And at a pre-game press conference Dec. 15, Khaled and football players from Tulane University and Louisiana-Lafayette talked about the impact of breast cancer, which will kill more than 40,000 Americans this year.

Zachery Harris, linebacker for Tulane, said his grandmother died from breast cancer a year ago.  “So it’s very dear to me,” he told reporters about playing in the Cure Bowl. “Just to be playing for that cause means a whole lot.”

The annual NCAA bowl game in Orlando raises money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the largest private funder of breast cancer research worldwide. One of the game’s largest beneficiaries is Khaled,.  “The work that we’re doing right now at Ů��AV is really mostly due to the Cure Bowl’s endeavors,” she said.

In 2012, Khaled discovered a peptide called CT20 that kills metastatic cancer cells. The peptide disrupts chaperonin, a protein that prompts the folding mechanism inside cancer cells. If the inner workings of the cell can’t fold into 3D units, the cell dies. She and her team developed a technology using nanoparticles that are programmed to carry the peptide through the bloodstream to attack metastatic cancer cells. And recently, her lab has been working with “liquid biopsies,” which can analyze spreading cancer cells in patients’ blood to help identify those whose tumor makeup would most benefit from their therapy.

“A lot of people are developing therapies for all different types of cancer, including breast cancer,” Khaled says. “But the challenge comes when you try to use that therapy in patients. Which patients will benefit? Which therapy should you use on which patient? So being able to develop a diagnostic arm that runs in parallel to our therapy is really powerful.”

Khaled said the Cure Bowl funding and support from BCRF have accelerated her work to find a cure while helping raise public awareness about her research.  “We’re moving forward,” she says.

The Cure Bowl begins at 1:30 p.m. at Camping World Stadium. Tickets are on sale at https://fevo.me/2O0c0P4.

Cure Bowl and College of Medicine leaders, elected officials, cancer survivors and football fans applauded the event, held at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium, for increasing awareness and funding for breast cancer research. The AutoNation-sponsored game is the only bowl contest dedicated to a charitable effort. All proceeds benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the largest private founder of breast cancer research worldwide.

BCRF is the only breast cancer organization to receive an A+ rating from Charity Watch and spends 91 cents of every $1 it receives on research into a disease that affects one in eight women.

One of those efforts is led by Dr. Annette Khaled, professor at the College of Medicine’s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences and head of the medical school’s cancer research division. Khaled and Dr. Deborah German, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, were on the field to help accept the giant Cure Bowl check and also helped received a proclamation from Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs. After the presentations, breast cancer survivors carried a giant pink quilt onto the field. The 20-foot-long quilt was made from 250 individual pieces created by AutoNation employees whose lives had been touched by breast cancer.

German and Khaled came to the bowl game after attending UCF’s December graduation, where undergraduate, Masters and Ph.D. students from the Burnett School received their diplomas. One of those graduates was Ana Carr, who earned her Ph.D. working in Khaled’s lab. Carr has now accepted a UCF fellowship to continue those efforts.

“The fight against breast cancer is so connected,” Khaled said as she stood on the field being hugged by Cure Bowl and BCRF officials and cancer survivors. “Thanks to this game and the dollars it raises I can graduate Ana as a Ph.D. and we can continue discovering and investigating. We’re making great progress. And that should give cancer patients and survivors great hope.”

Khaled’s lab has discovered a peptide, CT20, which kills metastatic cells by disrupting the folding mechanism inside cancer cells mediated by a molecular structure called a chaperonin. If the inner workings of the cell can’t fold into three-dimensional units, the cell dies. Metastatic or spreading cancer cells move from the original tumor to the body’s brain, lungs and bones and are what kill most patients. Dr. Khaled’s lab has studied the peptide for stopping metastatic breast cancer cells in animal models and licensed it, with the next step being clinical trials.

Alan Gooch, executive director of the Orlando Sports Foundation, said Khaled has given a local face to cancer research and is proud that proceeds from the game stay in Orlando. “We’re doing our part with the football game and the excitement of a bowl game. Annette is doing her part. All of us are very excited to be behind Annette and what she’s doing at the UCF College of Medicine,” he said.

Saturday’s game featured Georgia State vs. Western Kentucky with Georgia State winning 27-17.

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The game pitted UCF’s Knights against Arkansas State, with the Red Wolves winning 31-13 before about 30,000 fans at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.

The Cure Bowl is the only NCAA football bowl game with a charity in its name and proceeds of the event support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the largest private funder of breast cancer research worldwide.

Myra Biblowit, president and CEO of BCRF joined Dr. Khaled, College of Medicine Dean Dr. Deborah German, Cure Bowl and AutoNation leaders in accepting a giant check on the field during the game. As fans cheered, she touched the check, pumped her fist and said, “Amazing. Cure On!”

Dr. Khaled is one of just five researchers in Florida to get BCRF funding and before Saturday’s game had received about $650,000 from the Cure Bowl for her work at the College of Medicine’s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. “We’re going to play football and beat cancer at the same time,” she said as the game began. “There couldn’t be a better combination.”

Dr. Khaled’s lab has discovered a way to kill spreading breast cancer cells and her new technology has generated a licensing agreement that will accelerate the therapy’s path to clinical trials.

Metastatic cancer cells that spread from the original tumor to the brain, lungs and bones are the leading cause of death for most cancer patients. In 2012 Dr. Khaled discovered the peptide CT20, which kills fleeing cells by disrupting the folding mechanism inside cancer cells mediated by a chaperonin. If the inner workings of the cell can’t fold into 3D units, the cell dies.

As part of the research, Dr. J. Manuel Perez, a former UCF researcher who specializes in chemistry and nanotechnology, developed nanoparticles to transport the peptide specifically to metastatic cancer cells.

The next step in the research is to put the therapy into preclinical testing and clinical trials. SEVA Therapeutics Inc., a Massachusetts-based pre-clinical biotechnology company, recently licensed the nanoparticle-peptide combo. It is expected to undergo a comprehensive safety evaluation that if successful could lead to clinical testing in patients in 2018.

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The medical school has a team of “Cancer Assassins” – researchers in the Burnett School of Biomedical Science who are using their scientific expertise to find a cure:

Dr. Annette Khaled

Khaled chairs the College of Medicine’s Cancer Research Division. She is using nanoparticles to track down and kill metastatic breast cancer cells. These cells, which spread from the original tumor, cause cancer to recur and spread into the brain, blood and lungs – causing death to most patients. Khaled’s technology is expected to begin clinical trials in 2018.

Dr. Deborah A. Altomare

Altomare is finding new ways to fight pancreatic and ovarian cancer by studying how cancer tumors interact with surrounding cells. She is working to develop targeted drugs and immune cell therapy to block the growth and spread of cancer tumors.

Dr. Claudia Andl

Andl creates a cancer tumor’s environment in a test tube to better understand how tumor cells interact with their environment and spread. With that focus, she is looking to develop better treatments for oral and esophageal cancers.

Dr. Karl X. Chai

Chai’s research focuses on HER2+ breast cancer – an especially aggressive form that hits about 1 in 5 breast cancer patients. This type of cancer is hard to fight because the breast cancer cells have a particular protein that causes them to grow and spread quickly. Chai is looking at the novel mechanisms in these cells and what makes them resistant to Herceptin, the drug approved for treatment.

Dr. Ratna Chakrabarti

Chakrabarti is studying the cellular differences between aggressive and more inactive cancers to better identify patients who have a genetic predisposition to develop drug-resistant prostate cancer. By identifying the genetic and epigenetic components of prostate cancer, Chakrabarti hopes to develop better therapies for prostate cancer patients and improve their quality of life. Her lab is also conducting screenings of synthetic compounds that may prove to be novel anti-cancer agents.

Dr. Li-Mei Chen

Chen is identifying the novel mechanisms in lung cancer cells that make them resistant to chemotherapies. Lung cancer is the second-most-common cancer in men and women and is by far the leading cause of cancer deaths. About 1 in 4 cancer deaths are from lung cancer – more than colon, breast and prostate cancer combined.

Dr. Alicja Copik

Copik is developing ways to activate the body’s Natural Killer cells to kill cancer. NK cells are a veritable army that identify and attack invaders like cancer and viruses. She has developed a technology that uses nanoparticles to activate and grow NK cells to fight cancer. The therapy will begin clinical trials in 2017 and shows promise in treating leukemia and other cancers.

Dr. Jihe Zhao

Zhao’s question: Why does the heart rarely get cancer? He is looking to understand why cancer spreads to some organs like the brain and not others like the heart. Dr. Zhao is also discovering how to protect the heart from damage caused by anti-cancer therapies.

Learn more about the medical school’s cancer division at ,

“It affected me most when she lost her hair and saw her struggling a little bit, and so this game, I’m pretty much dedicating it to her,” Rucker said at a bowl game press conference Thursday.

Now in its second year, the AutoNation Cure Bowl’s proceeds go to breast-cancer research, specifically the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Some of the proceeds have already supported the work of College of Medicine cancer researcher Dr. Annette Khaled. She attended the press conference with Cure Bowl officials, Ů��AV players and Coach Scott Frost.

The game is equally significant for Rucker’s teammate, linebacker Shaquem Griffin, who said he is inspired by a family member battling the disease.

“Seeing her keep fighting and keep pushing, it just reminds us that anytime there is a bad play or anytime something goes wrong, you know, why can’t we keep fighting,” said the AAC defensive player of the year.

Griffin is looking forward to “a great experience” being able to play for such an important cause.

“It’s more than just us when it comes to this game. Just like the name says, it’s the Cure Bowl. We’re fighting for a cause. We are playing more than just football, and that’s the biggest thing – that’s the biggest impact for us.”

The Knights will face Arkansas State University at Camping World Stadium in Orlando with kickoff set for 5:30 p.m.

Khaled, chair of the medical school’s Cancer Research Division, will join Dr. Deborah German, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UCF College of Medicine, and others on the field during the game to receive a check of Cure Bowl proceeds going to breast cancer research.

To purchase tickets or get more information on the game, visit . The game will be shown on CBS Sports Network.

UCF will face off with Sun Belt co-champion Arkansas State in the Cure Bowl, which is set for Dec. 17 at 5:30 p.m. inside Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.

“We’re thrilled to be in a bowl game,” UCF head coach Scott Frost said Sunday. “Our guys have done a lot to earn a chance to play in the post-season. I think it’s wonderful that we get to play right here in the great city of Orlando. I think it’s going to give us an opportunity to have a lot of fans. It’s going to make travel and logistics easy for our football team and I can’t wait to give our seniors another chance to play football. I would love to see this team end this season on a good note. We’d love to send our seniors out on a good note. So we’re going to prepare as hard as we can.”

Frost said he is proud to take part in the Cure Bowl, which donates proceeds from the game directly to individual breast cancer researchers through the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Cure Bowl proceeds directly benefit breast cancer research at UCF. Dr. Annette Khaled, head of the College of Medicine’s Cancer Research Division, has received $645,000 from the Cure Bowl through the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Khaled and her team of graduate students have discovered a way to kill breast cancer cells, and their work is moving forward to preclinical testing and then clinical trials.

“Bowl games are exciting no matter where they are and which game they are,” Frost said. “The Cure Bowl stands for something maybe a little more than most, to be a bowl that helps raise awareness and money for breast cancer. That’s as good a cause as you can find.”

UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Danny White said playing in the Cure Bowl will benefit the football program and Knights fans.

“Taking part in the Cure Bowl will be a great experience for our student-athletes,” White said. “Congratulations to our football team and our coaching staff for earning the reward of participating in a bowl game. I know our fans will be excited about supporting their Knights right here in Orlando at Camping World Stadium.”

Below are reasons to support the Knights and buy your bowl tickets through UCF:

UCF fans can purchase tickets to the Cure Bowl by calling 407.823.1000. Information on student tickets will be available later this week.

Parking information will also be available at a later date.

As she stepped off the field, BCRF President and CEO Myra Biblowit said the game “means the world to me. It’s a dream come true” and thanked AutoNation and the Orlando Sports Foundation for being the engine behind the only college bowl game devoted to medical research. “It’s a great night for football and a great night for hope,” she said. Biblowit has called Dr. Khaled’s research to stop metastatic breast cancer cells “seminal” and said the BCRF hopes to continue providing support. “Dr. Khaled is doing great science and it’s our honor to support her,” she said.

AutoNation donated $1 million to the bowl game. That check presentation and the presentation to BCRF were shown to a national TV audience on CBS Sports Network, which broadcast the game. San Jose beat Georgia State 27-16 in front of an announced crowd of 18,588.

Dr. Khaled’s work focuses on spreading cancer cells that leave the original tumor and travel to the brain, bones and lungs. That’s what kills most cancer patients. She is using innovative therapies and techniques – including nanoparticles – to hunt down the fleeing cells, attack and destroy them. While chemotherapy and radiation can often shrink a tumor or eliminate it, “pesky” and resilient cells metastasize and can invade other organs or cause cancer to re-appear years after treatment, Dr. Khaled explained.

Dr. Khaled said she was “humbled, grateful and excited all at the same time” to receive BCRF funding and be featured at the bowl game. BCRF is the largest private funder of breast cancer research worldwide, having raised $530 million and so far awarding $58 million to 237 cancer researches across six continents. The foundation supports five of what it considers eminent cancer scientists in Florida. In addition to Dr. Khaled, the organization supports research at the University of Miami and Mayo Clinic.

As they stood on the Orlando Citrus Bowl sidelines following a pink and glitter halftime fireworks display, Drs. German and Khaled talked about meeting for the first time after Dr. German was named founding dean of Orlando’s new medical school. She had asked Dr. Khaled her dream for her research Dr. Khaled said she wanted “someday” to develop a treatment that physicians could use to fight breast cancer in their patients. As they reflected at the Cure Bowl on Dr. Khaled’s progress, the dean said, “You dreamed big and see how far your dream has brought you?”