News

Honors and Awards November 17, 2025

Damon Runyon scientists paved the way for the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

In October, the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, PhD, Fred Ramsdell, PhD, and Shimon Sakaguchi, MD, PhD, for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance, which keeps the immune system from attacking the body’s own issues. Together, the laureates identified and defined the “security guards” of the immune system, known as regulatory T cells (T_reg).

The Nobel Assembly highlighted how this landmark work stood upon decades of foundational discoveries—many made by Damon Runyon scientists.

Honors and Awards October 20, 2025

Damon Runyon announces newest class of SPARK Scholars

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has named the newest cohort of the Damon Runyon Scholars Program for Advancing Research and Knowledge (SPARK), a one-year cancer research internship for post-baccalaureate scholars. Launched in 2023, the program provides promising young talent with rigorous scientific training and a network of mentors and peers to support their next steps into graduate school and beyond.

Honors and Awards September 8, 2025

Damon Runyon mourns loss of beloved Emeritus Board Member Steve Hayden

It is with great sadness that we share the news that one of our Board Members, Steve Hayden, passed away on Wednesday, August 27th, 2025, at the age of 78. A visionary advertising executive, Steve launched his career with Apple’s iconic “1984” Super Bowl ad and went on to become Vice Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy, where he was instrumental in guiding landmark campaigns for brands such as Kodak, Motorola, and Dove.

Honors and Awards September 3, 2025

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards $4.8 million to exceptional early-career scientists

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has named 16 new Damon Runyon Fellows, brilliant 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 ($300,000 total over four years) to investigate cancer causes, mechanisms, therapies, and prevention.

Honors and Awards July 14, 2025

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards $4.2 million to clinical cancer researchers

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has named five 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.

Honors and Awards July 9, 2025

Damon Runyon honors Renier Brentjens, MD, PhD, at Annual Breakfast

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation held its Annual Breakfast at The Metropolitan Club in New York on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. The event raised over $1.1 million to support promising early-career scientists pursuing innovative strategies to prevent, diagnose, and treat all forms of cancer.

Honors and Awards June 17, 2025

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation invests nearly $1.4 million to support physician-scientists

Three exceptional young clinicians with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named the 2025 recipients of the Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award. This award, established to help bolster the ranks of this vital cohort of cancer researchers, provides physicians who have completed clinical specialty fellowship training with the opportunity to become leaders in translational and clinical research. The awardees are selected through a highly competitive and rigorous process by a committee of leading cancer researchers who are themselves physician-scientists.

Honors and Awards June 6, 2025

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation launches new seed investment program to catalyze biotech funding

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation today announced the launch of the Innovative Ventures in Early-Stage Technologies (InVEST) Program. This unique initiative will automatically provide the first seed check to biotech startups founded by Damon Runyon alumni scientists. The goal of the program is to catalyze billions of dollars in commercial funding for scientific discovery while generating long-term, sustainable support for future cancer research breakthroughs.

Honors and Awards May 29, 2025

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards Quantitative Biology Fellowships to five cutting-edge scientists

Damon Runyon has announced a new cohort of Quantitative Biology Fellows, five exceptional early-career scientists who are bringing cutting-edge computational tools to bear on some of the most important questions in cancer biology. Whether designing new proteins or mapping DNA structure, their projects aim to shed light on these fundamental questions through large-scale data collection, mathematical modeling, and quantitative analysis.

Honors and Awards March 6, 2025

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards $4.4M to top young 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. 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.

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