Media Room--We can provide journalists with expert commentary on topics like:  

  • Challenges facing early career scientists, and new technologies and trends in cancer research (all forms of cancer)
  • Connections to bright, articulate early career scientists involved in leading-edge cancer research projects
  • Introductions to scientists and doctors nationwide, and interviews with our President and CEO, Board Members, or others

Contact: Yung S. Lie, PhD, President and CEO, yung.lie@damonrunyon.org, 212.455.0521 

Press releases are listed below.  Visit New Discoveries for breakthroughs from our scientists.

Mission: To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation provides today’s best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative cancer research. The Foundation supports emerging leaders who have great potential to achieve breakthroughs in how we diagnose, treat and prevent cancer. Since its founding in 1946, the Foundation has invested nearly $450 million and funded 4,000 young scientists. 100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research. 

January 11, 2017

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 16 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its fall Fellowship Award Committee review. The recipients of this prestigious, four-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country. The Committee also named three new recipients of the Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists.


January 5, 2017

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation announced that nine scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named 2017 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award. The 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. Only those scientists with a clear vision and passion for curing cancer are selected to receive the prestigious award. 


September 26, 2016

The Damon Runyon-Jake Wetchler Award for Pediatric Innovation will be given annually to a third-year Damon Runyon Fellow whose research has the greatest potential to impact the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of one or more forms of pediatric cancer. Members of The Jake Wetchler Foundation for Innovative Pediatric Cancer Research presented the first Award to Mark W. Zimmerman, PhD, a Damon Runyon-Sohn Fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at this year's Fellows' Retreat.


August 1, 2016

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 17 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review. The recipients of this prestigious, four-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 ($231,000 for basic scientists; $248,000 for physician-scientists) to work on innovative projects that have the potential to impact cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.


July 21, 2016

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has named four outstanding young scientists as recipients of the prestigious Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Research Fellowship Award, committing nearly $1 million to help address a critical shortage of funding for pediatric cancer research.


July 15, 2016

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named seven new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators at its spring 2016 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. The Foundation also awarded Continuation Grants to three Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators. This 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.


May 26, 2016

The Damon Runyon Board of Directors approved a fellowship stipend increase as of July 1, 2016. We are pleased to offer this increase in recognition of the financial challenges faced by postdoctoral fellows, especially those living in high-cost geographic regions and with growing families. 


May 23, 2016

To help increase the number of physician-scientists, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has created the new Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award, which provides physicians who have earned an MD degree and completed clinical specialty fellowship training the opportunity to gain the research experience they need to become leaders in translational and clinical research. Damon Runyon announced that five scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named the 2016 recipients of the award.


May 18, 2016

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation yesterday honored Tom Daniel, MD, Chairman, Celgene Research and Bob Hugin, Executive Chairman, Celgene Corporation, at its 2016 Annual Breakfast at Cipriani 42nd Street® in New York City. The Breakfast raised nearly $1.4 million to support the nation’s best and brightest cancer researchers, enabling the talent capable of revolutionizing the prevention, detection, and treatment of all forms of cancer.

March 28, 2016

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, has elected William G. Kaelin, Jr., MD and William Raveis, Jr., to its prestigious Board of Directors.