T State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been awarded a grant to investigate an aggressive form of breast cancer.

The teams will work to determine the role of viral factors in the aggressive nature of triple-negative breast cancer, which represents 15 to 20 percent of breast carcinomas. It is prevalent in younger women, African American women and in women with BRCA1 gene mutations.

This type of cancer is very aggressive, has a poor prognosis, fails to respond to conventional therapy and appears in many forms. The causes and molecular basis of this cancer are currently unknown, though multiple factors, including viruses, may be involved.

Specifically, this pilot study will investigate the prevalence of three particular types of viral genetic material in triple negative breast tumors and determine what role these passenger virus genetic materials play in the cancer’s malignant properties and survival.

The study will be led by Dr. Perpetua Muganda, professor of biology at N.C. A&T. The team will include Dr. Scott Harrison, assistant professor of biology at A&T; Dr. Dukka KC, assistant professor of computational science and engineering, A&T; and Dr. Jan Prins, professor of computer science, UNC-CH.

The $50,000 in funding for the study comes from the North Carolina Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NC TraCS) and was matched by funds from the universities. It is part of the NC TraCS translational research pilot program created to accelerate the transfer of research findings to clinical practice. The institute is funded by the National Institutes of Health through its Clinical and Translational Science Award program.

Effective Thursday, May 15, state fund budgets for the 2013-2014 fiscal year will be collapsed. Contracts and grants, overhead receipts and campus enterprises fund budgets will not be affected, and state fund travel (code 73100), communications (73200) and maintenance (74400) budgets are exempt from the collapse.

In addition, procurement card purchases should not be made and all state fund requisitions must be on the system no later than close of business on May 15. The requisitioning process will be disabled.

The Year-End Closeout Team suggests reviewing account statements and open commitments prior to May 15. Open purchase orders that are complete or have been paid should be liquidated.

Purchasing Office

Emergency requisitions for state funds should be entered into Aggie-Mart; these will be reviewed by the Budget and Planning Office before the purchase orders are processed. If approved, the good/service must be delivered and an invoice received in Accounts Payable before June 15.

All state funded purchase orders for the 2013-2014 fiscal year will be closed or deleted after June 15. Follow up with vendors to ensure goods/services are received by Friday, June 13. If goods/services are not received and paid by Friday, June 27, a new purchase order must be created in Aggie-Mart on Wednesday, July 2.

Unused purchase orders will not carry over into the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Capital improvement, contracts and grants and campus enterprises purchase orders will carry over into the new fiscal year.

Accounting Office

Procurement card (p-card) purchases should be made no later than Friday, May 15, for the charges to be made against this year’s budget.

Settlement for travel advances must be submitted no more than 10 days after a trip. The Office of the State Controller mandates that all advances must be submitted by Friday, June 20. Failure to submit outstanding advances for reconciliation may negatively impact the next request for an advance and may result in payroll deduction.

The final check cycle will be Friday, June 27. The last day to submit check requests and invoices (on purchase orders) and have them entered into the system is Monday, June 16; however, payment will be based on the availability of funds. A separate payment processing schedule will be sent to the appropriate department for capital improvement payments.

The close out process sometimes limits the Accounting Office’s ability to write checks in the new fiscal year. Those who are planning to travel during the first three weeks of July, or may have other needs, should plan accordingly.

Treasurer’s Office

All petty cash reimbursements to be processed in the current fiscal year must be brought to the Treasurer’s Office by Wednesday, June 11. No petty cash reimbursements will be processed June 12–30, due to the year-end closeout. The processing of petty cash reimbursements will resume Tuesday, July 1.

The last day to make deposits in the Treasurer’s Office for the current fiscal year is Monday, June 30, at 2 p.m.

For assistance, contact the respective area(s): Office of Budget and Planning, 336-334-7631; Purchasing Office, 336-334-7555; Accounting Office, 336-334-7684; or the Treasurer’s Office, 336-334-7721.