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Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a cancer of the soft tissue that predominantly affects children. Under the microscope, these tumors resemble developing skeletal muscle, but they appear in parts of the body where skeletal muscle does not exist, such as the bladder and salivary gland. For years, this has raised two fundamental questions: what types of cells give rise to RMS, and why does this cancer mainly occur in children?
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have once again teamed up to support a new class of pediatric cancer research fellows. The awards, totaling a $1.5 million investment, will fuel the work of five fellows who will each receive funding for four years ($300,000 total). Each fellow will conduct an innovative research project with the potential to significantly impact the diagnosis or treatment of one or more pediatric cancers.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is diagnosed in more than 20,000 people in the U.S. each year, and the five-year survival rate remains around 30%. For patients whose disease is driven by mutations in the gene NPM1, the most common mutation in adult AML, treatment options have long been limited.
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has named 13 new Damon Runyon Fellows, exceptional postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators. The prestigious, four-year Fellowship encourages the nation’s most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($300,000 total) to investigate cancer causes, mechanisms, therapies, and prevention.
Damon Runyon scientists and industry partners gathered on Tuesday, March 24, for the 2026 Accelerating Cancer Cures Research Symposium, hosted by Amgen in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Cancer drugs often target a molecule that cancer cells rely on for survival but, crucially, healthy cells do not. When they are first identified, this type of molecule is known as a therapeutic vulnerability—and what previously made the cancer cell especially fit now makes it an easier target.
By the time this year’s Timmerman Traverse team of biotech executives and investors embarked upon their journey to Mt. Kilimanjaro, they had already raised $1 million for Damon Runyon’s scientists. So they set their sights—and their altitude—higher. On Sunday, February 15, 2026, the team reached the mountain’s summit (elev. 19,341 feet) and exceeded their fundraising goal, raising over $1.2 million for cancer research.
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has announced eight recipients of the 2026 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, established to support high-risk, high-reward ideas with the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of cancer. Five extraordinary early-career researchers will receive initial grants of $400,000 over two years, and each will have the opportunity to receive two additional years of funding (for a potential total of $800,000).
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