To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Foundation provides today's best young scientists with funds to pursue innovative cancer research.
March 21, 2005
Seven former Damon Runyon Fellows were selected as Investigators of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI): Andrew Camilli, PhD; Gregory Hannon, PhD; Linda Hsieh-Wilson, PhD; Erik Jorgensen, PhD; Alex Kolodkin, PhD; Dianne Newman, PhD; and Michael Rosen, PhD. These investigators were nominated by their institutions for demonstrating exceptional promise within 4 to 10 years of their becoming independent scientists and were among only 43 of the nation’s most promising biomedical scientists selected for this honor. HHMI Investigators are widely recognized for their creativity and productivity.
March 15, 2005
Charles G. Drake, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '04-'09) reported that earlier use of prostate cancer vaccines achieves more benefit in a mouse model of the disease. His results reveal that the immune system can be prompted to attack cancer cells much more efficiently when a vaccine is applied at the time of initial hormone therapy rather than later on when the mice become tolerant of the cancer.
March 10, 2005
John T. Grayhack, MD (Damon Runyon Fellow '52-'54) made a major breakthrough in cancer gene therapy by endowing immune cells with the ability to specifically target metastatic prostate cancer in mice. The therapy successfully infiltrated tumor tissues and prevented tumor spread without causing the toxic immune suppression that has been associated with earlier forms of cancer gene therapy.
March 9, 2005
Juli Feigon, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '82-'85) determined the three-dimensional structure of a major domain of the protein, telomerase, which plays a key role in many types of cancer. The structure will provide insights into how telomerase works and aid in the design of new cancer drugs that inhibit its activity.
February 23, 2005
Joseph Opferman, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '01-'04), showed that a protein that promotes survival of blood stem cells may provide clues about leukemia prognosis.
February 17, 2005
David Guertin, PhD, (Damon Runyon Fellow '03-'06) was part of a team from the Whitehead Institute reporting the identification of a protein complex that may be a key player in many malignant brain and prostate tumors. Blocking the formation of the complex represents a promising strategy for new cancer drugs.
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The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that an experimental cancer vaccine called Provenge tripled the survival rate of men with advanced prostate cancer in a clinical trial. The treatment was developed by Dendreon, a Seattle-based biotechnology company. David Urdal, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '81-'83) serves as Chief Scientific Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Dendreon.
February 16, 2005
A group led by Bruce Zetter, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '74-'76) from Children's Hospital in Boston developed a new screening test for prostate cancer. In preliminary studies, the urine-based test appeared to be more accurate than PSA testing. Dr. Zetter also serves as Chief Scientific Officer of Children's Hospital.
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Brian Kuhlman, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '99-'02) won the prestigious AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize for a paper he published in the November 21, 2003 issue of Science. The prize recognizes the most outstanding first-time publication of an author's work that appeared in Science during a given year and is the oldest award conferred by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The paper described the development of a novel computer program for designing proteins.
February 14, 2005
A team of researchers led by James D. Griffin, MD (Damon Runyon Fellow '77-'79) used rational drug design to create a targeted therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia. The new drug may ultimately be more effective than Gleevec®, the current frontline treatment.
February 3, 2005
A new report in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that Bexxar, a drug developed by Mark Kaminski, MD (Damon Runyon Fellow '83-'85), rivals chemotherapy for treatment of lymphoma.
February 1, 2005
Hai Yan, MD, PhD, (Damon Runyon Scholar '05-'07) reported that a gene used in brain development can cause childhood brain cancers.