Dear Damon Runyon Scientists,

This spring, we made some exciting changes to the Damon Runyon award programs. We are very pleased to announce the launch of the Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists:

At the end of the Fellowship, there are often a select few Damon Runyon Fellows who have greatly exceeded the Foundation’s highest expectations. These spectacular young scientists are the most likely to make paradigm-shifting breakthroughs that transform the way we prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. To catapult their research careers—and their impact on cancer—the Foundation will now make an additional investment of $100,000 in these exceptional individuals by selecting them as recipients of the Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists.

In doing so, the Foundation will provide additional financial support to enable these scientists to continue the pursuit of bold and innovative ideas, accelerate the path to independence, and encourage a continued career in cancer research.

We will select our initial recipients of the Dale F. Frey Award (up to three) at the Fellowship Award Committee meeting in November.

In addition, we increased the Fellowship award amount to $156,000 over three years (from $140,000). We recently announced the newest awardees of the Fellowship (eighteen) and Clinical Investigator Awards (eight—five new, three Continuation Grants), totaling over $5.9 million.

Please see below for the latest update on exciting news and findings from your fellow Damon Runyon scientists—current and former. These are just the publications and awards that we are aware of, so we apologize if we have not included your work. Lay summaries of some of this work are posted on the News page of our website, along with additional news about our Scientific Committee and Board members.

Thanks again to those of you who have sent us updates on your recent progress. Please stay in touch, and enjoy the summer!

Best regards,

Yung

Yung S. Lie, PhD
Scientific Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
One Exchange Plaza
55 Broadway, Suite 302
New York, NY 10006
212.455.0521
212.455.0529 FAX
yung.lie@damonrunyon.org

UPCOMING DEADLINES and EVENTS

Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium
August 15, 2010

For the first annual Runyon 5K, Lorraine Egan, Executive Director of the Damon Runyon Foundation, raised nearly $10,000 to support her run around Yankee stadium.  Thanks to the generosity of Damon Runyon scientists across the country, Lorraine raised more than any other team.  Join us for the second annual Runyon 5K and help Lorraine beat last year’s amount by making a donation to or joining her team, Team Breakthrough Scientists.

Fellowship Award Application Deadline
August 16, 2010

The Damon Runyon Fellowship Award supports the training of the brightest postdoctoral scientists as they embark upon their research careers. This funding enables them to be trained by established investigators in leading research laboratories across the country.

AWARDS and HONORS

Election to the National Academy of Sciences
Lewis L. Lanier, PhD (Fellow ‘79-‘80 and Former Sponsor), University of California, San Francisco

2010 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-Avanti Award
David W. Russell, PhD (Fellow ‘80-‘82), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas

2010 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience
Nadrian C. Seeman, PhD (Fellow ‘72-‘73), New York University, New York

2010 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience
James E. Rothman, PhD (Fellow ‘76), Yale University, New Haven

2010 Kimmel Scholar Award
Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘09-‘11, Fellow ‘05-‘07), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

2010 Pew Scholars
David A. Guertin, PhD (Fellow ‘03-‘06), University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester
Valerie Horsley, PhD (Fellow ‘04-‘07), Yale University, New Haven
Rajat Rohatgi, MD, PhD (Fellow ‘06-‘07), Stanford University, Stanford
Susan R. Schwab, PhD (Fellow ‘04-‘06), New York University, New York

2010 Searle Scholars
Sreekanth H. Chalasani, PhD (Fellow ‘04-‘07), Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla
Heather R. Christofk, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘10-‘12), University of California, Los Angeles
Maxence V. Nachury, PhD (Fellow ‘03-‘05), Stanford University, Stanford
Antonina I. Roll-Mecak, PhD (Fellow ‘03-‘05), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda

PUBLICATIONS

Laura A. Banaszynski, PhD (Angelo Family Fellow ‘08-‘11), The Rockefeller University, New York
Distinct factors control histone variant H3.3 localization at specific genomic regions. Goldberg AD, Banaszynski LA, Noh KM, Lewis PW, Elsaesser SJ, Stadler S, Dewell S, Law M, Guo X, Li X, Wen D, Chapgier A, DeKelver RC, Miller JC, Lee YL, Boydston EA, Holmes MC, Gregory PD, Greally JM, Rafii S, Yang C, Scambler PJ, Garrick D, Gibbons RJ, Higgs DR, Cristea IM, Urnov FD, Zheng D, Allis CD. Cell. 2010 Mar 5;140(5):678-91.

Patrick J. Brennwald, PhD (Fellow ‘90-‘93), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Regulation of Rho GTPase crosstalk, degradation and activity by RhoGDI1. Boulter E, Garcia-Mata R, Guilluy C, Dubash A, Rossi G, Brennwald PJ, Burridge K. Nat Cell Biol. 2010 May;12(5):477-83.

Ken Cadwell, PhD (Lallage Feazel Wall Fellow ‘08-‘11), Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
Virus-plus-susceptibility gene interaction determines Crohn’s disease gene Atg16L1 phenotypes in intestine. Cadwell K, Patel KK, Maloney NS, Liu TC, Ng AC, Storer CE, Head RD, Xavier R, Stappenbeck TS, Virgin HW. Cell. 2010 Jun 25;141(7):1135-45.

Rachael A. Clark, MD, PhD (Clinical Investigator ‘08-‘11), Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
Sezary syndrome and MF arise from distinct T cell subsets: a biologic rationale for their distinct clinical behaviors. Campbell JJ, Clark RA, Watanabe R, Kupper TS. Blood. 2010 May 18.

Dean W. Felsher, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘03-‘08), Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford
The interaction between Myc and Miz1 is required to antagonize TGFbeta-dependent autocrine signaling during lymphoma formation and maintenance. van Riggelen J, Müller J, Otto T, Beuger V, Yetil A, Choi PS, Kosan C, Möröy T, Felsher DW, Eilers M. Genes Dev. 2010 Jun 15;24(12):1281-94.

Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘00-‘05), Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus
Christine H. Chung, MD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘05-‘10), Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville
Human Papillomavirus and Survival of Patients with Oropharyngeal Cancer. Ang KK, Harris J, Wheeler R, Weber R, Rosenthal DI, Nguyen-Tân PF, Westra WH, Chung CH, Jordan RC, Lu C, Kim H, Axelrod R, Silverman CC, Redmond KP, Gillison ML. N Engl J Med. 2010 Jun 7.

Jesse H. Goldberg, PhD (Fellow ‘06-‘08), MIT, Cambridge
Singing-related neural activity distinguishes two putative pallidal cell types in the songbird basal ganglia: comparison to the primate internal and external pallidal segments. Goldberg JH, Adler A, Bergman H, Fee MS. J Neurosci. 2010 May 19;30(20):7088-98.

Douglas K. Graham, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Novartis Clinical Investigator ‘07-‘12), University of Colorado Denver, Aurora
Inhibition of Mer and Axl receptor tyrosine kinases in astrocytoma cells leads to increased apoptosis and improved chemosensitivity. Keating AK, Kim GK, Jones AE, Donson AM, Ware K, Mulcahy JM, Salzberg DB, Foreman NK, Liang X, Thorburn A, Graham DK. Mol Cancer Ther. 2010 May;9(5):1298-307.

David A. Guertin, PhD (Fellow ‘03-‘06), University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester
Targeting mTOR: prospects for mTOR complex 2 inhibitors in cancer therapy. Sparks CA, Guertin DA. Oncogene. 2010 Jul 1;29(26):3733-44. Epub 2010 Apr 26.

John V. Heymach, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘04-‘09), M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
A novel therapeutic combination for neuroblastoma: the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor/epidermal growth factor receptor/rearranged during transfection inhibitor vandetanib with 13-cis-retinoic acid. Zage PE, Zeng L, Palla S, Fang W, Nilsson MB, Heymach JV, Zweidler-McKay PA. Cancer. 2010 May 15;116(10):2465-75.

Multiple receptor tyrosine kinases regulate HIF-1alpha and HIF-2alpha in normoxia and hypoxia in neuroblastoma: implications for antiangiogenic mechanisms of multikinase inhibitors. Nilsson MB, Zage PE, Zeng L, Xu L, Cascone T, Wu HK, Saigal B, Zweidler-McKay PA, Heymach JV. Oncogene. 2010 May 20;29(20):2938-49.

Amanda M. Jamieson, PhD (Fellow ‘04-‘07), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven
Influenza virus-induced glucocorticoids compromise innate host defense against a secondary bacterial infection. Jamieson AM, Yu S, Annicelli CH, Medzhitov R. Cell Host Microbe. 2010 Feb 18;7(2):103-14.

Jun Liu, PhD (Fellow ‘91-‘93), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland
Local release of highly loaded antibodies from functionalized nanoporous support for cancer immunotherapy. Lei C, Liu P, Chen B, Mao Y, Engelmann H, Shin Y, Jaffar J, Hellstrom I, Liu J, Hellstrom KE. J Am Chem Soc. 2010 May 26;132(20):6906-7.

Jennifer L. Malin, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘01-‘05), University of California Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles
Quality of Care for Breast Cancer for Uninsured Women in California Under the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Treatment Act. Malin JL, Diamant AL, Leake B, Liu Y, Thind A, Kahn KL, Schneider EC, Epstein AM, Maly RC. J Clin Oncol. 2010 Jun 7.

David Q. Matus, PhD (Fellow ‘07-‘10), Duke University, Durham
In vivo identification of regulators of cell invasion across basement membranes. Matus DQ, Li XY, Durbin S, Agarwal D, Chi Q, Weiss SJ, Sherwood DR. Sci Signal. 2010 May 4;3(120):ra35.

Sarkis K. Mazmanian, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘08-‘10), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Inducible Foxp3+ regulatory T-cell development by a commensal bacterium of the intestinal microbiota. Round JL, Mazmanian SK. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jun 21.

A pathobiont of the microbiota balances host colonization and intestinal inflammation. Chow J, Mazmanian SK. Cell Host Microbe. 2010 Apr 22;7(4):265-76.

Loren S. Michel, MD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘06-‘09), Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
Synthetic Lethality through Combined Notch-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Pathway Inhibition in Basal-Like Breast Cancer. Dong Y, Li A, Wang J, Weber JD, Michel LS. Cancer Res. 2010 Jun 22.

Anders M. Näär, PhD (Scholar ’03-’05, Fellow ‘95-‘98), Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Charlestown
Conserved role of SIRT1 orthologs in fasting-dependent inhibition of the lipid/cholesterol regulator SREBP. Walker AK, Yang F, Jiang K, Ji JY, Watts JL, Purushotham A, Boss O, Hirsch ML, Ribich S, Smith JJ, Israelian K, Westphal CH, Rodgers JT, Shioda T, Elson SL, Mulligan P, Najafi-Shoushtari H, Black JC, Thakur JK, Kadyk LC, Whetstine JR, Mostoslavsky R, Puigserver P, Li X, Dyson NJ, Hart AC, Näär AM. Genes Dev. 2010 Jul 1;24(13):1403-17.

James M. Olson, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘02-‘07), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle
Notch signaling is not essential in sonic hedgehog-activated medulloblastoma. Hatton BA, Villavicencio EH, Pritchard J, LeBlanc M, Hansen S, Ulrich M, Ditzler S, Pullar B, Stroud MR, Olson JM. Oncogene. 2010 Jul 1;29(26):3865-72.

Bret J. Pearson, PhD (Fellow ‘05-‘08), University of Utah, Salt Lake City
A planarian p53 homolog regulates proliferation and self-renewal in adult stem cell lineages. Pearson BJ, Sánchez Alvarado A. Development. 2010 Jan;137(2):213-21.

Rajat Rohatgi, MD, PhD (Fellow ‘06-‘07), Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford
The output of Hedgehog signaling is controlled by the dynamic association between Suppressor of Fused and the Gli proteins. Humke EW, Dorn KV, Milenkovic L, Scott MP, Rohatgi R. Genes Dev. 2010 Apr 1;24(7):670-82.

Julien Sage, PhD (Scholar ‘05-‘07), Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford
Loss of p130 accelerates tumor development in a mouse model for human small-cell lung carcinoma. Schaffer BE, Park KS, Yiu G, Conklin JF, Lin C, Burkhart DL, Karnezis AN, Sweet-Cordero EA, Sage J. Cancer Res. 2010 May 15;70(10):3877-83.

Edus H. Warren, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘00-‘05), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle
Therapy of relapsed leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation with T cells specific for minor histocompatibility antigens. Warren EH, Fujii N, Akatsuka Y, Chaney CN, Mito JK, Loeb KR, Gooley TA, Brown ML, Koo KK, Rosinski KV, Ogawa S, Matsubara A, Appelbaum FR, Riddell SR. Blood. 2010 May 13;115(19):3869-78.

Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘03-‘08), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York
Improved Survival with Ipilimumab in Patients with Metastatic Melanoma. Hodi FS, O’Day SJ, McDermott DF, Weber RW, Sosman JA, Haanen JB, Gonzalez R, Robert C, Schadendorf D, Hassel JC, Akerley W, van den Eertwegh AJ, Lutzky J, Lorigan P, Vaubel JM, Linette GP, Hogg D, Ottensmeier CH, Lebbé C, Peschel C, Quirt I, Clark JI, Wolchok JD, Weber JS, Tian J, Yellin MJ, Nichol GM, Hoos A, Urba WJ. N Engl J Med. 2010 Jun 5.

Agonist anti-GITR monoclonal antibody induces melanoma tumor immunity in mice by altering regulatory T cell stability and intra-tumor accumulation. Cohen AD, Schaer DA, Liu C, Li Y, Hirschhorn-Cymmerman D, Kim SC, Diab A, Rizzuto G, Duan F, Perales MA, Merghoub T, Houghton AN, Wolchok JD. PLoS One. 2010 May 3;5(5):e10436.

Catherine J. Wu, MD (Clinical Investigator ‘07-‘12), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston
Graft-versus-leukemia antigen CML66 elicits coordinated B-cell and T-cell immunity after donor lymphocyte infusion. Zhang W, Choi J, Zeng W, Rogers SA, Alyea EP, Rheinwald JG, Canning CM, Brusic V, Sasada T, Reinherz EL, Ritz J, Soiffer RJ, Wu CJ. Clin Cancer Res. 2010 May 15;16(10):2729-39.

Cassian Yee, MD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘01-‘06), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle
Conditional superagonist CTL ligands for the promotion of tumor-specific CTL responses. Abdul-Alim CS, Li Y, Yee C. J Immunol. 2010 Jun 1;184(11):6514-21.

> Visit the New Discoveries and Honors page for more.