NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Lung
Cancer Research Foundation® (LCRF)
announced the awardees of its 2019 Scientific Grant Program during
the Fourteenth Annual Lung Cancer Awareness Luncheon, held at The
Pierre in New York City. Through
this program, LCRF awarded $2.6 million
dollars in research grants to 12 investigators whose
projects focus on basic, translational, clinical, health services
and epidemiological research. In addition to its annual pilot
grants, for the first time, LCRF awarded research grants through
two additional funding mechanisms: one focused on overcoming
disparities in lung cancer and one on improving the effectiveness
of targeted therapies.
LCRF is the leading nonprofit organization focused on funding
innovative, high-reward research with the potential to extend
survival and improve quality of life for people with lung cancer.
To date, LCRF has funded 370 research grants totaling nearly
$34 million, the highest amount
provided by an organization dedicated to funding lung cancer
research.
"As a lung cancer researcher and former LCRF grantee, I know
first-hand the importance and impact LCRF's funding has on the
careers of junior scientists," said Katerina Politi, PhD, Chair of LCRF's Scientific
Advisory Board and Clinical Biologist and Associate Professor at
Yale's School of Medicine. "Through the
grant program, LCRF supports both cutting-edge lung cancer research
and researchers. We are confident that these projects will lead to
advancements that will ultimately have a direct impact on lung
cancer patients."
Through its annual pilot grant program, LCRF funds innovative
research focused on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure
of lung cancer. This year, LCRF will be funding four projects
through this mechanism. Among them are the prestigious James B.
Dougherty, MD Award for Scientific Merit and the William C. Rippe Award for Distinguished
Research in Lung Cancer. The James B. Dougherty, MD Award for
Scientific Merit is named in honor of Dr. James Dougherty, who served as the Chair of the
LCRF Scientific Advisory Board for the past 13 years and is
responsible for stewarding the growth of the grant program. The
award is presented to the investigator whose proposal was selected
for outstanding overall merit by the Foundation's Scientific
Advisory Board. This year's recipient is Lingtao Jin, PhD, Assistant Professor at the
University of Florida in the Department
of Anatomy and Cell Biology. Dr. Jin's research project is titled,
"The role of protein kinase signaling in cisplatin-resistant
ASCL1-high subtype small cell lung cancer."
"It is my distinct honor to receive the James B. Dougherty, MD
Award for Scientific Merit," said Dr. Jin. "This award provides
critical support and funding to investigate the development of
chemotherapy resistance in small cell lung cancer."
LCRF's William C. Rippe Award for
Distinguished Research in Lung Cancer is presented to the
investigator whose proposal not only demonstrated exceptional
scientific merit but also exemplified an enduring commitment to
making an impact in the field of lung cancer research. Benjamin Lok, MD, Clinician Scientist at the
University of Toronto's Princess
Margaret Cancer Centre, was named the 2019 recipient of this award.
His research project is titled, "Investigating a resistance
mechanism mediated by a Skp, Cullin, F-box containing E3 ubiquitin
ligase complex in small cell lung cancer."
"I am incredibly honored to receive the William C. Rippe Award for Distinguished
Research in Lung Cancer from the Lung Cancer Research Foundation,"
said Dr. Lok. "This award is a testament to and recognition for the
work my laboratory and clinical teams do every day towards the goal
of improving outcomes for patients with lung cancer. We do this in
partnership with our patients and colleagues - therefore this award
is also for them."
LCRF's funding mechanism focused on overcoming disparities in
lung cancer was founded with support from the Stavros Niarchos
Foundation (SNF), in loving memory of Kathryn Louloudis. This year, LCRF will be
funding four projects in this area, supported by additional
corporate partners, focused on topics including gender, racial, and
socioeconomic disparities in care and outcomes. These projects will
address important questions across the care continuum and
ultimately help to overcome the significant gaps in health equity
among lung cancer patients.
Through a collaboration with Pfizer Inc., LCRF will be awarding
four research grants focused on understanding ways to improve
clinical practices for managing side effects in patients with
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are receiving targeted
therapies. These research projects will leverage multidisciplinary
approaches to help patients and their care teams manage side
effects and receive the maximum possible benefit of these important
therapies. This Lung Cancer Treatment Focused Research Grant Program is the first collaboration of its
kind in lung cancer and is very important and timely to the many
patients receiving targeted therapies.
In addition to the presentation of the 2019 Scientific Grant
Program awards, LCRF's Lung Cancer Awareness Luncheon featured two
guest speakers. Giuseppe Giaccone,
MD, PhD, Associate Director for Clinical Research at Cornell University delivered the keynote address.
LCRF Board Member and lung cancer survivor Reina Honts shared her experience and talked
about the importance of research funding and early detection.
The 2019 Pilot Grant Program award recipients
include*:
Alice Berger,
PhD
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Novel
strategies for therapeutic target discovery in lung cancer
Lingtao Jin,
PhD
University of
Florida
The role of protein kinase signaling in
cisplatin-resistant ASCL1-high subtype SCLC
Benjamin Lok, MD
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University
of Toronto
Investigating a resistance mechanism
mediated by a Skp, Cullin, F-box containing E3 ubiquitin ligase
complex in small cell lung cancer
Zhan Yao, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Studies on the
oncogenic function and mediation of drug resistance by ARAF in lung
cancer
The 2019 Disparities in Lung Cancer Research Grant Program award recipients include*:
Melinda Aldrich, PhD,
MPH
Vanderbilt University
Medical Center
Identifying determinants of racial
disparities in lung cancer stage
Manali Patel, PhD,
MPH
Stanford
University
Reducing disparities in lung cancer
through community partnerships
Betsy Risendal,
PhD
University of Colorado
Denver
Improving preventive care to address lung
cancer disparities
Rajwanth Veluswamy, MD
Icahn School of Medicine at
Mount Sinai
Assessing the
mechanisms underlying the association between sex and immunotherapy
response
The 2019 Lung Cancer Treatment Focused Research Grant Program award recipients
include**:
Ryan Gentzler,
MD
University of Virginia
Real-time monitoring and modeling of symptoms and adverse events in
lung cancer patients receiving oral targeted therapies for tumors
with oncogenic driver mutations
Nisha Mohindra,
MD
Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine
Using the novel 4R patient care
sequences to improve the duration and outcomes of therapy in NSCLC
patients receiving targeted treatment
Katharine Rendle, PhD, MSW,
MPH
University of Pennsylvania
Implementation strategies for monitoring adherence in real-time
(iSMART)
Christian Rolfo, MD, PhD,
MBA
University of Maryland,
Baltimore
Proactive monitoring of treatment-related
adverse events through a mobile application in NSCLC patients
treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors: the \"Empower Me" Digital
Therapeutic Study
For more information about LCRF and the Scientific Grant
Program, visit lcrf.org.
*These grants provide up to $150,000 in funding over a two-year
period
** These grants provide up to $350,000 in funding over a two-year
period
About the Lung Cancer Research Foundation
The Lung Cancer Research Foundation® (LCRF)
is the leading nonprofit organization focused on funding
innovative, high-reward research with the potential to extend
survival and improve quality of life for people with lung cancer.
LCRF's mission is to improve lung cancer outcomes by funding
research for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of lung
cancer. To date, LCRF has funded 370 research grants, totaling
nearly $34 million, the highest
amount provided by a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding
lung cancer research. For more information, visit lcrf.org.
Contact:
Emily
Krimbel
Lung Cancer Research Foundation
ekrimbel@lcrf.org
(212) 588-1580
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SOURCE Lung Cancer Research Foundation