2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

Members of the Damon Runyon scientific circle regularly publish findings on the latest cancer research and are frequently recognized for their contributions to the fight against cancer.  Below, you will find new discoveries in cancer research and the most recent honors bestowed upon Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awardees, alumni and friends.

2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

Members of the Damon Runyon scientific circle regularly publish findings on the latest cancer research and are frequently recognized for their contributions to the fight against cancer.  Below, you will find new discoveries in cancer research and the most recent honors bestowed upon Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awardees, alumni and friends.

2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

Members of the Damon Runyon scientific circle regularly publish findings on the latest cancer research and are frequently recognized for their contributions to the fight against cancer.  Below, you will find new discoveries in cancer research and the most recent honors bestowed upon Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awardees, alumni and friends.

2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

Members of the Damon Runyon scientific circle regularly publish findings on the latest cancer research and are frequently recognized for their contributions to the fight against cancer.  Below, you will find new discoveries in cancer research and the most recent honors bestowed upon Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awardees, alumni and friends.

2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

Members of the Damon Runyon scientific circle regularly publish findings on the latest cancer research and are frequently recognized for their contributions to the fight against cancer.  Below, you will find new discoveries in cancer research and the most recent honors bestowed upon Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awardees, alumni and friends.

2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

Members of the Damon Runyon scientific circle regularly publish findings on the latest cancer research and are frequently recognized for their contributions to the fight against cancer.  Below, you will find new discoveries in cancer research and the most recent honors bestowed upon Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awardees, alumni and friends.

Alonzo H. Ross, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '77-'78) of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, discovered that combining chemotherapy (temozolomide, TMZ) with a targeted therapy that blocks Notch signaling (γ-secretase inhibitor, GSI) blocks glioblastoma brain tumor recurrence in mice.  In patients, these tumors are typically treated with surgery, radiation and TMZ, but these therapies ultimately fail due to tumor recurrence.  GSIs are thought to block the cancer stem cells that resist chemotherapy/radiation and allow tumor recurrence.  The researchers hope to ultimately translate these findings into the clinic.  This study was published in the journal Cancer Research.   

Click here for more.

Raffaella Sordella, PhD (Island Outreach Foundation Innovator '10-'12) of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, reported the discovery of a subpopulation of cells in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors that are intrinsically resistant to the targeted therapy erlotinib/Tarceva.  These cells have features suggestive of a fate change termed epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and the researchers showed that these features are dependent on signaling by TGF-β and secretion of a factor called IL-6.  Both TGF-β and IL-6 trigger inflammation.  Interestingly, this study suggests that inflammation (e.g., in the tumor microenvironment) can reduce the tumor response to Tarceva; this represents an important new understanding of how tumor cells develop resistance.  These findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Click here for more.

Runyon 5K runners take their first lap on the warning track at Yankee Stadium	Many Runyon 5K teams included family members of all ages
Participants listened as speakers thanked and motivated the crowd	These women used special tribute bibs to dedicate their run/walk to loved ones affected by cancer
As the bullhorn sounded, elite runners launched off of the Runyon 5K starting line	Runners began the Runyon 5K on Concourse 1 at Yankee Stadium
Friends and family took photos and cheered from the DeltaSky360 Suite at Yankee Stadium	The Yankee Stadium jumbotron showed live video of Runyon 5K participants on the warning track
Three of the youngest Runyon 5K participants celebrated their finish in Yankee Stadium's Great Hall	Damon Runyon scientists Erik Debler, Laura Banaszynski, & Duncan Smith chatted with participants during the Runyon 5K
Several Runyon 5K teams came with creative names and coordinated uniforms	Finishers were greeted by volunteers handing out water, fruit, pretzels and more
Top male finisher Lou Dinuzzo crossed the finish line at 19:08:54	Every Runyon 5K participant who finished the race received a medal
NBC's DeMarco Morgan and Damon Runyon Executive Director Lorraine Egan pumped up the crowd	Dozens of Runyon 5K volunteers helped make the event a success, handing out goody bags, t-shirts and more

> View videos from the 2010 Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium

Participants Run Their Own Victory Laps Inside the Home of the World Champions

New York, NY, August 16, 2010 — On August 15, 2010 thousands of cancer research supporters, including survivors and patients, took part in the second annual Runyon 5K, the cancer fundraiser that takes place inside Yankee Stadium. The event reached capacity at 4,000 registrants who raised more than $375,000 for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, which funds the 'Derek Jeters of cancer research.' On an overcast, mild summer day, fans aged from 5 to 81 years old ran their own victory laps around the famous field in support of cancer research. Cancer survivors and patients were joined by exhuberant Yankees fans and the Foundation's own scientists.
	The top male finisher was Lou Dinuzzo of Albany, NY with a time of 19:08:54. The top female finisher was Heather Stephens from Danbury, CT with a time of 19:53:88. Many walkers and participants who ran at slower paces were content to take their 'winning' photos from the warning track surrounding the field. DeMarco Morgan, Anchor/Reporter for WNBC 4 kicked off the 5K and later reported on the event and his own experience of running the course for NBC 4's 6pm newscast.
EVENT DETAILS The Runyon 5K is a unique charity run/walk that uses the Stadium as its course. The event began at 9:30am with the 5K run, and ended near 2pm. Participants explored the Stadium from the basement level to the upper concourses, and ran their own victory laps around the warning track circling the field. Friends and family of participants cheered on their heroes from the DeltaSky360° Suite overlooking home plate. More details can be found at www.damonrunyon.org/yankeestadium.
SPONSORS In addition to the New York Yankees' support, other event sponsors include 24 Hour Fitness, Walgreens, White Rose, Unilever, SIRIUS XM Radio, New York Daily News and WNBC 4 New York. > View photos from the event. > Watch Runyon 5K videos on Youtube. > Read My Fox New York coverage. > Read a feature story on participant Jen Reynolds in the New Haven Register.

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION

To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation provides today's best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative cancer research. We support emerging leaders who have great potential to achieve breakthroughs in the how we diagnose, treat and prevent cancer.

The Foundation was created in 1946 in memory of Damon Runyon, a New York writer who began his career as a baseball journalist and revolutionized how the game was covered. Of the more than 3,300 scientists funded since, 11 are Nobel Laureates and many lead cancer centers nationwide. Today more than 119 scientists currently funded by Damon Runyon are working at labs and major research institutions around the country, including 15 awardees in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

CONTACT

Catherine Bright
Communications Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
212.455.0506
catherine.bright@damonrunyon.org

John L. Rinn, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '09-'11, Damon Runyon Fellow '05-'07) of Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute, Boston, Laura D. Attardi, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar '02-'04) of Stanford University, Stanford, and colleagues, discovered that one particular non-coding RNA, lincRNA-p21, acts as a repressor of p53-dependent gene expression and apoptosis (cell death).  p53 is the most commonly-mutated gene in human cancers.  These findings were published in the journal Cell.  In a separate study, Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar '06-'08, former Fellowship Sponsor) and colleagues at Stanford University, Stanford, reported that lincRNAs may function by serving as scaffolds to bring together select enzymes that regulate the expression of target genes by modifying histones.  This report was published in the journal Science.

Click here and here for more.

Hong Wu, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '92-'95, Former Sponsor) and a team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have developed a new technology that can measure signaling pathway levels in a single cell from tissues, including brain tumors.  The new technology, microfluidic image cytometry (MIC), combines microfluidics and microscopy-based cell imaging.  These molecular "fingerprints" are a new advance in diagnostics that could ultimately help physicians predict patient prognosis and guide personalized treatment.  This study was published in the journal Cancer Research.

Click here for more.

Grants totaling over $2.8M give early career investigators independence to pursue novel ideas

New York, NY (July 8, 2010) — The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting exceptional early career researchers and innovative cancer research, named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review.  The recipients of this prestigious, three-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country. The Fellowship encourages the nation's most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($156,000 each) to work on innovative projects.

May 2010 Damon Runyon Fellows

Niels Bradshaw, PhD, with his sponsor Richard M. Losick, PhD, at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is studying the regulation of an enzyme called protein phosphatase that acts in specific cells to promote cellular differentiation.  Protein phosphatases are required for many processes, including cell growth, division, differentiation and stress adaptation.  He hopes that understanding phosphatase regulation will clarify the role of these enzymes in cancer and potentially aid in the development of anti-cancer therapies that target phosphatases.

Elizabeth M. Duncan, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with her sponsor Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, PhD, at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, is examining how DNA-sequence-independent (epigenetic) mechanisms regulate gene expression during regeneration in the planarian flatworm.  Such mechanisms are involved in the establishment and maintenance of cellular memory; understanding the normal function of epigenetics will lead to a better understanding of how their misregulation leads to cancer.

Kimberly Evason, MD, PhD, with her sponsor Didier Y.R. Stainier, PhD, at the University of California, San Francisco, California, is studying liver development and liver tumor formation in zebrafish. Her focus is on hepatic stellate cells, support cells that surround both normal liver tissue and liver tumors.  She hopes to improve our understanding of how these cells influence liver cancer, including ways by which hepatic stellate cells might promote formation of liver tumors and/or lead to more aggressive tumor behavior.

Christopher J. Hale, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Steven E. Jacobsen, PhD, at the University of California, Los Angeles, California, is focusing on the basic biological processes that allow cells to coordinate the replication of their genes with the regulation of when those genes are turned on/off.  By studying the interplay of these two biological processes, he hopes to elucidate how tumor cells are able to bypass the strict controls that a cell uses to normally operate each process.

Daniel A. Heller, PhD, with his sponsor Robert S. Langer, ScD, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is developing a method to direct gene therapies to cancerous tissues.  He is synthesizing polymer nanoparticles that can target tumors using specific receptors on their surface.

David G. Hendrickson, PhD, with his sponsor John L. Rinn, PhD, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, aims to identify and describe RNA molecules called lincRNAs that may regulate how cancer cells read genetic information. Defining the roles of lincRNAs in cancer could open new avenues for more accurate diagnostics and effective therapeutics.

Sujun Hua, PhD, with his sponsor Ronald A. DePinho, MD, at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, aims to complete a comprehensive, genome-wide assessment of regulatory networks governing self-renewal and fate-determination programs in normal and malignant neural stem cells.  Tumor progression of certain tumor types, including glioblastoma, depends on a subpopulation of cells within the tumor called tumor stem cells.  Understanding the shared and distinct features of normal and malignant stem cells is critical to develop novel therapies that selectively target tumor stem cells but spare their normal counterparts.

Nikhil S. Joshi, PhD, with his sponsor Tyler Jacks, PhD, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is studying the response of the body’s immune system to tumors.  The goal of his research is to understand how cells of the immune system interact with growing tumors and why these cells are not able to effectively kill tumors.  One particular type of immune cell, the regulatory T cell, blocks anti-tumor immune cells from killing tumor cells.  Understanding how regulatory T cells function and how they promote tumor growth may be critical to developing future immune-based treatments and therapies for cancer patients.

Kristin A. Krukenberg, PhD, with her sponsor Timothy J. Mitchison, PhD, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, is studying the role of a molecule called poly(ADP-ribose) in cell division and mitotic spindle formation. By understanding poly(ADP-ribose) function and regulation in both cancer and non-cancer cells, she will investigate new avenues for the design of more effective and selective cancer therapeutics.

Gabriel C. Lander, PhD, with his sponsor Eva Nogales, PhD, at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, is using electron microscopy to examine the mechanism by which cells initiate division.  His research will help explain why cancer cells form and will potentially lead to new molecular targets for cancer treatment.

John R. Lydeard, PhD, with his sponsor Jeffrey W. Harper, PhD, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, is interested in studying how proteins are targeted for destruction. Defects in maintaining the balance between newly made proteins and those to be destroyed are often linked with cancer progression. Better understanding of how these processes are regulated will help to develop more effective anticancer therapeutics.

Costas A. Lyssiotis, PhD, with his sponsor Lewis C. Cantley, PhD, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, is studying the underlying differences in cellular metabolism between cancer cells and normal cells.  In particular, he is interested in understanding (i) how cancer cells rewire their metabolic networks to satisfy the demands of continuous proliferation and (ii) what happens to cancerous cells when they are forced to behave metabolically like normal cells. While his initial studies will be aimed at addressing these questions in breast cancer, these studies have the potential to provide new ways to treat many types of cancers.

Dale Muzzey, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Jonathan S. Weissman, PhD, at the University of California, San Francisco, California, is studying how both the sequence and structure of mRNAs affect the efficiency by which they are translated into protein in the yeast Candida albicans.  Defects in mRNA translation have been linked to several cancers, and he hopes to reveal features of translational control that generalize to humans.  Additionally, his project may highlight potential ways to combat Candida infections, which frequently afflict immune-compromised cancer patients undergoing therapy.

Jason A. Reuter, PhD, with his sponsor Michael P. Snyder, PhD, at Stanford University, Stanford, California, is investigating the role of a new class of RNAs (long non-protein-coding RNAs) in regulation of cellular differentiation, a process that generates the specialized cell types found throughout our bodies.  Aberrant differentiation is commonly observed in human tumors; poorly differentiated tumor cells are associated with the worst prognosis.  Research on the regulation of normal cellular differentiation may, therefore, provide insight into the mechanisms underlying tumor progression.  These RNAs may also represent exciting possibilities as novel anti-cancer therapies.

Volker Schweikhard, PhD, with his sponsor Steven M. Block, PhD, at Stanford University, Stanford, California, is investigating, at the single molecule level, how certain transcription factors assist an enzyme called RNA polymerase II in faithfully copying the genetic information stored in our DNA to messenger RNA—the blueprint for the proteins in our body. Aberrant gene expression lies at the heart of cancer, and thus, a detailed understanding of the activities of specific transcription factors may open up a potential route toward cancer therapy.

Lara C. Skwarek, PhD, with her sponsor David Bilder, PhD, at the University of California, Berkeley, California, is examining epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions (EMTs), cellular changes that are required for normal development.  EMTs are also crucial benchmarks in tumor progression towards metastasis.  She will be performing a genetic screen for new molecules involved in EMTs.  These studies will broaden our knowledge of the role of EMTs in cancer progression with the additional goal of identifying new targets for cancer therapeutics.

Ian Y. Wong, PhD, with his sponsors Mehmet Toner, PhD, and Daniel Irimia, MD, PhD, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, is developing a new experimental platform for characterizing how cancer cells migrate in response to biochemical signals and 3D structural architectures. This approach may yield novel insights into how malignant cancer cells invade, which would aid the development of anti-metastatic therapies.

Dong Yan, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Norbert Perrimon, PhD, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, is aiming to generate profiles of phosphorylation for each kinase and phosphatase enzyme in the genome, and to relate these profiles to their in vivo functions during development.  Given the large number of kinase mutations associated with various cancers, understanding the phosphorylation network could prompt treatment tailored to aberrant signaling of specific pathways.

###

DAMON RUNYON CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation provides today’s best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative research.  The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists.  Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs.  Each of its award programs is extremely competitive, with less than 10% of applications funded.  Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested over $220 million and funded more than 3,300 scientists.  This year, it will invest approximately $10 million in the most outstanding young investigators in the nation.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research.  Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and endowment.

For more information visit www.damonrunyon.org

to Support Early Career Physician-Scientists

Public release date: 01-Jul-2010

New York, NY (July 1, 2010) — The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (DRCRF) and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) are pleased to announce their partnership in supporting an early career physician-scientist.  Tobias J.E. Carling, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine has been named as the first Doris Duke-Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator.
 
Dr. Carling will receive a total of $486,000 over three years for his project “Molecular Genetics of Endocrine Tumor Disease” (see below for lay summary).  In addition, DRCRF will retire up to $100,000 of any qualifying outstanding medical school debt still owed by Dr. Carling. 

“It is a great honor to receive the Doris Duke-Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award for my research and scientific career development and to be supported by two of the most prestigious private medical research foundations in the country,” said Dr. Carling.

The Damon Runyon and Doris Duke Foundations support young physician-scientists through similar grant programs, the Clinical Investigator Award and Clinical Scientist Development Award, respectively.  Dr. Carling was recommended to receive each of these awards following rigorous independent peer review processes by both Foundations.

“There is a significant shortage of talented physician-scientists dedicated to translating research from the laboratory to the patient’s bedside in search of breakthrough treatments,” said Lorraine Egan, Executive Director of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.  “Both Foundations are highly committed to encouraging the careers of these unique individuals.”

 “We’re delighted to be partnering with the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation to fund Dr. Carling’s project,” said Ed Henry, president of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.  “This award allows Dr. Carling the financial and professional benefits of being affiliated with both DDCF and DRCRF.”

Lay Summary of Research

Dr. Carling focuses on endocrine tumors, a type of cancer which affects hormone-producing tissues in the body (such as the thyroid, pituitary gland, adrenal gland and islet cells of the pancreas).  The underlying genetic basis for endocrine tumors is not yet known.  Dr. Carling’s goal is to complete a comprehensive genomic analysis of patients with endocrine tumor disease in order to identify individual genes involved in early cancer formation.  His research will provide important insights into the development of endocrine tumors as well as other cancer types, laying the basis for future individualized medical and surgical management of cancer. 

Dr. Carling works under the mentorship of Richard P. Lifton, MD, PhD, and Robert Udelsman, MD, MBA.

DAMON RUNYON CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

The Clinical Investigator Award program is specifically intended to help address the shortage of physicians capable of translating scientific discovery into new breakthroughs for cancer patients.  In partnerships with industry sponsors (Eli Lilly and Company, Amgen, Genentech, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and Siemens Medical Solutions), the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has committed more than $35 million to support the careers of 53 physician-scientists across the United States since 2000.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research.  Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and endowment.

For more information visit www.damonrunyon.org

CONTACT
Yung S. Lie, PhD
Scientific Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
yung.lie@damonrunyon.org
212.455.0521

THE DORIS DUKE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

Since 1998, the Doris Duke Medical Research Program has committed approximately $360 million to strengthen and support clinical research, which advances the translation of basic biomedical discoveries into new treatments, preventions and cures for human diseases.  To learn more about the program or to receive competition announcements, visit www.ddcf.org/mrp.

The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.

CONTACT
Reiko Fitzsimonds, PhD
Program Officer
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
rfitzsimonds@ddcf.org
212.974.7105

Public release date: 01-Jul-2010

New York, NY (July 1, 2010) — The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named five new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators at its April 2010 Clinical Investigator Award Committee review.  The recipients of this prestigious three-year award are outstanding early career physician-scientists conducting patient-oriented cancer research at major research centers under the mentorship of the nation’s leading scientists and clinicians. Each will receive $450,000 to support the development of his/her cancer research program.

For the second time, the Foundation also awarded Continuation Grants to three Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators.  Each award will provide an additional two years of funding totaling up to $300,000.  The Continuation Grant is designed to support Clinical Investigators who are approaching the end of their original awards and need extra time and funding to complete a promising avenue of research or initiate/continue a clinical trial.  This program is possible through the generous support of the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, and Connie and Robert Lurie.

The Clinical Investigator Award program is specifically intended to help address the shortage of physicians capable of translating scientific discovery into new breakthroughs for cancer patients.  In partnerships with industry sponsors (Eli Lilly and Company, Amgen, Genentech, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Siemens Medical Solutions), the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has committed more than $35 million to support the careers of 53 physician-scientists across the United States since 2000.

2010 Clinical Investigator Awardees

Tobias J.E. Carling, MD, PhD [Doris Duke-Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator]
Dr. Carling focuses on endocrine tumors, a type of cancer that affects hormone-producing tissues in the body (such as the thyroid, pituitary gland, adrenal gland and islet cells of the pancreas).  The underlying genetic basis for endocrine tumors is not yet known.  Dr. Carling’s goal is to complete a comprehensive genomic analysis of patients with endocrine tumor disease in order to identify individual genes involved in early cancer formation.  His research will provide important insights into the development of endocrine tumors as well as other cancer types, laying the basis for future individualized medical and surgical management of cancer.
Dr. Carling works under the mentorship of Richard P. Lifton, MD, PhD, and Robert Udelsman, MD, MBA, at the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. 

N. Lynn Henry, MD, PhD [Lilly Investigator]
Due to advances in cancer screening and treatments, the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer will be cured of their disease.  However, many will require at least five years of therapy with medications called aromatase inhibitors, which greatly reduce the amount of estrogen circulating in the body.  These drugs cause new or worsening aches and pains in about half of women, resulting in decreased quality of life. 

One hypothesis is that medication-induced lowering of estrogen levels may affect pain perception, resulting in increased sensation of pain during therapy.  In order to evaluate this hypothesis, Dr. Henry will conduct a clinical trial to assess change in pain threshold and development of aches and pains in women who are being treated with an aromatase inhibitor.  In addition, she will determine if there is a link between pain symptoms during treatment and inherited mutations in genes involved in pain perception; this will address whether some women are predisposed to developing symptoms during aromatase inhibitor therapy. The overall goal is to gain a better understanding of why pain symptoms occur, so that these symptoms can be prevented or treated, thereby improving the quality of life of breast cancer survivors.
Dr. Henry works under the mentorship of Daniel F. Hayes, MD, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

Kevin R. Kozak, MD, PhD [Genentech Investigator]
Tumors depend on new blood vessel formation for growth and spread.  This process, known as angiogenesis, is an attractive target for cancer therapy.  Unfortunately, antiangiogenic agents have proven less efficacious than anticipated.  Preclinical results suggest that combinations of antiangiogenic agents and radiation may have great therapeutic utility; however, it remains unclear how these treatment modalities interact and how best to integrate them. 

Dr. Kozak will use biochemical, cellular and animal models to develop strategies to optimally integrate antiangiogenic therapies with radiation.  Positron emission tomography (PET) will be used for non-invasive monitoring of angiogenesis in mouse tumor models, and these results will be correlated to treatment responses. Guided by results of these studies, he plans to initiate a pilot human trial of antiangiogenic therapy to determine if PET imaging can identify a therapeutic window during which radiation may be particularly effective. The proposed project represents an integrated “bench-to-bedside” effort to optimize antiangiogenic therapy.
Dr. Kozak works under the mentorship of Paul M. Harari, MD, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.

Igor Matushansky, MD, PhD
Novel therapeutic approaches are necessary to improve the outcome of patients with sarcomas and other solid tumors.  Dr. Matushansky aims to test his hypothesis that chromatin remodeling agents, which alter gene expression, can induce solid tumors to undergo biological and morphological changes that lead them to resemble their corresponding normal tissue, a process referred to as maturation or differentiation.  Maturation or differentiation therapy provides an opportunity to fundamentally change the biology of the underlying cancer (and thus its overall prognosis).  While a change of an undifferentiated/high grade sarcoma (or carcinoma) into completely normal tissue remains an ideal, albeit likely unrealistic goal, a change from a ‘poorly differentiated/high grade’ tumor to a ‘well differentiated/low grade’ tumor is attainable; this can improve an individual’s median time of survival from months to decades.  Dr. Matushansky hopes to implement this therapeutic approach for sarcomas and other solid tumors.
Dr. Matushansky works under the mentorship of Carlos Cordon-Cardo, MD, PhD, at Columbia University, New York, New York.

Brian G. Till, MD [Pfizer Investigator]
Certain types of lymphoma, such as the indolent B cell lymphomas and mantle cell lymphoma, are incurable with standard therapies. These diseases can, however, be cured using stem cell transplantation, in which immune T cells from the donor kill lymphoma cells.  This procedure unfortunately carries the serious risk of graft-versus-host disease, which can be life-threatening.

In order to provide safer therapy options, Dr. Till’s goal is to develop a new treatment for lymphoma using patients’ own T cells to fight their cancers: patient cells are collected, a gene is inserted into the cells that allows them to recognize and kill lymphoma cells, and then the cells are infused back into the patient.  He is leading a phase I clinical trial testing this treatment in lymphoma patients. He is optimistic that this strategy will translate into a safe, curative treatment for patients with lymphoma; insights from this work may help to advance similar treatments for other types of cancer.
Dr. Till works under the mentorship of Oliver W. Press, MD, PhD, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington.
 

2010 Clinical Investigator Continuation Grants

Colleen Delaney, MD, MSc [Novartis Investigator]
Dr. Delaney completed a Phase I clinical trial demonstrating that expanded cord blood cells infused into acute leukemia patients resulted in successful rapid engraftment (recovery of the immune system after transplantation).  The Continuation Grant will be used to examine the immune mechanism of how these transplanted cord blood cells persist in the patient.  These studies will be important for improving the success of transplants in patients.
Dr. Delaney works under the mentorship of Irwin Bernstein, MD, and Frederick Appelbaum, MD, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington.

Douglas K. Graham, MD, PhD [Novartis Investigator]
Dr. Graham focuses on Mer, a receptor tyrosine kinase that plays a role in hematological cancers, such as leukemias, as well as brain cancer (glioblastoma) and certain lung cancers.  He has demonstrated that blocking Mer activity leads to enhanced leukemia cell death, particularly when combined with chemotherapy.  The Continuation Grant will provide support for Dr. Graham to continue research evaluating two biological inhibitors of Mer (an antibody and a small molecule inhibitor) as potential new therapeutics for pediatric leukemias.  Current therapies are highly toxic both in the short-term and long-term; highly targeted treatments such as a Mer inhibitor could offer less toxic, more effective therapy for patients.
Dr. Graham works under the mentorship of James V. DeGregori, PhD, and Sue Gail Eckhardt, MD, at the University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado.

Catherine J. Wu, MD
Dr. Wu’s goal is to develop new immune-based treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).  Current treatments for these diseases are effective for a short time, but patients ultimately relapse and die of their disease.  The Continuation Grant will enable Dr. Wu to continue developing tumor-specific immunotherapy with minimal side effects that will target the leukemia cells and ultimately lead to a non-toxic therapy to cure CLL.
Dr. Wu works under the mentorship of Jerome Ritz, MD, at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts. 
 

###

DAMON RUNYON CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation provides today’s best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative research.  The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists.  Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs.  Each of its award programs is extremely competitive, with less than 10% of applications funded.  Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested over $220 million and funded more than 3,300 scientists.  This year, it will invest approximately $10 million in the most outstanding young investigators in the nation.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research. Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and endowment.

For more information visit www.damonrunyon.org

CONTACT
Yung S. Lie, PhD
Scientific Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
yung.lie@damonrunyon.org
212.455.0521

Ken Cadwell, PhD (Lallage Feazel Wall Fellow '08-'11) and colleagues at Washington University, St. Louis, reported that the combination of a genetic mutation in Atg16L1 plus a specific viral infection induces Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory disease of the gut.  The mutation alone is not sufficient to promote the disease.  In addition, their research suggests that the genetic and viral combination harms the gut microbial community.  Treatment with an antibiotic clears out the gut microbes and eliminates disease symptoms in mice.  This study indicates that viruses may play an important role in disease onset.   These findings were published in the journal Cell. 

Click here for more.

The following Former Fellows are four of the 21 early career scientists named 2010 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences.  The Pew Charitable Trusts grants Scholars $240,000 over four years for this prestigious award, which helps support their work in areas ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's to Autism.

David A. Guertin, PhD (Fellow '03-'06) University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts
Valerie Horsley, PhD (Fellow '04-'07) Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Rajat Rohatgi, MD, PhD (Fellow '06-'07) Stanford University, Stanford, California
Susan R. Schwab, PhD (Fellow '04-'06) New York University, New York, New York

Click here for more.

William Y. Kim, MD (Damon Runyon-Merck Clinical Investigator '09-'12) of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and colleagues reported that the SRC, PI3K and MEK1/2 kinase signaling pathways act together in metastatic lung tumors that have deletions of the tumor suppressor LKB1.  These findings suggest that unique combinatorial therapies may be successful for treatment of lung cancers.  The research was published in the journal Cancer Cell.    

Click here for more.

Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '00-'05) of Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, and colleagues reported that the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV) in tumors is the best predictor of response to therapy and survival for patients with oropharyngeal cancer (cancer of the back of the mouth).  Those with HPV-positive tumors had better 3-year rates of overall survival (82.4% vs. 57.1% for patients with HPV-negative tumors).   Christine H. Chung, MD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '05-'10) of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, was a collaborator on this study.  These findings were reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference and in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Click here and here for more.

Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '03-'08) of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues reported the first treatment to improve overall survival in patients with metastatic melanoma.  In a phase III clinical study, patients were treated with ipilimumab, which blocks a protein called CTLA-4 to promote an antitumor T-cell immune response.  Overall survival was improved by 34.4% (10.1 months vs. 6.4 months).  These findings were reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference and in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Click here and here for more.

New York, NY (June 4, 2010) — On Wednesday evening, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation raised more than $7 million and launched a new award to catalyze the research of today's most promising young cancer researchers. The "Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists" is named for the Foundation's retiring Chairman in recognition of his 16 years of visionary leadership and role in transforming Damon Runyon into the premier charity funding today's best young cancer researchers.
	The Award will be granted to select recipients of the prestigious Damon Runyon Fellowship Award who have greatly exceeded the Foundation’s very high expectations during their Fellowship term.    These young scientists are the most likely to make paradigm-shifting discoveries, yet they often face difficulty obtaining funding for their own ideas at this critical career stage.  Each will receive an additional $100,000, funding that will accelerate their path to independence and their impact on cancer.
More than 160 people attended the dinner, held at New York City's Metropolitan Club.  The evening included a video tribute to Mr. Frey featuring NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump.  Speakers, including senior scientists and business leaders, praised Mr. Frey's unique combination of business savvy and determination, which enabled the Foundation to greatly expand its funding of top young scientists and to instigate new, innovative programs.
These programs included the highly praised Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award, which has funded more than 50 outstanding physician-scientists dedicated to moving research quickly from "lab to bedside," and its Innovation Award focused on high-risk, high-impact research.  Mr. Frey spoke of the team effort required to achieve the remarkable advances made during his time.   He called the Foundation the "venture capitalist of the cancer-fighting industry." Incoming Chairman Alan Leventhal is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Capital Partners, a real estate investment company headquartered in Boston.  He has served on the Damon Runyon Board for the past six years and is a recognized business and philanthropic leader. During Mr. Frey's tenure, Damon Runyon scientists: contributed to the development of three new targeted therapies: Herceptin, Erbitux and Bexxar. co-discovered the first breast cancer gene. were the first to use gene sequencing technology to predict response to treatment. elucidated the process of programmed cell death. cloned the first mice from adult stem cells. pioneered the ability to turn off genes through RNA interference. discovered the link between HPV and head and neck cancer. > View photos from the event.

To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation provides today's best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative research. The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists. Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs. Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested over $220 million and funded more than 3,300 scientists. This year, it will invest approximately $9 million in the most outstanding young investigators in the nation.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research. Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and endowment. For more information visit www.damonrunyon.org.

CONTACT
Catherine Bright
Director of Communications
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
212.455.0506
catherine.bright@damonrunyon.org

James E. Rothman, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '76) of Yale University, New Haven, was named a recipient of the 2010 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience “for discovering the molecular basis of neurotransmitter release.”   His pioneering work has focused on how cells take up nutrients, move substances within their interior, and release hormones, growth factors and other factors to their environment.  He continues to study the basic mechanisms responsible for intracellular transport and secretion of neurotransmitters and other proteins.

Nadrian C. Seeman, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '72-'73) of New York University, New York, was awarded the 2010 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience "for the development of unprecedented methods to control matter on the nanoscale."  He invented structural DNA nanotechnology when he realised the building blocks of DNA could be harnessed to create the raw materials for nanoscale circuits, sensors and medical devices.

Click here for more.

Jun Liu, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '91-'93) and colleagues at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, reported that anti-cancer drugs (antibodies) can be packaged into silica particles for more efficient delivery to the tumor.  The particles were injected directly into a mouse melanoma, which resulted in much greater and prolonged inhibition of tumor growth than the antibody given systemically.  These studies present a promising new approach for local targeted delivery of drugs to tumors.  The findings were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Click here for more.

New York, NY (May 10, 2010) — The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation opened registration today for the second annual Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium, a unique charitable run/walk that uses the Stadium as its course.  This year’s event takes place on Sunday, August 15, 2010, and will raise funds to support early career scientists conducting innovative research for all types of cancer.

How to Register
Registration opened to the public today—Monday, May 10.  Entry is limited to the first 4,000 registrants.  Registration will close on August 6 or when capacity has been reached.  The registration fee is $35 for students and children and $50 for adults.  Starting July 16, fees will increase to $40 and $60, respectively.  All participants are encouraged to raise funds and will have access to a customized fundraising page on the Runyon 5K website.  100% of all funds raised by participants will go directly to scientists funded by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.  For more information and to sign up for the event, please visit: www.damonrunyon.org/yankeestadium

Event Details
The Runyon 5K will take place from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm inside Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on Sunday, August 15, 2010.  Staggered start times will be assigned to participants, with runners starting first according to pace.  Local scientists funded by the Foundation will be on hand to answer questions about their cancer research and the work of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.  More details can be found at www.damonrunyon.org/yankeestadium.

Participants
The event is open to both individuals and teams, with corporate and university teams encouraged to compete.  The event organizers extend a special invitation to cancer survivors and those running in memory of lost loved ones or in honor of those affected by cancer.  Families and supporters are also welcome.  Spectators will have the opportunity to view the event from the Delta SKY360° Suite.

Sponsors
In addition to the New York Yankees’ support, other event sponsors include 24 Hour Fitness, SIRIUS XM Radio, WNBC 4 New York and the New York Daily News.

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation selects the most brilliant young scientists and provides them with funding to pursue innovative cancer research.  The Foundation supports the rising stars of science, emerging leaders who have great potential to achieve breakthroughs in how we diagnose, treat and prevent cancer. 

The Foundation was created in 1946 in memory of Damon Runyon, a New York writer who began his career as a baseball journalist and revolutionized how the game was covered.  Of the more than 3,200 scientists funded since, 11 are Nobel Laureates and many lead cancer centers nationwide.  Today more than 260 scientists funded by Damon Runyon—including 16 current awardees—are working at labs and major research centers throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  

About 24 Hour Fitness
Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., 24 Hour Fitness, an innovative leader in the health and fitness industry, serves more than 3.5 million members in more than 400 clubs.  Founded in 1983 as a one-club operation, 24 Hour Fitness pioneered the concept of making fitness accessible, affordable and a way of life for everyone.  The company demonstrates its leadership through sponsorships like that of the U.S. Olympic Team and a commitment to the community through various charitable and in-kind donations.  In addition, 24 Hour Fitness enjoys strategic partnerships with major consumer brands like Coca-Cola, Dial and Everlast and for nine seasons has partnered with NBC’s popular reality TV show, “The Biggest Loser.”  Please call 1-800-224-0240 or visit www.24HourFitness.com for more information and to find the location nearest you.

About NBC4 New York
NBC4 New York is NBC Universal’s Local Media Division’s flagship station.  In addition to NBC4, the division offers a variety of multi-platform programming outlets which include New York Nonstop, the station’s 24/7 cable news and lifestyle station available over-the-air and on cable; nbcnewyork.com; and out-of-home platforms such as TV screens in taxi cabs and the PATH trains.  NBC4 New York broadcasts a roster of outstanding news, entertainment, lifestyle and sports programming, including News 4 New York, co-anchored by Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons, the longest-running anchor team in New York City television history.  NBC4 New York is the United States’ oldest television station in continuous operation.  Visit www.nbcnewyork.com for more information.

About the New York Daily News
The Daily News is the largest and most widely read newspaper in the New York metropolitan market, in addition to being the sixth largest daily and fifth largest Sunday newspaper in the country.  The Daily News leads all other newspapers as the paper of choice for New York City residents.  Average daily readership for the Daily News nears 2.3 million, with Sunday readership reaching 2.5 million (Scarborough Research, New York Market, 12 months ending 2009 R2).  In addition to print readership, NYDailyNews.com features nearly 23 million unique users per month (WebTrends, March 2010).

The Daily News has the largest combined print and online audience of any metropolitan newspaper at 4.6 million and NYDailyNews.com is the 6th most visited newspaper website in the country (Nielsen NetView, March 2010).  The Daily News became the city’s first and only full-color daily newspaper in 2009.  With new, cutting-edge printing technology, New York’s #1 newspaper now reaches out and grabs even more readers and advertisers with unsurpassed color quality, dynamic new ad placement options and exceptional content.

About SIRIUS XM Radio
SIRIUS XM Radio is America's satellite radio company delivering to subscribers commercial-free music channels, premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, and traffic and weather.

SIRIUS XM Radio has content relationships with an array of personalities and artists, including Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O’Donnell, Jamie Foxx, Barbara Walters, Opie & Anthony, Bubba the Love Sponge®, Bob Edwards, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, Jimmy Buffett, The Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. SIRIUS XM Radio is the leader in sports programming as the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, Major League Baseball®, NASCAR®, NBA, NHL®, and PGA TOUR® and major college sports.

SIRIUS XM Radio has arrangements with every major automaker.  SIRIUS XM Radio products are available at shop.sirius.com and shop.xmradio.com, and at retail locations nationwide, including Best Buy, RadioShack, Wal-Mart and independent retailers. 

SIRIUS XM Radio also offers SIRIUS Backseat TV, the first ever live in-vehicle rear seat entertainment featuring Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network; XM NavTraffic® service for GPS navigation systems delivers real-time traffic information, including accidents and road construction, for more than 80 North American markets.

CONTACT
Catherine Bright
Communications Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
212.455.0506
catherine.bright@damonrunyon.org

David Q. Matus, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '07-'10) and colleagues at Duke University, Durham, identified novel genes involved in cell invasion of basement membranes, a process essential during development, immune surveillance, and metastasis.  Basement membranes form the lining of blood vessels and organs in the body.  The researchers found that turning off two specific genes, cct-5 and lit-1, in metastatic carcinoma cells reduced the cells’ ability to invade these basement membranes.  The results, published in the journal Science Signaling, may provide new therapeutic targets to control cell invasion and metastasis in cancer.

Click here for more.

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, 13 members of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation circle were inducted this April:

DAMON RUNYON FELLOWS
Lewis L. Lanier, PhD (Fellow '79-'80 and Former Sponsor) Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, California

DAMON RUNYON COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Robert J. Fletterick, PhD (Fellowship Award Committee Member '93-'97 and Former Sponsor) Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California
William G. Kaelin, Jr., MD (Current Clinical Investigator Award Committee Member) Professor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

DAMON RUNYON FELLOWSHIP SPONSORS and CLINICAL INVESTIGATOR MENTORS
Angelika Amon, PhD, Professor of Biology, David H. Koch Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Philip N. Benfey, PhD, Professor, Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Donald E. Ganem, MD, Professor of Microbiology and Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California
James E. Haber, PhD, Abraham and Etta Goodman Chair of Biology and Director, Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
Ulrike A. Heberlein, PhD, Professor, Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, California
Douglas E. Koshland, PhD, Senior Staff Member, Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, Maryland
Ruslan M. Medzhitov, PhD, David W. Wallace Professor of Immunobiology, Department of Immunobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
Roeland Nusse, PhD, Professor, Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
Charles L. Sawyers, MD, Chairman, Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Kevin Struhl, PhD, David Wesley Gaiser Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Click here for more.

Julien Sage, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar ’05-’07) of Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, developed a mouse model of small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) by disrupting expression of two tumor suppressor genes, RB and p53.  Deletion of a third gene called p130 resulted in increased cell proliferation and significant acceleration of SCLC development, indicating that p130 plays a key tumor suppressor role in SCLC.  These findings were published in the journal Cancer Research. 

Click here for more.

The prestigious Searle Scholars Program supports the independent research of exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry.  This year, four out of the fifteen Scholars are current or former Damon Runyon awardees:

Sreekanth H. Chalasani, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '04-'07)
Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California

Heather R. Christofk, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '10-'12)
University of California, Los Angeles, California

Maxence V. Nachury, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '03-'05)
Stanford University, Stanford, California

Antonina I. Roll-Mecak, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '03-'05)
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Click here for more.

Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD (Kenneth G. and Elaine A. Langone Scholar of the Damon Runyon Foundation '06-'08 and Fellowship Sponsor) of Stanford University, Stanford, reported that a noncoding RNA called HOTAIR is linked to certain breast cancers.  In primary human breast tumors, levels of HOTAIR were over 100 times higher than that of normal breast tissue.  Metastatic tumors expressed levels of HOTAIR that were up to 2000 times higher than normal.  They found that women whose primary tumors expressed high levels of HOTAIR were approximately three times more likely to have their tumors metastasize and to die in the subsequent 15 years.  In addition, overexpression of HOTAIR in cells grown in the lab led to altered cell identity and increased metastasis.  HOTAIR may represent a new biomarker for breast cancer, as well as a potential therapeutic target.  John L. Rinn, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '09-'11 and Damon Runyon Fellow '05-'07) of Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute, Boston, was a collaborator on this study.  These findings were published in the journal Nature.

Click here for more.

Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '09-'11, Damon Runyon Fellow '05-07) of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, was awarded a prestigious Kimmel Scholar Award.  This year, fifteen awards were granted.  The award is designed to advance the careers of gifted young scientists in cancer research.

Click here for more.

William G. Kaelin, Jr., MD (Clinical Investigator Award Committee Member) of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, has been named one of five recipients of this year’s 2010 Canada Gairdner International Award.  This highly prestigious award recognizes individuals who have made significant tangible achievements in the field of medical science.  Dr. Kaelin is honored for identifying the molecular mechanisms that allow cells to detect and respond to a shortage of oxygen.  His research focuses on the mechanisms of how mutations in the tumor-suppressor genes encoding VHL, RB-1, and p53 cause cancer.  His work on the VHL protein helped lead to the successful clinical testing of VEGF inhibitors for the treatment of kidney cancer.  His long-term goal is to lay the foundation for additional new anticancer therapies. 

Click here for more.

Registration is now open for the second annual Damon Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium, a unique fundraising run/walk that uses the Stadium as its course.  This year’s event will be held while baseball season is in full swing, on Sunday, August 15, 2010.  Run or walk the concourses and ramps, climb stairs between levels, and follow in the footsteps of the World Champion Yankees by taking your own victory laps around the warning track that circles the field.
    
Staggered start times will be assigned to participants, with runners starting first according to pace at 9:30am, while walkers can take to the course at approximately 11:30am. Registration fees are $50 for adults and $35 for students and children through July 15th, but will increase to $60 and $40, respectively, for anyone who registers from July 16th through August 6th.  Each fee includes a tax-deductible donation to cancer research. Registration will close at 5pm on August 6th or when capacity has been reached.

Volunteers are also needed to help us make the Runyon 5K a home run for cancer research!  If you’re interested in volunteering, please email volunteers@damonrunyon.org or call 212.455.0503.

SIGN UP TODAY AT
www.damonrunyon.org/yankeestadium

For more information, please email runyon5k@damonrunyon.org or call 212.455.0501.

> Read the full press release on the 2010 Runyon 5K.

> See photos from the 2009 event.

> See videos from the 2009 event.

David W. Russell, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '80-'82) of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, has been named the recipient of the 2010 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Avanti Award.  He is recognized for his outstanding contributions in the area of lipid research.  Dr. Russell was part of a team that cloned the gene for the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor and characterized the protein’s functional domains, elucidating the molecular basis of familial hypercholesterolemia, one of the most common human genetic disorders.  His later work defined the mechanisms of cholesterol metabolism and identified the genes responsible for several diseases characterized by abnormal cholesterol and lipid metabolism.

Click here for more.

A special dinner honoring outgoing Board Chairman Dale Frey was held on June 2, 2010 at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.  More than 160 guests attended the event, which raised $7 million to establish a new award that will catalyze the research of today’s most promising young cancer researchers.

Named in recognition of Mr. Frey's 16 years of visionary leadership, the “Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists” will be granted to select recipients of the prestigious Damon Runyon Fellowship Award who have greatly exceeded the Foundation’s very high expectations.  Each will receive an additional $100,000 - funding that will accelerate their path to independence and their impact on cancer. 

Featured speakers at the event, including senior scientists and business leaders, praised Mr. Frey’s unique combination of business sense and determination, which enabled the Foundation to greatly expand its funding of top young scientists and to start new, innovative programs.  In accepting his tribute, Mr. Frey spoke of the team effort required to achieve the remarkable advances made during his time - calling the Foundation the “venture capitalist of the cancer-fighting industry.”
     
> See photos from the event

> Read the complete media release

Scott A. Armstrong, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '03-'08) of Children's Hospital Boston led a study demonstrating that leukemia stem cell survival depends on a particular signaling pathway, the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway.  Many patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) will have a relapse, and it is thought that this is due to leukemia stem cells that are resistant to typical cancer treatments and give rise to more leukemia cells.  These findings, published in the journal Science, suggest that targeting the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway may be a potential strategy to kill these cells, preventing the growth and development of AML. 

Click here for more.

Peter K. Vogt, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '59) of The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, was named the recipient of the 5th Annual Szent-Gyorgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research.  He discovered the first oncogene (src), and made additional seminal contributions to our present understanding of the role of oncogenes and other critical molecular mechanisms of cancer.  He remains a leader in cancer research and currently is completing translational studies aimed at developing novel therapeutic approaches for cancer patients. 

Click here for more.

David Botstein, PhD (Innovation Award Committee Member) of Princeton University, Princeton, Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, and Eric Steven Lander, PhD (Former Fellowship Sponsor) of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, were awarded the 10th annual Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research.  They were honored for their contributions to the Human Genome Project, which has led to a greater understanding of the genetic basis of human disease.  In the future, this knowledge will be critical to diagnosing and treating many disease conditions.

Click here for more.

Our Theater Benefits are exciting cancer fundraising events that offer the chance to attend a dinner at a premier New York restaurant, followed by tickets to a successful or highly-anticipated Broadway show.  Guests also have the opportunity to hear first-hand from the scientists themselves about the impact that Damon Runyon funding and support has on their cancer research.

Winter Theater Benefit: The Addams Family

Our Winter Theater Benefit featuring a special preview performance of the new Broadway musical The Addams Family, starring two-time Tony Award winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, was held on March 11, 2010.  The evening began with dinner at Becco, where cast members and Tony nominees Kevin Chamberlin, who plays Uncle Fester, and Carolee Carmello, who plays Alice Beineke, joined our party for a lively question and answer session.  Friends of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation also met four of our young scientists who explained their current research projects and personally thanked supporters.

Fall Theater Benefit:  A Steady Rain

On October 28, 2009, friends of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation enjoyed a performance of A Steady Rain starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig.  The evening began with dinner at Blue Fin, where four of our early career scientists spoke about their research and were able to personally thank supporters.

For more information on our Theater Benefits, contact Kim Kubert, Director of Special Events, at 212.455.0501 or kim.kubert@damonrunyon.org.

Partnership allows scientists to engage in discussion, develop connections more easily

New York, NY (February 19, 2010) — To develop more collaboration among cancer researchers and translational scientists, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has partnered with the clinical and translational online community CTSciNet.  This new partnership complements Damon Runyon's goal of accelerating the translation of discoveries into new tools in the fight to end cancer.  Translating laboratory research into clinical medicine is also the goal of the social-networking site CTSciNet, the Clinical and Translational Science Network.

Launched on October 20th by Science Careers, AAAS's career development portal, CTSciNet is an online community for people pursuing careers in clinical and translational research. CTSciNet aims to encourage and support scientists and trainees who wish to become a part of the clinical and translational research community. AAAS developed the site in partnership with several other scientific societies, now including Damon Runyon. CTSciNet is funded by a generous grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a long-time supporter of Science Careers.

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation's mission is to identify exceptional early career scientists and provide them with funding to pursue innovative cancer research.  The Foundation supports the rising stars of science, emerging leaders who have great potential to achieve breakthroughs in how we diagnose, treat and prevent cancer.

The Foundation offers three prestigious awards:
•    The Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award supports physician-scientists dedicated to translating cancer research into new tools and treatment for cancer patients.  
•    The Damon Runyon Fellowship Award gives young scientists funding to enhance their cancer research skills, develop independence and explore novel ideas.
•    The Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award funds “high-risk, high-reward” cancer research that has great potential but lacks the preliminary data needed to obtain traditional funding.

CTSciNet wants to show early career scientists how they can contribute to the solution of one of the most important scientific challenges of our lifetimes: how to efficiently translate scientific breakthroughs into practical therapies for human disease. CTSciNet’s collaborative tools will enable Damon Runyon’s researchers to seek collaborators for their important research. CTSciNet’s current groups range from breast cancer research to clinical trials. Researchers can engage in meaningful discussion and form connections with other researchers while they explore CTSciNet’s extensive and growing library of career advice.

Other CTSciNet partners include the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Federation for Medical Research, the American Physician Scientist Association, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association for Clinical Research Training, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Clinical Research Forum, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Health Research Alliance, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Science Translational Medicine, and the Society for Clinical and Translational Science.

###

DAMON RUNYON CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

The mission of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is to identify the most brilliant and promising early career scientists and provide them with funding to pursue innovative research that will eliminate cancer as a deadly disease.  The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists.  Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs.  Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested over $220 million and funded more than 3,200 scientists.  This year, it will invest approximately $9 million in the most outstanding young investigators in the nation.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research.  Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and endowment.

For more information visit www.damonrunyon.org

Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '95-'98, Current Sponsor) of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, led an international team of scientists including William R. Sellers, MD (Board Member, Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '01-'05) and Todd R. Golub, MD (Innovation Award Committee Member, Board Member) to develop a genomic map of 26 different human cancer types.  They found over 100 sites where DNA from tumors is either missing or abnormally duplicated compared to normal tissues.  These genetic changes were not unique to a single cancer type but are present in several cancer types; this suggests the mechanisms that underlie these tumors are shared and could someday lead to common strategies for treatment. This study was published in the journal Nature.  

Click here for more.

Peter K. Vogt, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '59) and colleagues at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, described the success of a new rapid drug development technique.  They used chemistry and supercomputer technology to design compounds that specifically block a class of protein kinases known to be activated in cancers.  These proteins also promote angiogenesis, or blood vessel growth to tumors.  The compounds were subsequently tested in animal models, where they were found to effectively block blood vessel growth.  The findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   

Click here for more.

Maya Capelson, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '07-'10) in the laboratory of Martin W. Hetzer, PhD, at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, identified a new function for nucleoporins, proteins of the nuclear pore complex.  Until now, it was thought that the sole function of nuclear pore complexes is in transport of molecules in and out of the cell’s nucleus.  These researchers demonstrated that nucleoporins are also present inside the nucleus where they bind DNA and regulate gene expression.  Certain nucleoporins are overexpressed in leukemia, colon and lung cancers; this new finding may indicate the mechanism of how nucleoporins are linked to cancer.  This research was published in the journal Cell.

Click here for more. 

Guobin He, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '06-'09) and colleagues in the laboratory of Michael Karin, PhD, at University of California, San Diego, reported that obesity, either dietary or genetic, actively promotes liver tumors in mice.  Obesity-promoted hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was dependent on increased production of factors that cause inflammation (cytokines IL-6 and TNF) and activation of the oncogenic transcription factor STAT3.  This chronic inflammatory response caused by obesity may also increase the risk of other cancers.  This study was published in the journal Cell.

Click here for more. 

Grants totaling $1.54M give early career investigators independence to pursue novel ideas

New York, NY (January 21, 2010) — The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting exceptional early career researchers and innovative cancer research, named 11 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its November 2009 Fellowship Award Committee review.  The recipients of this prestigious, three-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country.  The Fellowship encourages the nation's most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($140,000 each) to work on innovative projects.

November 2009 Damon Runyon Fellows

Meelad M. Dawlaty, PhD, with his sponsor Rudolf Jaenisch, MD, at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is establishing the significance of epigenetic alterations (chemical modifications of DNA) in brain cancer formation, or glioblastomagenesis.  The goal of his research is to determine the role of epigenetic changes in glioblastomagenesis.

Harrison W. Gabel, PhD, with his sponsor Michael E. Greenberg, PhD, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, is investigating how dysfunction of ubiquitin ligase UBE3A, an enzyme that normally regulates amounts of specific proteins in the cell, leads to diseases such as the neurodevelopmental disorder Angelman Syndrome and common cervical cancers.  These studies can provide important insights into the mechanism of disease.

Nicholas R. Guydosh, PhD, [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Rachel D. Green, PhD, at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, is studying how proteins are manufactured in cells.  Small changes in this process can lead to the production of defective proteins and result in many types of cancer.

Tom A. Hartl, PhD, with his sponsor Matthew P. Scott, PhD, at Stanford University, Stanford, California, is studying proteins called insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), molecules that are essential for normal growth during development.  When hyperactive, IGF signaling has been implicated in uncontrolled cell proliferation and can lead to a variety of cancers.  His goal is to understand key events in IGF regulation and how these may go awry in the development of human cancers.

Björn F.C. Kafsack, PhD, [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Manuel Llinás, PhD, at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, is examining how cell behavior is dependent on cell density (the number of other cells nearby).  He is using the parasite Plasmodium falciparum as an experimental model.  His goal is to apply this knowledge to understanding how cancer cells respond to their surrounding environment, resulting in tumor growth and metastasis.  

Rebecca S. Mathew, PhD, [HHMI Fellow] with her sponsor Danesh Moazed, PhD, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, is studying how cell identity is maintained throughout the life of an organism.  She is focusing on the role of a protein complex called CLRC in modifying chromosome architecture.  Failure to maintain cell identity has catastrophic consequences, often resulting in cancer or other diseases.

Jelena Nedjic, PhD, with her sponsor Iannis Aifantis, PhD, at the New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, aims to understand the role of molecules that regulate cellular migration and adhesion during the development and metastasis of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), a blood cancer arising from transformed immune cells.  The progression of the disease leads to severe metastasis to the central nervous system.

Duncan J. Smith, PhD, [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Iestyn Whitehouse, PhD, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, is investigating how the higher-order structure of DNA is accurately transmitted when cells divide.  Defects in this process are likely to play a role in the early stages of oncogenesis by giving rise to inappropriate gene expression.

Sabrina L. Spencer, PhD, with her sponsor Tobias Meyer, PhD, at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, is studying the cellular decision to proliferate or remain in a non-dividing state.  Using fluorescence time-lapse microscopy and mathematical modeling, she is working to extend our current understanding of this cellular decision and its deregulation in cancer. 

Robin Evans Stanley, PhD, with her sponsor James H. Hurley, PhD, at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, aims to understand how autophagy, the process of cellular “self-digestion,” is regulated in the cell.  She hopes that her research will help shed light on the role of autophagy in different types of cancer.

Alexandra Zidovska, PhD, with her sponsor Timothy J. Mitchison, PhD, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, is studying the physical properties of the cell during cell division.  To do so, she is mechanically perturbing cells by physical confinement or application of external forces.  Her findings may result in new insights about the mechanics of cell division, contributing to a better understanding of how this process is disrupted in cancer.

###

DAMON RUNYON CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

The mission of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is to identify the most brilliant and promising early career scientists and provide them with funding to pursue innovative research that will eliminate cancer as a deadly disease.  The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists.  Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs.  Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested over $220 million and funded more than 3,200 scientists.  This year, it will invest approximately $9 million in the most outstanding young investigators in the nation.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research.  Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and endowment.

For more information visit www.damonrunyon.org

Colleen Delaney, MD (Damon Runyon-Novartis Clinical Investigator '07-'10) of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, reported the first successful use of umbilical-cord blood transplants in a Phase I clinical trial to treat patients with acute leukemia.  This is a significant breakthrough because unlike bone marrow transplants, umbilical-cord blood transplants do not require a perfect match to the patient.  However, cord blood contains a low number of stem cells, making the time to engraftment lengthy and leaving the transplant recipient susceptible to potentially fatal infections.  In this study, the researchers expanded the cord blood stem cell population prior to transplantation by activating a signaling pathway called Notch.  These expanded cells were then infused into patients resulting in successful rapid engraftment.  Seven of the ten patients treated are still alive with no evidence of disease.  The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine. 

Click here for more.

Three Pioneering Ideas in Cancer Research Granted Prestigious
Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Awards

New technologies offer opportunities to solve mysteries of cancer

New York, NY (January 14, 2010) — The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation announced that three novel approaches to fighting cancer have won 2010 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Awards.  The prize of $450,000 is awarded each year to three projects by early career cancer researchers that have the potential to have a major impact on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

The 2010 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovators are:

Heather R. Christofk, PhD 

University of California, Los Angeles, California
Unraveling an old mystery using new technology

Scientists have known since the 1920s that one distinguishing characteristic of cancer cells is their altered glucose metabolism: compared to normal cells, cancer cells have a “sweet tooth” and use much more glucose from the environment.  This discovery has yet to be exploited for therapeutic benefit.

Dr. Christofk's goal is to identify the proteins within cancer cells that are responsible for their altered glucose metabolism.  She aims to grow tumors in mice, then turn off their metabolic “switches,” monitoring the result using advanced imaging technologies.  Her research will determine whether targeting tumor metabolism is a feasible approach for cancer therapy and may identify new cancer drug targets.

Dr. Christofk commented, "The field of cancer metabolism has re-emerged with a great deal of promise in the last few years, yet there are several fundamental questions still to be answered.  This award will dramatically accelerate my research and allow me to answer some of these critical questions on a much shorter timetable.  Thank you to the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Rachleffs for their generous support – this award is one of the greatest honors a young scientist could hope for!"

Joshua C. Munger, PhD 

University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
Applying a “systems approach” to understand cancer cell metabolism

Beyond the altered glucose metabolism being studied by Dr. Christofk, cancer induces many other distinctive metabolic activities that are important for cancer cell replication. 

Whereas previous studies often focused on individual metabolic activities, Dr. Munger is taking an expanded “global" approach by examining the rates of many metabolic processes simultaneously.  The goal of his research is to identify novel cancer-specific metabolic activities and define how they are genetically triggered.  Ultimately, he plans to explore new avenues to block these activities, thereby destroying cancerous cells.

Dr. Munger said, “Most funding agencies will not fund researchers whose proposals they deem ’too ambitious,’ instead preferring 'safer' projects.  The Damon Runyon Foundation is unique in supporting the ambitious ideas of young researchers, and in this respect, they fund research that otherwise would likely not occur.  I am extremely grateful for the Foundation’s support of my laboratory’s research."

Raffaella Sordella, PhD

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
[Island Outreach Foundation Innovator of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award]
Defining new paradigms to understand drug resistance

New targeted therapies have been successful in treating certain cancers.  For example, for lung cancer, Iressa and Tarceva produce encouraging responses in Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinomas (NSCLC) with specific gene mutations.  However, clinical data shows that the tumors inevitably develop drug resistance, which results in relapse within a few years.  Currently it is not well understood how cancers develop resistance to drugs over time. 

Dr. Sordella aims to characterize drug-resistant lung cancer cells at the molecular and genetic levels, defining the requirements for their survival and ability to spread.  The ultimate goal of this research is to develop methods to therapeutically target these tumor cells in lung cancer as well as in other cancer types.   

Dr. Sordella said, “While risky, this project has the potential to provide life-changing benefits for a large number of cancer patients.  I am very grateful to the Damon Runyon and Island Outreach Foundations for this grant, which will allow us to fast-track this research.  Given the prestige associated with this Damon Runyon Award, I also hope that it will help us to gain additional funding from other sources."

Funding Daring Research

The Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award funds cancer research by exceptionally creative thinkers with “high-risk/high-reward” ideas who lack sufficient preliminary data to obtain traditional funding.  The awardees are selected through a highly competitive and rigorous process by a scientific committee comprised of leading cancer researchers who are innovators themselves.  At the final stage of selection, candidates are screened by an in-person interview with committee members.  Only those scientists with a strong vision and passion for curing cancer are selected to receive the prestigious award. 

This program is possible through the generous support of Andy and Debbie Rachleff and the Island Outreach Foundation.

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

The mission of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is to identify the most brilliant and promising early career scientists and provide them with funding to pursue innovative research that will eliminate cancer as a deadly disease.  The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists.  Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs. Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested over $220 million and funded more than 3,200 scientists.  This year, it will invest approximately $9 million in the most outstanding young investigators in the nation.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research.  Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and endowment.

For more information visit www.damonrunyon.org

Contact:
Catherine Bright
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
Catherine.bright@damonrunyon.org
212.455.0506

David A. Fruman, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '95-'98) of the University of California, Irvine, reported that Acute Leukemia cells containing a genetic rearrangement called the Philadelphia chromosome are sensitive to treatment with a compound called PP242, which blocks TORC1 and TORC2, two targets of the tyrosine kinase mTOR.  PP242 is more effective at targeting leukemia cells than the currently-used rapamycin, and also causes fewer side-effects.  These studies suggest that this compound could be a promising new therapeutic for leukemia.  The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine. 

Click here for more.

Don X. Nguyen, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '05-'08) and colleagues in the lab of Joan Massagué, PhD (Former Fellowship Award Committee), at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, identified a new process termed "tumor self-seeding" by which aggressive circulating tumor cells (CTCs) return to recolonize their tumors of origin.  The researchers found that self-seeding can accelerate tumor growth and angiogenesis through activation of cytokines IL-6 and IL-8, which attract the most aggressive CTCs back to the original tumor, and factors FSCN1 and MMP1, which mediate the physical infiltration of CTCs into a tumor.  These findings may lead to new targeted therapies that interfere with the self-seeding process and thus slow or prevent tumor progression.  This study was published in the journal Cell.

Click here for more. 

Nathanael S. Gray, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '08-'10) and colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, identified a new agent that can act on non-small cell lung cancers that have become resistant to the drugs Iressa® and Tarceva®.  Each of these drugs targets a protein called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase, which promotes cell growth.  The new compound, WZ4002, is highly specific for the form of EGFR in cancer cells while not affecting normal healthy cells; for this reason, the compound is less likely to produce side effects.  In the future, this compound may be an effective treatment for lung cancer patients.  These findings were published in the journal Nature.    

Click here for more.

Albert C. Koong, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '02-'07) of Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, reported the use of multiple simultaneous measurements of biomarkers for more accurate and sensitive diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.   The studies identified a panel of biomarkers CA19-9, OPN and CHI3L1 that improves accuracy of pancreatic cancer diagnosis compared to CA19-9 alone.  Levels of two markers, CEA and CA125, can predict survival for advanced pancreatic cancer patients.  These findings were published in the Journal of Translational Medicine. 

Click here for more.

Charles M. Perou, PhD (Clinical Investigator Mentor), UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, has been awarded the 2009 Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).  He is honored for his important work defining molecular subtypes of breast cancer and associated risk factors; these findings have helped physicians to individualize treatment of each patient's cancer.   

Click here for more.

James A. Wells, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '80-'82, Former Fellowship Award Committee Member and Former Sponsor) of the University of California, San Francisco, was named the recipient of the 2010 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-Merck Award for his pioneering studies in the field of protein engineering.  His research has led to fundamental discoveries as well as pharmaceutical products potentially important for treatment of cancer and other diseases.      

Click here for more.

The warning track in full stride during the Runyon 5K for Cancer Research at Yankee Stadium	Getting excited for cancer research at the Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium
Damon Runyon Executive Director Lorraine Egan and NBC "Biggest Loser" contestants Nicole and Damien	Team 22 Run Salute prepares to run the Runyon 5K in memory of their former baseball teammate
New York Yankees fans run in honor of a friend at the Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium	Runyon 5K participants run in honor of family members at Yankee Stadium
The crowd listens to some pre-race words of inspiration in Yankee Stadium's Great Hall	They're off!  Elite runners kick off the Runyon 5K
High fives from a crowd of spectators at the Runyon 5K for Cancer Research	Runners on the warning track and big screen at Yankee Stadium
Runyon 5K participants pass the World Series Game 6 scoreboard in left field	The view from center field at the Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium
Runners exchange a kiss on the warning track at the Runyon 5K	Runyon 5K participants excited to support cancer research at Yankee Stadium
Volunteers fill water cups at the Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium	A Runyon 5K volunteer makes it easier for runners to grab their water without slowing down
"Billy Elliot" star Alex Ko starts the Kids Fun Run, part of the Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium	The winner of the Kids Fun Run crosses the finish line on the warning track at Yankee Stadium
A volunteer hands out medals at the Runyon 5K finish line in Yankee Stadium's Great Hall	Each participant that completes the Runyon 5K receives a medal

> View the whole photo album from the Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium

> View videos from the 2009 Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium

Jeremy N. Rich, MD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '04-'09), Bruce Sullenger, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '91-'93) and Xiao-Fan Wang, PhD ('87-'89) at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, reported the role of the Notch signaling pathway in cancer stem cell resistance.  They demonstrated that Notch is the likely reason that cancer stem cells resist radiation better than other cancer cells.  In a petri dish, blocking Notch activity in glioma brain tumor cells with a drug called a gamma-secretase inhibitor makes the cells susceptible to radiation.  These results suggest that a combination therapy of Notch inhibitor drugs plus radiotherapy could be very effective means of controlling tumors.  The findings were published in the journal Stem Cells.

Click here for more.

Sreekanth H. Chalasani, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '04-'07) of The Rockefeller University, New York, has been named one of eight winners of the 2009 New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists.  The annual Blavatnik Awards recognize highly innovative, impactful, and interdisciplinary accomplishments in the life sciences, physical sciences, and engineering. 

Click here for more.

Participants Run Their Own Victory Laps Inside the Home of the World Champions

New York, NY (November 16, 2009) — The Runyon 5K, the cancer fundraiser taking place inside Yankee Stadium, made its debut yesterday with a stunning "home run," attracting a sell-out crowd of more than 2,500 participants. The event raised more than $250,000 for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, which aims to strike out all types of cancer by funding the young "MVPs" of cancer research. At the new home of the 2009 World Series Champions, fans aged from 5 to 72 years old ran their own victory laps around the famous field in support of cancer research.  Cancer survivors, cancer patients and many supporters took part, along with exuberant Yankees fans and the Foundation’s own scientists.
	Lorraine W. Egan, executive director of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, commented, “The look on the faces of the kids as they ran around the warning track was fabulous. The look on their parents’ faces was even better,” she said. “We’d like to send a huge thanks to everyone who came. Our promise to everyone who raised money is that every penny will go to the best young scientists in cancer research today.” Alex Ko, a huge Yankees fan who plays Billy in the Broadway show Billy Elliot, launched the Kids Fun Run.  Nicole Brewer and Damien Gurganious of NBC’s The Biggest Loser kicked off the main event.  Nicole and Damien, who have shed a combined 264 pounds, led a team representing 24 Hour Fitness.
> View photos from the event. > Watch Runyon 5K videos.
EVENT DETAILS The Runyon 5K is a unique charity run/walk that uses the stadium as its course.  The event began at 9:30 am with the 5K run/walk, and ended with a Kids Fun Run around the warning track at 1:30 pm.  Participants - including students, individuals and teams - explored the stadium from the basement level to the upper concourses, and ran their own victory laps around the warning track circling the field.  Friends and family of participants cheered on their heroes from the Delta Sky360 Suite overlooking home plate. The registration fee was $35 for students and children and $50 for adults.  More details can be found at www.damonrunyon.org/yankeestadium.
SPONSORS In addition to the New York Yankees’ support, other event sponsors include 24 Hour Fitness, SIRIUS XM Radio, New York Post and WNBC4 New York.

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation identifies the most brilliant and promising scientists and provides them with funding to pursue innovative cancer research.  The Foundation’s focus is on emerging leaders who have great potential to achieve breakthroughs in how we diagnose, treat and prevent cancer.  The Foundation was created in 1946 in memory of Damon Runyon, a New York writer who began his career as a baseball journalist and revolutionized how the game was covered.  Of the more than 3,200 scientists funded since, 11 are Nobel Laureates and many lead cancer centers nationwide.  Today more than 260 scientists funded by Damon Runyon – including 14 current awardees – are working at labs and major research centers throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

CONTACT

Catherine Bright
Communications Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
212.455.0506
catherine.bright@damonrunyon.org

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Annual Breakfast 2009 at the Rainbow Room	Damon Runyon Cancer Researchers Christine H. Chung, MD, and John L. Rinn, PhD
Richard T. Clark of Merck & Co., Inc, describes the challenge of cancer research	Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Chairman Dale F. Frey
Damon Runyon Executive Director, Lorraine W. Egan, welcomes the Rainbow Room audience	Jerry Marshall, John Angelo and Judy Angelo at the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Annual Breakfast 2009
Larry Bossidy introduces Richard T. Clark of Merck and Co., Inc.	NY1's Roma Torre, Steve Jacobs with Lorraine Egan
Joe Kernen of CNBC's Squawk Box speaks	Larry Bossidy, Joe Kernen and Dale Frey at the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Annual Breakfast 2009
Damon Runyon Cancer Researcher John L. Rinn, PhD, describes genetic origami	Damon Runyon Cancer Researcher Christine H. Chung, MD
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Annual Breakfast 2009	Morning coffee at the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Annual Breakfast 2009

> View more photos from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation's 2009 Annual Breakfast

John M. Pagel, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '05-'10) of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, reported the success of a Phase I clinical trial testing a novel combination of low-intensity chemotherapy, targeted radiation delivery by an antibody and a stem cell transplant.  This regimen resulted in remission for patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemia or a pre-leukemia syndrome.  These are patients for whom there previously had been no other treatment options.  The report was published in the journal Blood. 

Click here for more.

John L. Rinn, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '09-'11 and Damon Runyon Fellow '05-'07) of Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute, Boston, was named one of this year's "Brilliant 10" by Popular Science magazine.  His research has helped uncover a new class of RNA called lincRNA (large intervening non-coding RNA).  The list recognizes the nation's top scientists under age 40 and appears in the November issue of the magazine. 

Click here and here for more.

Elaine V. Fuchs, PhD (Damon Runyon Board Member, Damon Runyon Fellow '77-'79) of The Rockefeller University, New York, has been named the North American recipient of the 2010 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Award for her contributions to our knowledge of skin biology and skin stem cells.  This year these international awards recognize and promote five exceptional women who, by the excellence of their research, contribute to the advancement of science.

Click here for more.

Hong Wu, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '92-'95, Former Sponsor) of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, demonstrated that the loss or reduction of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN is involved in the transformation of benign nerve tumors called neurofibromas into a deadly form of sarcoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors.  In the future, the researchers plan to screen drugs that may be able to target the PTEN pathway and block signals that instruct cells to change from a benign state to a malignant one.  These findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Click here for more.

Election to the Institute of Medicine is one of the highest honors that can be earned in the fields of medicine and health.  In recognition of their outstanding achievements, 10 members of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation circle were inducted this October:

Patrick O. Brown, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Sponsor), Stanford University, Stanford, California

Martin Chalfie, PhD (Former Damon Runyon Sponsor), Columbia University, New York, New York

Thomas Curran, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '82-'84 and Fellowship Award Committee Member '93-'97), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tyler Jacks, PhD (Fellowship Award Committee Member and Damon Runyon Sponsor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Alexandra L. Joyner, PhD (Fellowship Award Committee Member '97-'01), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

Michel C. Nussenzweig, PhD (Fellowship Award Committee Member '00-'02), The Rockefeller University, New York, New York

Gary B. Ruvkun, PhD (Fellowship Award Committee Member '01-'05 and Damon Runyon Sponsor), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

Amita Sehgal, PhD (Fellowship Award Committee Member and Damon Runyon Sponsor), University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ralph Weissleder, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Mentor and Former Damon Runyon Sponsor), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

Click here for more.

Thomas A. Steitz, PhD (Former Damon Runyon Sponsor) of Yale University, New Haven was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome."  He shares the award with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, PhD, of MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Ada E. Yonath, PhD, of Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.  Based upon the information in DNA, ribosomes make proteins; there are tens of thousands of proteins in the body, all providing different functions.  They build and control life at the chemical level.  Using X-ray crystallography, the awardees showed what the ribosome looks like and how it functions. 

As the target of many known antibiotics, the bacterial ribosome is a structure of major therapeutic importance. It is hoped that an understanding of precisely how antibiotics interact with the ribosome will allow the design of new antibiotics to tackle drug-resistant bacteria. Each of the awardees has imaged the molecular interactions between ribosomes and antibiotics, providing key data to help guide drug design of new antibiotics.

Click here for more.

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, PhD (Innovation Award Committee Member and Former Sponsor) of the University of California, San Francisco, and Jack W. Szostak, PhD (Former Damon Runyon Sponsor) of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, were awarded the 2009 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase."

They share the award with Carol W. Greider, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.  The long DNA structures that carry our genes are packed into chromosomes, and telomeres are the caps on their ends.  Drs. Blackburn and Szostak discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation. Drs. Greider and Blackburn identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. These findings explained how the ends of the chromosomes are protected by the telomeres and that they are made by telomerase.

If the telomeres are shortened, cells age. Conversely, if telomerase activity is high, telomere length is maintained, and cellular senescence is delayed such as in cancer cells, which can be considered to have eternal life. Certain other inherited diseases are characterized by a defective telomerase, resulting in damaged cells. This award recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell, which stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Click here for more.

Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '95-'98 and Current Fellowship Sponsor) of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and David M. Sabatini, MD, PhD (Former Fellowship Sponsor) of the Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, are two of this year’s recipients of the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research.  The awards recognize three young investigators under the age of forty-six who have taken significant steps toward advancing the understanding of cancer. 

Dr. Meyerson is a leader in the field of cancer genomics and plays a key role in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project that aims to improve the understanding of the molecular basis of cancer.  One of his most significant discoveries is the identification of mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene that drive lung cancer and its response to the targeted therapies erlotinib (Tarceva®) and gefitinib (Iressa®).  He has also studied other cancer-related genes that function in some types of leukemia, lung cancer, neuroblastoma, glioblastoma and endometrial cancer. His laboratory is also identifying cancer-causing microbes.

Dr. Sabatini identified the mTOR protein kinase, a key protein in regulating cell growth, proliferation, and survival. He has focused on determining how the mTOR pathway relates to cancer.  His findings have contributed to two drugs, temsirolimus (Torisel®) and everolimus (Afinitor®), both of which target the mTOR pathway and are approved for the treatment of kidney cancer.  His current work is examining how metabolism affects cancer.

Click here for more.

The NIH announced 115 new High-Risk Research Awards totaling $348 million: 42 Transformative R01 Awards, 18 Pioneer Awards, and 55 New Innovator Awards for early-stage investigators.  The intent of these awards is to encourage investigators to explore bold ideas that have the potential to catapult fields forward and speed the translation of research into improved health.  We congratulate the Damon Runyon scientists who are recipients of these awards.

Transformative R01 Award:
• Benjamin F. Cravatt, PhD (Fellowship Award Committee Member), The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla
• Linda G. Griffith, PhD (Innovation Award Committee Member), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
• Muneesh Tewari, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '09-'11, Damon Runyon Fellow '01), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle
• Mark J. Zylka, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '00-'03), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Pioneer Award:
• Markus W. Covert, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '04-'06), Stanford University, Stanford

New Innovator Award:
• Alla Grishok, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '02-'05), Columbia University, New York
• John L. Rinn, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '09-'11, Damon Runyon Fellow '05-'07), Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston
• Pardis C. Sabeti, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '04-'06), Harvard University, Cambridge
• Wenying Shou, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '02-'05), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle

Click here for more.

Nine eminent researchers were named as recipients of the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest scientific honor.  Awarded annually, the Medal recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering.  Elaine V. Fuchs, PhD (Damon Runyon Board Member, Damon Runyon Fellow '77-'79) of The Rockefeller University, New York, and JoAnne Stubbe, PhD (Fellowship Sponsor) of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, are among this year’s honorees. 

Dr. Fuchs is being honored “for her pioneering use of cell biology and molecular genetics in mice to understand the basis of inherited diseases in humans and her outstanding contributions to our understanding of the biology of skin and its disorders, including her notable investigations of adult skin stem cells, cancers and genetic syndromes.”  Dr. Stubbe is being honored "for her groundbreaking experiments establishing the mechanisms of ribonucleotide reductases, polyester synthases, and natural product DNA cleavers — compelling demonstrations of the power of chemical investigations to solve problems in biology."

Click here for more.

New York, NY (September 17, 2009) — The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation today announced that it will host The Runyon 5K, a run/walk and kids fun run at Yankee Stadium to support cancer research on Sunday, November 15th 2009.  Proceeds from the event, the first of its kind to be held inside the new stadium, will support brilliant young scientists carrying out innovative research for all types of cancer.

“This is a chance for New Yorkers and Yankees fans to follow in the footsteps of Yankees greats, for kids to run where their heroes run, and for every participant to make a real impact on cancer.  From families to corporate teams, from fans to cancer survivors, all can enjoy this unique event at this incredible structure, which represents so much to so many,” said Lorraine W. Egan, executive director of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

100% of all funds that a participant raises will directly support cancer research.  The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has a long history with the Yankees:  Joe DiMaggio was on its Board, and Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were supporters.  Damon Runyon himself was a New York writer who began his career as a baseball journalist and revolutionized how the game was covered.

Event Details
The Runyon 5K is a unique run/walk charity event that uses the stadium as its course.  The event will take place from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm inside Yankee Stadium in New York on November 15, 2009.

Participants will run or walk the stadium’s concourses and ramps, climb stairs between levels, and finish with a lap around the warning track that encircles the playing field.  In addition, there will be a fun run for kids around the warning track.

Local scientists funded by the Foundation will be on hand to answer questions about their cancer research and the work of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

More detail can be found at www.damonrunyon.org/yankeestadium

Participants
The event is open to both individuals and teams, with corporate teams encouraged to compete.

The event organizers send a special invitation to cancer survivors and those running in memory of lost loved ones or in honor of those affected by cancer.

Families and supporters are welcome.  Non participants will have the opportunity to view the event from the bleachers in the stands.

All participants are encouraged to raise funds for the event, and everyone will have access to their own fundraising page on The Runyon 5K website.

How to Register
Registration will begin online on September 15.  For more information and to sign up for the event, visit www.damonrunyon.org/yankeestadium.  The registration fee is $35 for students and children and $50 for adults.  Entry is limited to the first 2,500 registrants.

Sponsors
In addition to the New York Yankees’ support, other event sponsors include 24 Hour Fitness, SIRIUS XM Radio, New York Post and WNBC4 New York.

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation identifies the most brilliant and promising scientists and provides them with funding to pursue innovative cancer research.  The Foundation’s focus is on emerging leaders who have great potential to achieve breakthroughs in how we diagnose, treat and prevent cancer.  The Foundation was created in 1946 in memory of Damon Runyon, a New York writer who began his career as a baseball journalist and revolutionized how the game was covered.  Of the more than 3,200 scientists funded since, 11 are Nobel Laureates and many lead cancer centers nationwide.  Today more than 260 scientists funded by Damon Runyon – including 14 current awardees – are working at labs and major research centers throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  

About SIRIUS XM Radio
SIRIUS XM Radio is America's satellite radio company delivering to subscribers commercial-free music channels, premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, and traffic and weather.
SIRIUS XM Radio has content relationships with an array of personalities and artists, including Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Jimmy Buffett, Jamie Foxx, Barbara Walters, Opie & Anthony, Bubba the Love Sponge®, The Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Bob Edwards. SIRIUS XM Radio is the leader in sports programming as the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, Major League Baseball®, NASCAR®, NBA, NHL®, and PGA TOUR®, and broadcasts major college sports.
SIRIUS XM Radio has arrangements with every major automaker. SIRIUS XM Radio products are available at shop.sirius.com and shop.xmradio.com, and at retail locations nationwide, including Best Buy, RadioShack, Wal-Mart and independent retailers.
 
SIRIUS XM Radio also offers SIRIUS Backseat TV, the first ever live in-vehicle rear seat entertainment featuring Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network; XM NavTraffic® service for GPS navigation systems delivers real-time traffic information, including accidents and road construction, for more than 80 North American markets.    

About 24 Hour Fitness    
Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, an innovative leader in the health and fitness industry, serves more than 3 million members in over 425 clubs worldwide. Founded in 1983 as a one-club operation, 24 Hour Fitness pioneered the concept of making fitness accessible, affordable and a way of life for everyone.  The company demonstrates its leadership through sponsorships like that of the U.S. Olympic Team and a commitment to the community through various charitable and in-kind donations.  In addition, 24 Hour Fitness enjoys strategic partnerships with major consumer brands like Coca-Cola and Nike, and for eight seasons has partnered with the popular NBC reality TV show, The Biggest Loser.  Please call 1-800-224-0240 or visit www.24HourFitness.com for more information and to find the location nearest you.

About the New York Post
The New York Post, founded by Alexander Hamilton on November 16, 1801, is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the United States.  The New York Post is part of News Corporation, one of the world’s largest media conglomerates.

CONTACTS
Catherine Bright
Communications Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
212.455.0506
catherine.bright@damonrunyon.org

Freeman Miller
Burson-Marsteller
212.614.4216
freeman.miller@bm.com

The 2009 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award honors Brian J. Druker, MD (Former Clinical Investigator Award Committee Member) of Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, and Charles L. Sawyers, MD (Former Clinical Investigator Mentor) of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.  They are recognized “for the development of molecularly-targeted treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia, converting a fatal cancer into a manageable chronic condition.”  Their work led to the development and success of the drug Gleevec.  The Lasker Awards will be presented at a ceremony on October 2 in New York City.

Click here and here for more.  

Neal G. Copeland, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '77-'79) and Nancy A. Jenkins, PhD (Former Fellowship Sponsor) of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore, and Luis F. Parada, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '85-'86, former Fellowship Advisory Committee Member) of University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, and colleagues reported a new strategy to study the mechanism of drug resistance in leukemia and other cancers.  The researchers developed an animal model that allows them to identify new genetic mutations that are linked to resistance.  A greater understanding of resistance will enable the development of ways to anticipate and overcome drug resistance, leading to more effective therapies.  This report was published in the journal Nature.  

Click here for more.

Diego Alvarado, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '05-'08) and Mark A. Lemmon, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar '97-'98, Damon Runyon Fellow '93-'96) of University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, reported new findings about HER2/ErbB2, a tyrosine kinase often mutated in human cancers.  They found that ErbB2 is closely related to the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and that its expression may be self-regulated by a process called autoinhibition.  Studies of the protein’s structure indicate that specific regions could be targeted for more effective cancer therapeutics.  These findings were published in the journal Nature.

Click here for more.

Brian Kuhlman, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '99-'02) and colleagues at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, used a new technique to control protein activity with light.  Rac1, a key GTPase protein regulating actin cytoskeletal dynamics, was turned on or off to manipulate cell movement.  These studies are important towards gaining a better understanding of normal cell movements as well as cancer metastasis.  These findings, published in the journal Nature, could also be applied to the study of many other proteins.   

Click here for more.

Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator '08-'11) of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues, reported that aspirin taken regularly after the diagnosis of colorectal cancer reduces the likelihood of recurrence and the risk of death from colon cancer in patients whose cancer overexpressed the gene cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2).  The results of the 12-year study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Click here and here for more.

Theodora S. Ross, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar '01-'03) and colleagues at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, have developed a new mouse model for studying resistance to the cancer treatment Gleevec.  Gleevec/imatinib is the standard first-line treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and prolongs survival in most patients; however, the drug does not prevent the disease from recurring in a more severe form.  Certain cells, leukemia-initiating cells (LICs), are able to resist the drug and promote CML recurrence.  The researchers are using this new animal model to better understand LIC function.  They are currently testing several drug combinations to try to make the initiating cells more vulnerable to Gleevec.  If successful in mice, the new therapies will eventually be tested in humans.  These findings were published in the journal Cancer Cell.  

Click here for more.

William M. Shih, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '01-'04) of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard University, Boston, and colleagues, engineered DNA to form complex shapes such as a framed ball or square-toothed gears.  The goal is to use parts like these to build nanoscale molecular machines that, for example, could deliver a drug to a precise spot in the body.  This work was published in the journal Science and featured in The New York Times.   

Click here and here for more.

Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar '06-'08, Fellowship Sponsor '05-'07), Irving Weissman, MD (Former Fellowship Sponsor) and colleagues at Stanford University, Stanford, discovered the first human bladder cancer stem cell, a cell that is often resistant to therapies and drives disease progression.  The research team identified a panel of genes that are more highly expressed in the stem cells and can be correlated with aggressive invasive cancers.  They also identified a protein that likely functions to help cancer stem cells evade the immune system.   These studies were reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Click here for more.

Douglas K. Graham, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Novartis Clinical Investigator '07-'10) of University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, identified the receptor tyrosine kinase Mer as a novel therapeutic target in pediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).  His team suggests that inhibitors of Mer may act synergistically with currently used therapies, allowing for reduced doses, decreased toxicity and increased survival rates.  These findings were published in the journal Blood. 

Click here for more.

Peter Tontonoz, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar '00) of the University of California, Los Angeles, identified the liver X receptor (LXR) as a novel regulator of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling, which can cause multiple types of cancer when unregulated.  These studies demonstrated that LXR blocks Hh signaling, indicating that pharmacological targeting of LXRs may be a novel and promising strategy for treating cancers caused by Hh.  This work was published in the journal Molecular Endocrinology.

Click here for more.

Alan L. Epstein, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '78) of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, received approval for a $3.5 million drug development project through the Rapid Access to Intervention Development (RAID) program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for his breakthrough Interleukin-2 (IL-2) cytokine immunotherapy analog.  The goal of this program is to assist translation of novel anticancer therapeutics to the clinic.  Dr. Epstein is focusing on preclinical development of IL-2 analog therapy for the treatment of certain cancers (metastatic melanoma and metastatic renal cell carcinoma) that retain the benefits of existing IL-2 cytokine therapies without the toxicity and major side effects that currently limit their use.

Click here for more.

William Y. Kim, MD (Damon Runyon-Merck Clinical Investigator '09-'12) of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, along with colleagues John V. Heymach, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '04-'09) of MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and William G. Kaelin, Jr., MD (Clinical Investigator Award Committee Member) of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, demonstrated a cooperative role between the Ras oncogene and HIF2α, a protein that regulates the cellular response to low oxygen concentration (hypoxia).  In an animal model with increased expression of both Ras and HIF2α, highly invasive lung tumors formed and animals had decreased survival, compared to animals with Ras alone; this suggests a role for HIF2α in promoting tumor growth and progression.  In human patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), high HIF2α levels correlate with decreased overall survival.  These findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Click here for more.

Don X. Nguyen, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '05-'08), in the lab of Joan Massagué, PhD (Former Fellowship Award Committee Member), at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, identified the role of the WNT/TCF signaling pathway in regulating lung cancer metastasis to the brain and bones.  Hyperactivity of this pathway in lung tumor cells turns on the genes HOXB9 and LEF1, enhancing the cells’ ability to infiltrate and colonize other organs.  These findings were published in the journal Cell.

Click here for more.

New York, NY (June 30, 2009) — The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named 4 new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators at its April 2009 Clinical Investigator Award Committee review.  The recipients of this prestigious, three-year award are outstanding early career physician-scientists conducting patient-oriented cancer research at major research centers under the mentorship of the nation's leading scientists and clinicians. Each will receive $450,000 to support the development of his cancer research program.

For the first time, the Foundation also awarded Continuation Grants to 3 Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators.  Each award will provide an additional two years of funding totaling $300,000.  The Continuation Grant is designed to support Clinical Investigators who are approaching the end of their original awards and need extra time and funding to complete a promising avenue of research or initiate/continue a clinical trial.  This program is possible through the generous support of the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, and Connie and Robert Lurie.

The Clinical Investigator Award program is specifically intended to help address the shortage of physicians capable of translating scientific discovery into new breakthroughs for cancer patients.  In partnerships with industry sponsors (Eli Lilly and Company, Genentech, Merck, Novartis and Siemens Medical Solutions), the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has committed more than $32 million to support the careers of 48 physician-scientists across the United States since 2000.

2009 Clinical Investigator Awardees

Andrew L. Feldman, MD
Dr. Feldman's research focuses on defining the role of the transcription factor IRF4 in T-cell lymphomas (TCLs), aggressive cancers that are fatal in the majority of patients.  He proposes that IRF4 represents a rational therapeutic target for TCLs and aims to develop new strategies to block IRF4 in lymphoma cells.  Novel targeted therapies for TCL could greatly improve the outcome for patients with this disease.
Dr. Feldman works under the mentorship of Stephen M. Ansell, MD, PhD, and Ahmet Dogan, MD, PhD, at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

William Y. Kim, MD [Merck Investigator]
Bladder cancer is a prevalent and deadly disease, the fourth most common cancer in men.  Dr. Kim is conducting a clinical trial examining the efficacy of erlotinib/Tarceva, an EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) inhibitor drug, in bladder cancer. His goal is to define predictors of patient response to erlotinib and other EGFR inhibitors and determine how to best coordinate EGFR inhibition with chemotherapy.  These studies should have direct clinical impact on this deadly disease, allowing the treatment of patients most likely to benefit while minimizing unnecessary toxicity in those unlikely to respond.
Dr. Kim works under the mentorship of Charles M. Perou, PhD, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

C. Ryan Miller, MD, PhD [Genentech Investigator]
The most common and deadly primary brain tumor is glioblastoma (GBM), which is comprised of a spectrum of disease subtypes that develop along distinct molecular pathways.  Dr. Miller aims to use comparative analyses of GBM from both humans and mouse models 1) to develop diagnostic assays to classify human GBM, 2) to define new targets for preclinical drug development, and 3) to define the molecular changes in GBM after standard-of-care therapy.  The ultimate goal of the research is to inform the next generation of clinical trials for patients with specific molecular subtypes of GBM.
Dr. Miller works under the mentorship of Charles M. Perou, PhD, and Terry Van Dyke, PhD, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Vu H. Nguyen, MD [August M. Watanabe, MD, Investigator]
Dr. Nguyen's goal is to develop novel ways of controlling donor T immune cell activity to prevent acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in cancer patients treated with bone marrow transplantation.  His hypothesis is that regulatory T cells (Treg) can be used to suppress GvHD while preserving beneficial anti-tumor immunity.  This work could have significant translational implications by reducing GvHD-associated mortality, thus improving the success of bone marrow transplantation in treatment of hematologic cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma.
Dr. Nguyen works under the mentorship of Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD, at The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

2009 Clinical Investigator Continuation Grants

Renier J. Brentjens, MD, PhD [Lilly Investigator]
Dr. Brentjens is leading an innovative Phase I trial using patients' own genetically modified immune T cells to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).  His Continuation Grant will be used to complete this trial, while also initiating a related clinical trial to treat pediatric patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).  These are patients for whom all other treatment options have been exhausted.
Dr. Brentjens works under the mentorship of Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.

Patrick A. Brown, MD [Lilly Investigator]
Dr. Brown is leading two national Phase I/II clinical trials focused on the first use of a small molecule inhibitor drug for the treatment of two types of pediatric leukemias, acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).  He is also developing a new test to predict patient response to this drug.  The Continuation Grant will be used to complete these trials, which may lead to improved outcome for children with this disease.
Dr. Brown works under the mentorship of Donald Small, MD, PhD, at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.

Andrea L. Cox, MD, PhD
Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection often leads to liver cancer, the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide.  Dr. Cox is involved in several clinical trials to develop a HCV vaccine, which, if successful, has the potential to have a significant impact on society.  The Continuation Grant will allow completion of the trials and pursuit of further studies on how HCV escapes detection by our immune system.
Dr. Cox works under the mentorship of Drew M. Pardoll, MD, PhD, at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.

###

DAMON RUNYON CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

The mission of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is to recruit the most brilliant and promising scientists and provide them with funding to pursue innovative research that will eliminate cancer as a deadly disease.  The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists.  Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs. Each of its award programs is extremely competitive, with less than 10% of applications funded. Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested over $220 million and funded more than 3,200 scientists.  This year, it will invest approximately $9 million in the most outstanding young investigators in the nation.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research. Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and endowment.

For more information visit www.damonrunyon.org

CONTACT
Yung S. Lie, PhD
Scientific Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
yung.lie@damonrunyon.org
212.455.0521

Elaine F. Remmers, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '83-'84) and colleagues at the NIH, Bethesda, established the link between mutations in the PDE11A gene and risk for familial testicular cancer.  This gene produces an enzyme (phosphodiesterase 11A) in the cyclic AMP pathway, which regulates how cells respond to hormones.  Existing drugs that affect this pathway could potentially be used to treat testicular cancer.  This discovery was reported in the journal Cancer Research.

Click here for more.

Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator '08-'11) of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues reported that variations in the cytochrome P450 gene may play a role in patient response to celecoxib (Celebrex) in colorectal cancer prevention.  Celebrex can provide protection from colorectal adenoma but also leads to increased risk of cardiovascular events, so drug dose must be optimized for each patient.  This study was published in the journal Gastroenterology.

Click here for more.

Johanna Lahdenranta, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '06-'08) and colleagues in the laboratory of Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, reported the successful use of advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine patient response to an investigational drug called cediranib.  This drug blocks the process of angiogenesis, the growth of blood vessels to the tumor, by decreasing vessel size and permeability.  Patients with recurrent glioblastoma brain tumors were treated with the drug and were monitored by MRI and blood tests as early as after a single treatment.  The researchers used these tests to predict patient survival.  These results were published in the journal Cancer Research.

Click here for more.

The New York Academy of Sciences announced the 12 finalists of the 2009 New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, created to celebrate the excellence of the most noteworthy young scientists and engineers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  We congratulate postdoctoral finalist Sreekanth H. Chalasani, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '04-'07) at The Rockefeller University, New York.  The Blavatnik Award winners will be announced in November.

Click here for more.

New York, NY (June 19, 2009) — The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting exceptional early career researchers and innovative cancer research, named 17 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its May 2009 Fellowship Award Committee review.  The recipients of this prestigious, three-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country.  The Fellowship is specifically intended to encourage the nation's most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($140,000 each) to work on innovative projects.

Of the 17 new Fellows, six will be named HHMI Fellows in recognition of support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), which will fund $1M in Damon Runyon Fellowships each year.

May 2009 Damon Runyon Fellows

Orkun Akin, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor S. Lawrence Zipursky, PhD, at the University of California, Los Angeles, California, is studying cell motility in the context of the developing nervous system. He aims to understand how external cues are coupled to changes in the actin cytoskeleton. As cell motility is essential for normal development as well as for cancer metastasis, new insights into the basic biology of motility carry the promise of new therapies and approaches to cancer treatment.

Yimon Aye, PhD, with her sponsor JoAnne Stubbe, PhD, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is studying the mechanism and regulation of ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs), enzymes that play an essential role in making deoxynucleotides (the "building blocks" of DNA). RNRs are overexpressed in cancer cells, making them an ideal target for cancer drugs. Her work will focus on understanding the mechanism of a new drug called Triapine, which may prevent the replication of tumor cells and is currently being tested in Phase II and III clinical trials.

Sean C. Bendall, PhD, with his sponsor Garry P. Nolan, PhD, at Stanford University, Stanford, California, is using breakthrough single-cell analysis techniques to investigate how normal regulatory cell signaling networks are rewired, allowing cancer to grow unchecked. By understanding these events, he aims to contribute to the development of more effective diagnostics and treatments to improve clinical outcomes.

Robert K. Bradley, PhD, with his sponsor Christopher B. Burge, PhD, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is studying the proteins that regulate splicing, a process by which a single gene may be expressed as multiple, distinct protein forms. Gaining a better understanding of this process is important, as disruption of normal splicing can give rise to cancer.

Matthew F. Calabrese, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Brenda A. Schulman, PhD, at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, is studying how cell division is regulated, in part, by the attachment of a protein called ubiquitin to other proteins throughout the cell. Understanding how ubiqutin is attached to its targets and how this attachment is recognized by cellular machinery is critical to understanding normal cell division as well as unregulated cell division associated with cancer.

Jianfu Chen, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Lee A. Niswander, PhD, at the University of Colorado Denver, Colorado, is studying molecular mechanisms of gene-folic acid (FA) interactions. The goals of his research are to understand how FA interacts with our genome and to determine whether it has a role in cancer prevention.

Won-Suk Chung, PhD, with his sponsor Ben A. Barres, MD, PhD, at Stanford University, Stanford, California, is investigating the development and function of brain cells called astrocytes. Astrocytes have been shown only recently to play critical roles in neuronal development and diseases, such as brain tumors (astrocytomas). Understanding how astrocytes are generated and maintained in the brain will help to develop better strategies for treating astrocytomas.

Nadya Dimitrova, PhD, with her sponsor Tyler Jacks, PhD, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is studying the role of a novel class of RNA molecules, lincRNAs, in tumor suppression. By dissecting the mechanism by which lincRNAs influence tumor suppressor pathways, she hopes to identify new markers for cancer diagnosis as well as novel approaches for effective cancer treatment.

Chuan-Hsiang Huang, MD, PhD [Harold L. Plotnick Fellow] with his sponsor Peter N. Devreotes, PhD, at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, is studying chemotaxis, a process by which cells migrate in response to naturally-occurring chemical cues in the human body. This process is essential for normal cellular movements as well as for the spread of cancer cells (metastasis). Better understanding of chemotaxis will facilitate the development of strategies to block cancer metastasis.

Daniel H. Kim, PhD, with his sponsor Jeannie T. Lee, MD, PhD, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, is studying how noncoding RNAs (unique RNAs that do not make proteins) control gene expression during a developmental process in females called X-inactivation, which turns off all genes on an entire chromosome. His work may provide insights into novel regulatory roles for noncoding RNAs in silencing tumor suppressor genes, while potentially revealing new therapeutic targets for the treatment of many types of cancer.

Liana F. Lareau, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with her sponsor Patrick O. Brown, MD, PhD, at Stanford University, Stanford, California, is investigating how the cell regulates translation, the process that turns the information in our genes into proteins. Misregulation of protein production is a hallmark of many forms of cancer.

Josselin Milloz, PhD, with his sponsor Sharad Ramanathan, PhD, at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, aims to understand how autophagy, the process of cellular "self-cannibalism," is involved in a large number of cancers. Learning how autophagy is coordinated with other cellular processes will better elucidate its multiple roles in cancer.

Taiowa A. Montgomery, PhD, with his sponsor Gary Ruvkun, PhD, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, is studying mechanisms of gene silencing by a class of small regulatory molecules called microRNAs. In addition to having essential roles in development, microRNAs can act as oncogenes or as tumor suppressors. MicroRNAs have tremendous potential to be used therapeutically to prevent and treat cancer.

Benjamin R. Myers, PhD, with his sponsor Philip A. Beachy, PhD, at Stanford University, Stanford, California, is studying the function of the Hedgehog signaling pathway, in particular, how inappropriate activation of this pathway can lead to the initiation and growth of tumors. Insights into Hedgehog signaling may allow for the development of more potent and specific forms of cancer therapy.

Jared T. Nordman, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Terry L. Orr-Weaver, PhD, at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is working to identify genes that are necessary to ensure accurate and efficient duplication of the genome. Identifying genes involved in the regulation of DNA replication is critical for understanding how a normal cell can become a tumor cell.

Sharsti L. Sandall, PhD, with her sponsor D. Leanne Jones, PhD, at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, is investigating the mechanisms governing stem cell fate within the native environment or "niche." These studies may reveal paradigms of how a normal stem cell niche can be converted to an environment that supports cancer self-renewal; this could ultimately provide strategies to target the environment as a novel anticancer therapy.

Ilan Wapinski, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with his sponsor Roy Kishony, PhD, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, is studying how changes in gene regulation impact cellular growth rates. Understanding these processes will help to understand how cancer cells can outgrow healthy ones in the human body.

###

DAMON RUNYON CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

The mission of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is to recruit the most brilliant and promising scientists and provide them with funding to pursue innovative research that will eliminate cancer as a deadly disease. The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists. Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs. Each of its award programs is extremely competitive, with less than 10% of applications funded. Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested over $220 million and funded more than 3,200 scientists. This year, it will invest approximately $9 million in the most outstanding young investigators in the nation.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research. Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and endowment.

For more information visit www.damonrunyon.org.

CONTACT
Yung S. Lie, PhD
Scientific Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
yung.lie@damonrunyon.org
212.455.0521

Melissa M. Rolls, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '03-'05) of The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, was named a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences.  17 early career scientists were selected for this prestigious award from The Pew Charitable Trusts.  Scholars receive a $240,000 award over four years to help support their work, which this year includes research related to cancer, Parkinson’s disease, birth defects and epilepsy.

Click here and here for more.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced today that it is expanding collaborations with the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund, the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, and the Life Sciences Research Foundation in order to increase support for outstanding postdoctoral researchers.

Click here and here for more.

John L. Rinn, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '09-'11) of Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute, Boston, presented new findings on the function of lincRNAs (large intervening noncoding RNAs) at the May Biology of Genomes conference, Cold Spring Harbor.  His team reported the identification of 4000 lincRNAs in the human genome.  The functions of these lincRNAs are yet to be defined; however, one in particular is directly regulated by the tumor suppressor gene p53, indicating a potential role in controlling cancer.

Click here for more.

New York, NY (June 4, 2009) — A charity breakfast at New York’s Rainbow Room on May 27th raised $1.4 million for innovative cancer research funded by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.  The Foundation gives 100% of donations to exceptional early career cancer researchers, who are funded through competitive and prestigious award programs, targeting all types of cancers.

The non-profit’s Annual Breakfast featured remarks by Joe Kernen, co-anchor of CNBC’s flagship morning program “Squawk Box,” who spoke of his previous role as a cancer researcher at MIT.  "The people that pushed me out of research and into reading a teleprompter are the people that win Damon Runyon awards,” said Mr. Kernen.

Photos of the event can be found here.

Richard T. Clark, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Merck & Co., Inc., was honored at the May 27 event for his company’s commitment to scientific discovery.  In remarks at the breakfast, Mr. Clark said, "This is an amazing time to be involved in cancer research.  But no one company, individual, or organization can do it alone.  I applaud the Foundation and its scientists for their important work."  Merck recently donated $450,000 towards the Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator program, which aims to accelerate the translation of research into new treatments and cures for cancer patients.  Since 1995, the company has provided $2 million to support Damon Runyon Fellowships.

Mr. Clark was introduced by Larry Bossidy, former CEO of Honeywell International Inc.  Mr. Bossidy recently retired from Merck’s Board of Directors.

Damon Runyon scientists John L. Rinn, PhD, and Christine H. Chung, MD, described their current cancer research projects funded by the Foundation:

Dr. Rinn, previously an aspiring professional snowboarder and now an Assistant Professor at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, won a Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award for his work on a new class of molecules called lincRNAs, which have potentially groundbreaking possibilities for the treatment of all cancers.

“We do genomic origami.  If we could learn to fold, say, a broken wing [of a genomic origami bird] up, we could turn a cancerous cell back to normal,” said Dr. Rinn.

Dr. Chung’s story brought her from a house in South Korea without indoor plumbing to her current role as a Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator now focused on improving treatments for patients with head and neck cancers.

“I deeply appreciate Damon Runyon’s support – it helped me achieve my American dream,” said Dr. Chung, who is now an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

"Breakthroughs happen when you let the most brilliant people test their ideas and follow their instincts," said Lorraine Egan, Executive Director of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.  Ms. Egan highlighted the recent work of Damon Runyon scientist Cassian Yee, MD, who successfully treated a patient with advanced melanoma with immunotherapy.

The Annual Breakfast was attended by 250 guests including leaders of science, academia and industry.

About the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation invests in the rising stars of science and the most innovative cancer research.

Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs.  The Foundation currently is funding more than 100 scientists at leading medical centers and research institutions.  Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested over $220 million and funded more than 3,200 early career scientists.  This year, it will invest approximately $9 million in brilliant minds.

100% of all direct donations are used to support scientific research.  Low administrative and fundraising costs are paid through the Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets service and endowment.

Jeremy N. Rich, MD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator '04-'09) of the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, examined how glioma brain cancer stem cells (GSCs) respond to low oxygen concentrations (hypoxia) in the tumor microenvironment.  GSCs preferentially express hypoxia-inducible factor HIF2α and HIF-regulated genes.  Blocking HIFs in GSCs inhibits self-renewal, proliferation, and survival, as well as reduces the ability of these cells to initiate tumors.  These findings suggest that HIF2α could be a promising target for novel therapies.  This work was published in the journal Cancer Cell.

Click here for more.

Nathanael S. Gray, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '08-'10) of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues identified a novel protein called DEPTOR that interacts with and blocks the mTOR signaling protein.  DEPTOR is expressed at high levels in certain multiple myelomas and promotes tumor cell survival via activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.  These findings were published in the journal Cell.

Click here for more.