News

Honors and Awards February 15, 2024

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards $3.2M to innovative early-career scientists

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has announced eight recipients of the 2024 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).

Honors and Awards February 12, 2024

2024 Timmerman Traverse raises over $1M for cancer research by summiting Kilimanjaro

On Saturday, February 10, 2024, an intrepid team of twenty scientific luminaries led by biotech journalist and mountaineer Luke Timmerman embarked upon the trip of a lifetime—a hike to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the African continent’s highest peak. In advance of the expedition, the team trained for hiking at more than 19,000 feet above sea level, enlisted the support of friends and colleagues, and together raised more than $1 million to support Damon Runyon’s brave and bold cancer researchers.

Honors and Awards February 1, 2024

Inaugural class of Damon Runyon–St. Jude Pediatric Cancer Research Fellows announced

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital today announce the inaugural class of pediatric cancer research fellows. Each of the five fellows will receive funding for four years ($300,000 total) to support an innovative project in basic or translational research with the potential to significantly impact the diagnosis or treatment of one or more pediatric cancers.

Honors and Awards December 14, 2023

Damon Runyon launches post-baccalaureate research internship

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is thrilled to announce the launch of the Damon Runyon Scholars Program for Advancing Research and Knowledge (SPARK), a one-year intensive cancer research internship program for post-baccalaureate students who come from backgrounds underrepresented in the sciences. The goal of the program is to provide students who have the potential to become leaders in cancer research with rigorous scientific training and a network of mentors and peers to support their next steps into graduate school and beyond.

Honors and Awards October 24, 2023

Five Damon Runyon alumni elected to the National Academy of Medicine

The National Academy of Medicine provides independent, evidence-based scientific advice to address national and global health challenges. Membership is considered to be one of the highest honors in the medical field and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. This year, five Damon Runyon alumni were nominated for membership, bringing the total number of Damon Runyon scientists in the organization to 46.

Honors and Awards October 20, 2023

Qinheng Zheng, PhD, receives 2023 Damon Runyon-Jake Wetchler Award

Each year, the Damon Runyon-Jake Wetchler Award for Pediatric Innovation is given to a third-year Damon Runyon Fellow whose research has the greatest potential to impact the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of pediatric cancer. This year, the award recognizes the work of Qinheng Zheng, PhD, a Damon Runyon-Connie and Bob Lurie Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.

Honors and Awards September 1, 2023

2024 Timmerman Traverse to benefit Damon Runyon’s cancer researchers

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is delighted to announce a new partnership with the Timmerman Traverse, an adventurous initiative that brings leaders and investors in biotech together to scale extraordinary physical—and philanthropic—heights. Since 2017, biotech journalist and mountaineer Luke Timmerman has led expeditions up Mt. Everest, the Matterhorn, and the seven highest peaks in the White Mountains, raising over $7.6 million to combat cancer and poverty. Participants in the 2024 Timmerman Traverse will summit Mt.

Honors and Awards August 24, 2023

Runyon 5K is a home run for cancer research

More than 1,200 people from the five boroughs of New York City and beyond took part in the Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, July 29, 2023, to support the nation’s brightest young scientists as they pursue breakthroughs in cancer research. Since the inaugural event in 2009, the Runyon 5K has raised more than $6 million.

Honors and Awards August 16, 2023

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards $3.9 million to exceptional early-career scientists

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. This prestigious Fellowship encourages the nation's most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding to investigate cancer causes, mechanisms, therapies, and prevention.

Honors and Awards July 20, 2023

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards $3.6 million to top clinical investigators

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has named six new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators. The recipients of this prestigious 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.

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