Three Damon Runyon alumni were elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service: Edwin (Ted) G. Abel, PhD (Former Fellow ’93-’96); Julie A. Segre, PhD (Former Fellow ’97-’00); and Catherine J. Wu, MD (Former Clinical Investigator ’07-’12).

Damon Runyon will invest up to $3.6 million over three years to recruit the most talented young scientists to become the next leaders in computational biology.

“Can you help my children? Who can tell me why my two young children both got this old person’s disease?” Lucy A. Godley, MD, PhD, vividly remembers reading the desperate email at 10:15 pm four years ago. The email was from Linda Schramm, an American living in Mexico, who was determined to find a treatment for her daughter suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).

In September, first- and third-year Damon Runyon Fellows came together from their separate labs around the country at the Annual Fellows’ Retreat. Held in Southbridge, Massachusetts this year, the Fellows took the opportunity to network, share ideas and get professional advice from leaders in all fields of cancer research.

William G. Kaelin, Jr, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.

Peter J. Turnbaugh, PhD (Damon Runyon Innovator '16-'20), at the University of California, San Francisco, discusses his recent discovery that eating a diet of cooked food fundementally changes the microbes living in the gut compared to a diet of raw foods.

Surprising new research from Jason M. Sheltzer, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ’18 - ’20) and colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory suggests why 97% of cancer drugs in clinical trials fail to stop cancer in patients and never make it to market.

Yung S. Lie, PhD, President and CEO of Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, sat down with Denver Frederick, host of “The Business of Giving” on AM 970 The Answer WNYM in New York City, to discuss the history and strategy of the organization.  

Two Damon Runyon alumni have been awarded the 2019 Lasker Awards, which “honor innovations that have advanced knowledge, treatment, or prevention of disease,” and are considered to be one of the highest international honors in medical research. H. Michael Shepard, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ’78-’80), shares the prize for his contribution to the discovery of the breast cancer treatment Herceptin. Jacques F.A.P. Miller, PhD (Damon Runyon Grantee ’73-’75), shares the award for pioneering immunology research that has led to many new therapeutic approaches. 

For the ninth year in a row, Damon Runyon has earned a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for “demonstrating strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency.”