The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation announces research grants totaling $1.54 million

The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF) has awarded 13 collaborative research grants and 3 individual research grants, totaling $1.54 million. The 16 grants represent a portion of the science grant program at the Foundation, which will award more than $2 million this year to cancer research. The grant recipients represent some of the best scientific minds in differentiation therapy-reprogramming cancer cells-a hallmark of the Waxman Foundation.

Each year, the Foundation invites cancer institutes around the world to apply for a research grant. Because the SWCRF accepts one application per institute, many cancer centers are encouraged to hold their own peer review process before submitting a proposal.

Once accepted, all grants undergo an intense peer-review process by the Scientific Advisory Board of the SWCRF at the annual scientific review, held in the spring. Grant recipients are expected to present a progress report of their research findings to the Scientific Advisory Board the next year for critique.

Funded investigators become a part of the Foundation's unique "Institute Without Walls," and are expected to share their findings at the SWCRF annual scientific review. Ongoing funding is contingent upon completion of the specific aims outlined in the research proposal and successful grantees may be eligible for multi-year funding.

The collaborative research grants range between $60,000 and $120,000. Each individual research grantees receives $100,000.

"This year's grant application pool included many highly-respected cancer researchers from institutes all over the globe, making it a very competitive review process," said Gwen Darien, the executive director of the SWCRF. "We are truly thrilled to be able to fund so many qualified individuals and are excited to see the results of such promising research."

The 2010-2011 collaborative research grant recipients are:

• Julio A. Aguirre-Ghiso, Ph.D., Eduardo F. Farias, Ph.D.
  The Mount Sinai School of Medicine
  Collaborative Program on Tumor Dormancy Using Squamous Carcinoma Cancer Models and the Breast Cancer Model of MMTV-Neu

• Ronald M. Evans, Ph.D., Reuben Shaw, Ph.D.
  The Salk Institute for Biomedical Studies
  Dissecting the Roles of Both Metabolic Dysregulation and Inflammation in Intestinal Cancer Through the Use of Genetic Mouse Models

• Paul Fisher, Ph.D., Devanand Sarkar, MBBS, Ph.D.
  Virginia Commonwealth University
  Targeted Therapy of Pancreatic Cancer

• Doris Germain, Ph.D., Samuel Waxman, M.D.
  The Mount Sinai School of Medicine
  Enhancing Hormonal Therapy of Breast Cancer

• Shai Izraeli, M.D., John Crispino, Ph.D.
  Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Northwestern University
  Targeting ERG Induced Childhood Myeloid Leukemias

• Yongkui Jing, Ph.D., Ruibao Ren, M.D., Ph.D
  The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Brandeis University
  Development of Novel α, β-unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds as Therapeutic Agents in Myeloid Leukemia

• Jonathan D. Licht, M.D., Wilson Miller, M.D., Ph.D, Arthur Zelent, Ph.D.
  Northwestern University; McGill University; The Institute of Cancer Research
  PLZ and PLZ-RAR in Hematopoeisis and Cancer

• Josep M. Llovet, M.D.
  The Mount Sinai School of Medicine
  Prognostic Prediction and Identification of Oncogenic Drives for Intervention Leading Towards More Personalized Treatment Algorithms of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (liver cancer)

• Ari Melnick, M.D., Alexander MacKerell, Ph.D and Gilbert Priv-, Ph.D.,
  Weill Cornell Medical College, University of Maryland, University of Toronto
  Therapeutic Targetry of Oncogenic Transcriptional Repressor Proteins in Lymphoma and Colon Cancer

• Frank J. Rauscher III, Ph.D., Arthur Zelent, Ph.D.
  The Wistar Institute; The Institute of Cancer Research
  Control of Differentiation by LIM Domain Proteins

• Yolanda Sanchez, Ph.D., Ethan Dmitrovsky, M.D.
  Dartmouth Medical Center
  Overcoming Oncogene Addiction by Targeting Genomic Stability in Lung Cancer

• William Weiss, M.D., Kevan M. Shokat, Ph.D., Albert Baldwin, Ph.D.
  University of California, San Francisco, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  HER Family Kinases and Oncogene Addiction in Brain Cancer

• Samuel Waxman, M.D., Arthur Zelent, Ph.D., Kevin Petri, Ph.D.
  The Mount Sinai School of Medicine; The Institute of Cancer Research
  Interference With Sin3 Function Induces Epigenetic Reprogramming and Differentiation in Breast Cancer Cells

The 2010-2011 individual research grant recipients are:

• Nabeel Bardeesy, Ph.D.
  Massachusetts General Hospital
  Elucidation and Targeting of Epigenetic Reprogramming Pathways in Pancreatic Cancer

• Christopher A. French, M.D.
  Brigham and Women's Hospital
  Targeting the Tumor Epigenome in NUT in Midline Carcinoma

• Robert A. Weinberg, Ph.D.
  Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
  Formation and Maintenance of Breast Cancer Stem Cells by Paracrine and Autocrine Signals

Source: Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation