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The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research has awarded six grants to promising early career scientists for projects aimed at addressing unmet needs in cancer research. Eliezer Van Allen, MD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ’15-’20), of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, received the competitive award for his research to improve clinical care for prostate cancer patients.
Scientists have found a clue as to how melanoma cells are able to metastasize. Ralph J. DeBerardinis, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ’11-’14) and colleagues at Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) discovered that some melanoma cells carry proteins on their surface that help them survive the hostile environment of the bloodstream as they travel to distant organs and form new tumors.
This year, five Damon Runyon alumni were chosen as American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows in honor of their invaluable contributions to science and technology.
Scientists first noticed circles of DNA floating alongside the regular chromosomes inside some cells, but they didn’t know the purpose of this “extrachromosomal DNA.” Now, Former Damon Runyon Scholar Howard Chang, PhD, of Stanford University, and colleagues have found that these doughnut-shaped pieces of DNA increase the malignancy of cancer cells.
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).
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.
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.
CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T cell immunotherapy has generated much excitement in the last two years— saving the lives of some blood cancer patients when other treatments have failed. Developing CAR T therapies for solid tumors has been far more challenging. That could be changing. Marcela V. Maus, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ’17-’20), and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital have turned CAR T cells into virtual armored vehicles, capable of launching deadly strikes against glioblastoma brain tumors.
Nicholas Arpaia, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ’13–’16), and Tal Danino, PhD, at Columbia University, have genetically programmed E. Coli bacteria to uncloak tumor cells and activate the immune system to attack them. The innovative approach eliminated tumors and distant metastases in mice and may lead to therapies that combat cancer more effectively in patients, without side effects.
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