To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Foundation provides today's best young scientists with funds to pursue innovative cancer research.
- Today’s Promising Areas of Cancer Research
- What is Cancer?
- A Broken Pipeline?
A Generation of Science at Risk
- ARISE Report
Early Career Scientists and High-Risk, High Reward Research - American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Why We’re Losing the War on Cancer (And How To Win It)
Clifton Leaf - Fortune Magazine
June 25, 2006
Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '95-'98) and colleagues described a new technology for identifying rare cancer-associated genetic signatures, potentially facilitating the more personalized use of targeted therapies. The research was published in the journal Nature Medicine.
June 12, 2006
Antonina Roll-Mecak, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '03-'06) received the L'Oreal Women in Science Fellowship Award.
June 9, 2006
Joseph Mougous, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '05-'08) has discovered how toxins from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria that causes serious infections in patients hospitalized with cancer, cystic fibrosis, and burns, are secreted into human cells. This finding is critical in the search for new treatment targets for this deadly infection.
June 4, 2006
Gregory J. Hannon, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '92-'94) discovered a new class of small RNAs, termed piRNAs. The precise function of these piRNAs is not clear. However, since sperm production is dependent on piRNAs and related proteins called Piwi proteins, these molecules may be involved in regulating specific aspects of cell division. This discovery opens up new frontiers in the study of RNA.
May 25, 2006
Marcia S. Brose, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon - Siemens Clinical Investigator '05-'10) reported on the genomic profile of oral cancer cells. Dr. Brose found that cancer-related genes were changed in more than 25% of the oral cancer specimens used in the study. The long term implication of this work is the development of a genetic profile for early detection.May 23, 2006
David A. Guertin, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '03-'06) published results in the May issue of Current Biology detailing genes involved in the TOR (target of rapamycin) pathway. The TOR pathway is a critical regulator of cell growth and survival. Dr. Guertin's work is important since it identifies several genes involved in mediating cell division and cell size.
May 1, 2006
Scott A. Armstrong, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator '03-'08) and colleagues reported on the mechanism of action of a new small molecule inhibitor targeting BCL-2, a key protein in the cell death machinery. Dr. Armstrong's findings were published in the May issue of the prestigious journal, Cancer Cell.
---
Andrew G. Dillin, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '99-'01), an assistant professor in the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, was featured in the May issue of Inside Salk. Dr. Dillin and his colleagues recently described a protein called Smk-1, which is responsible for extending life span in response to lower insulin signaling.
---
Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator '03-'08) published new data detailing recent advances in the optimization of a DNA vaccine for melanoma. Dr. Wolchok's work was published in the May 1 issue of Cancer Research.
April 25, 2006
Election to the National Academy of Sciences is one of the highest honors that can be earned by a U.S. scientist. In recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original biomedical research, 11 members of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation circle were inducted this April:
DAMON RUNYON FELLOWS
David W. Russell, PhD ('80-'82) Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair in Molecular Genetics, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
Richard M. Amasino, PhD ('82-'83) Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison
DAMON RUNYON COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Terry L. Orr-Weaver, PhD (Scientific Advisory Committee '02-'06 and DR Sponsor) Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Professor of Biology, MIT, Cambridge
Jeffrey V. Ravetch, MD, PhD (Scientific Advisory Committee) Theresa and Eugene M. Lang Professor, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York
DAMON RUNYON FELLOWSHIP SPONSORS
David Baker, PhD- Professor of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle
Don W. Cleveland, PhD- Professor of Medicine, Neuroscience and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego
Titia de Lange, PhD- Leon Hess Professor, Laboratory of Cell Biology and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York
Joseph R. Ecker, PhD- Professor, Plant Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego
Barry S. Ganetzky, PhD- Professor of Genetics and Medical Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Michael E. O'Donnell, PhD- Professor of Microbiology, The Rockefeller University, New York
Arthur D. Riggs, PhD- Director, Beckman Research Institute, Duarte
April 24, 2006
Lei Wang, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '03-'05) has been named to the Searle Scholar program, one of the most prestigious awards available to young faculty working in the life sciences.April 1, 2006
Jayanta Chaudhuri, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '97-'00 and Damon Runyon Scholar '06-'08) was featured on the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center website for his work toward understanding the role of Activation Induced cytidine Deaminase in cancer. The AID gene, which has important implications that involve both immunodeficiency and tumors in the blood, has been implicated in several leukemias and lymphomas.
March 13, 2006
Helen Piwnica-Worms, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '84-'85) and Edison Liu, MD (Damon Runyon Fellow '83-'84) were elected to the Board of Directors of the American Association of Cancer Research.
March 8, 2006
Scott Armstrong, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator '03-'08) and Phillip Febbo, MD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator '05-'10) were featured in a recent article in Drug Discovery & Development, entitled "New Therapies Target Cancer."
February 17, 2006
Zhirong Bao, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '04-'07) developed a novel system to rapidly analyze gene function and protein localization in the worm, a powerful genetic model system for human cancer.
---
Jeremy N. Rich, MD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator '04-'09) reported that the combination of two molecularly targeted therapies called gefitinib and sirolimus, may be a useful treatment for adults with recurrent malignant glioma, a type of brain tumor.
February 9, 2006 > US Cancer Deaths Down For First Time Since 1930
2003 marks a significant milestone in the battle against cancer. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of cancer deaths in the United States dropped in 2003, highlighting the fruits of basic and clinical research - better drugs, earlier diagnoses, and dramatic declines in smoking.
February 6, 2006
Steven A. Jacobs, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '04-'05) has deciphered the detailed structure of an essential piece of the telomerase enzyme, an important contributor to the vast majority of human cancers. Dr. Jacobs' work, published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, permits a better understanding of how telomerase acts to convert normal cells to cancer cells and is likely to allow the design of broadly effective cancer drugs.
January 27, 2006
David Baltimore, PhD (Damon Runyon Board Member), has been selected to serve as president-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS, the world's largest general science society, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing science around the globe. Dr. Baltimore was awarded the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for identifying the reverse transcriptase enzyme, a critical step in understanding the biology of retroviruses like HIV. He is the President and Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technology.
January 18, 2006
Samuel Danishefsky, PhD (Damon Runyon Grantee '66), Eugene W. Kettering Chair and director, laboratory for bioorganic chemistry at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, received the National Academy of Sciences award in chemical sciences for his pioneering chemical synthesis of carbohydrates for the development of anticancer vaccines.