LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) today announced the Class of 2020 Young Investigator Award recipients totaling $6 million in funding for innovative prostate cancer research.

PCF Young Investigator Awards are intended to identify a cohort of future research leaders who will keep the field of prostate cancer research vibrant with new ideas, and offer career and project support for early career physicians and scientists who are committed to advancing the prostate cancer field. Twenty-seven PCF Young Investigator Awards totaling $6 million were granted to the promising next generation of cancer researchers.

PCF Young Investigator Awards – Class of 2020
For full project descriptions visit https://pcf.org/YI2020.

2020 Tad Smith & Caroline Fitzgibbons-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Juan Arriaga, PhD, Columbia University Medical Center
Mentors: Cory Abate Shen, PhD; Andreas Califano, PhD; Mark Rubin, MD
Project Title: Investigating Novel Epigenetic Drivers of Bone Metastasis and Treatment Response in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

2020 Lowell Milken-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Wayne Brisbane, MD, University of California, Los Angeles
Mentor: Leonard Marks, MD
Project Title: Micro-Ultrasound and MRI Investigation of Human Prostate Cancer

2020 Larry Ruvo-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Jeremie Calais, MD, University of California, Los Angeles
Mentors: Johannes Czernin, MD; Matt Rettig, MD; Robert Reiter, MD
Project Title: Validating a PET Imaging Biomarker for Targeting Fibroblast Activation Protein in Prostate Cancer Stroma

2020 James Maguire-PCF VAlor Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Lisa Chesner, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentors: Felix Feng, MD; Lawrence Fong, MD; Matthew Cooperberg, MD, MPH
Project Title: Understanding the Role of Androgen Signaling in Facilitating Immune Evasion in Advanced Prostate Cancer

2020 Rob & Cindy Citrone-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Jonathan Chou, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentors: Alan Ashworth, PhD; Felix Feng, MD
Project Title: Discovering Precision Oncology Approaches for CDK12-Deficient Prostate Cancer

2020 Tad Smith & Caroline Fitzgibbons-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Momeneh (Sepideh) Foroutan, PhD, Monash University
Mentors: Shahneen Sandhu, MBBS; Nicholas Huntington, PhD; Joseph Cursons, PhD
Project Title: Defining the Role of Natural Killer Cells in the Radiotherapy Treatment Response of Metastatic Prostate Cancer

2020 CRIS Cancer Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Francesco Giganti, MD, University College London
Mentors: Caroline M. Moore, MD; Monique Roobol-Bouts, PhD
Project Title: A Multi-Center Study to Assess the Impact of MRI for Detection of Aggressive Prostate Cancer in Men on Active Surveillance

2020 Tad Smith & Caroline Fitzgibbons-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Rebecca Graff, ScD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentors: June Chan, ScD; Peter Carroll, MD, MPH; John Witte, PhD
Project Title: Exploration of Metabolomics for the Prevention of Lethal Prostate Cancer

2020 Tad Smith & Caroline Fitzgibbons-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Sachin Kumar Gupta, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine
Mentor: Laising Yen, PhD
Project Title: Investigating the Pathological Role of AZI1 RNA in TMPRSS2-ERG Gene Fusion Formation

2020 Neil & Sandra DeFeo Family Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Jessica Hawley, MD, Columbia University Medical Center
Mentor: Charles Drake, MD, PhD
Project Title: Association of Circulating Markers of Pro-Tumorigenic Inflammation with Clinical Progression and Race-Ethnicity in Men with Prostate Cancer

2020 CRIS Cancer Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Anastasia Hepburn, PhD, Newcastle University
Mentors: Rakesh Heer, PhD; Robert Bristow, MD
Project Title: Improving Outcomes for PARP Inhibition Treatment in Men with Lethal BRCA2 Mutant Prostate Cancer by Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment

2020 Foundation Medicine-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Daniel Khalaf, MD, BC Cancer Agency
Mentors: Kim Chi, MD; Alexander Wyatt, PhD
Project Title: Developing a Novel ctDNA-Based Approach to Patient Risk Stratification and Treatment Selection in mCRPC: A Large Population-Cased Cohort Study

2020 Peter & Laurie Grauer-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Vadim Koshkin, MD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentors: Eric Small, MD; Thomas Hope, MD; Luke Gilbert, PhD
Project Title: Using CDK4/6 Inhibition to Augment PSMA Expression in Advanced Prostate Cancer and Enhance Clinical Responses to PSMA-Targeted Radioligand Therapy

2020 Rebecca and Nathan Milikowsky-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Ariel Marciscano, MD, Weill Cornell Medicine
Mentors: Chris Barbieri, MD, PhD; Sandra Demaria, MD; Charles Drake, MD, PhD
Project Title: Targeting Fc Gamma Receptors with Stereotactic Radiation to Reprogram Myeloid-Derived Immune Cells in the Prostate Tumor Microenvironment

2020 Gary and Allison Lieberman-PCF VAlor Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Kara Maxwell, MD, PhD, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center/University of Pennsylvania
Mentors: Naomi Haas, MD; Kyle Robinson, MD
Project Title: Towards Targeting African American Prostate Cancer with PARP Inhibitors and Immunotherapy

2020 Tad Smith & Caroline Fitzgibbons-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Lucia Nappi, MD, PhD, University of British Columbia
Mentors: Martin Gleave, MD; Amina Zoubeidi, PhD
Project Title: Uncovering Lineage Plasticity in the Context of Specific Genomic Alterations in High Risk Prostate Cancer

2020 David Yurman-PCF VAlor Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Ravi Parikh, MD, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center/University of Pennsylvania
Mentors: Alicia Morgans, MD, MPH; Ravishankar Jayadevappa, PhD
Project Title: Biomarker-Based Approaches to Predict Fracture Risk among Men with Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer

2020 The Kovler Family Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Jung Wook Park, PhD, Duke University
Mentors: Jiaoti Huang, MD, PhD; Andrew Armstrong, MD
Project Title: Interrupting the Aberrant Cancer Development Sequence in Prostate Cancer Progression

2020 John Black Charitable Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Alec Paschalis, MD, PhD, Institute of Cancer Research
Mentors: Johann de Bono, MD, PhD; Stephen Plymate, MD; Ganesh Raj, MD, PhD
Project Title: Metabolic Adaptations to Androgen Receptor Blockade and the Prostate Cancer Transcriptome

2020 Jeff & Loyd Zisk-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Antonio Rodriguez-Calero, MD, University of Bern
Mentors: Mark Rubin, MD; Savatore Piscuoglio, PhD
Project Title: Molecular Pathology-Artificial Intelligence Approach to Therapy Response Prediction for Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer

2020 ASTRO-PCF Early Career Development Award to End Prostate Cancer-Richard and Ellen Sandler Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Tyler Seibert, MD, PhD, University of California, San Diego
Mentors: Anders Dale, PhD; Michael Hahn, MD, PhD; Loren Mell, MD
Project Title: Phase II Biomarker Study of Advanced Diffusion MRI in High-Risk, Localized Prostate Cancer Treated with Radiotherapy and Androgen Deprivation Therapy

2020 Advanced Accelerated Applications-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Alok Tewari, MD, PhD, Harvard University/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Mentors: Eliezer Van Allen, MD; Myles Brown, MD; Mary-Ellen Taplin, MD
Project Title: Integrated Single-Cell Analysis of Mechanisms of Therapeutic Resistance in Prostate Cancer Patients

2020 Michael & Patricia Berns-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Tosoian, MD, University of Michigan
Mentors: Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD; Todd Morgan, MD; Bruce Trock, PhD
Project Title: Refinement, Validation and Clinical Application of a Novel Panel of High-Grade Cancer-Specific Biomarkers in the Overall and African American Populations

2020 Emilio Bassini-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Wasmuth, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Mentors: Charles Sawyers, MD; Sebastian Klinge, PhD
Project Title: Biochemical, Structural and Molecular Dissection of Androgen Receptor Transcriptional Activity

2020 The Boehly Family-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Leanne Woods-Burnham, PhD, City of Hope
Mentors: Rick Kittles, PhD; Tanya Dorff, MD
Project Title: HER2 Expression in African American Men with Prostate Cancer

2020 Ms. Lucy Shostak & Dr. Elliot Abramowitz-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Samir Zaidi, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Mentors: Charles Sawyers, MD; Michael Morris, MD
Project Title: Studying the Mechanisms of Lineage Plasticity in Prostate Cancer

2020 Tad Smith & Caroline Fitzgibbons-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Jimmy Zhao, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Mentor: Charles Sawyers, MD
Project Title: Investigating Cell of Origin and Molecular Mechanisms of Lineage Plasticity in Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world's leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised more than $830 million in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 220 leading cancer centers in 22 countries around the world. Thanks in part to PCF's commitment to ending death and suffering from prostate cancer, the death rate is down by 52% and countless more men are alive today as a result. The Prostate Cancer Foundation research now impacts more than 70 forms of human cancer by focusing on immunotherapy, the microbiome, and food as medicine. Learn more at www.pcf.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Staci L. Vernick
Prostate Cancer Foundation
svernick@pcf.org
press@pcf.org
610-812-6092

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SOURCE Prostate Cancer Foundation