Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, AACR awarded four Innovative Grants for pancreatic cancer research

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the American Association for Cancer Research awarded four Innovative Grants; three Career Development Awards; one Pathway to Leadership Grant; and one Fellowship Award to outstanding researchers for their innovative research proposals which have the potential to lead to medical breakthroughs in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The grant recipients will be honored at the AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010, held April 17-21, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.

"These grants fund innovative science and encourage investigators at all levels to pursue pancreatic cancer research. This is an area where breakthroughs are urgently needed because of the disease's devastating toll," said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), CEO of the American Association for Cancer Research. "We are very pleased to partner with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, an organization for which we have the greatest respect, in order to support the research and foster careers of the best scientists in this critical research area."

"There is an urgent need for scientific and medical breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer research but a major shortage of federal funding. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is working to help fill this critical void through our research grants program. We are thrilled to increase our research investment this year," stated Julie Fleshman J.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. "We congratulate the 2010 grant recipients and look forward to collaborating with them as we make strides against this deadly disease."

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Innovative Grants are intended to promote the development and study of new ideas and approaches in basic, translational, clinical or epidemiological research that have direct application and relevance to pancreatic cancer. These two-year grants provide $200,000 over the grant term. The 2010 recipients are:

•Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Innovative Grant Frank McCormick, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco
Specific K-RAS inhibitors for treating pancreatic cancer
•Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Innovative Grant supported by The Randy Pausch Family Diane M. Simeone, M.D., University of Michigan
Targeting Notch signaling in pancreatic cancer stem cells
•Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Innovative Grant funded in part by a generous gift from an anonymous family foundation
Gloria H. Su, Ph.D., Columbia University Medical Center
Notch decoy targeting the Notch signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer
•Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Innovative Grant
Amy H. Tang, Ph.D., Eastern Virginia Medical School
SIAH is a novel and effective anti-K-RAS drug target in pancreatic cancer

The Career Development Awards are two-year grants of $200,000, designed to attract and support early career scientists as they conduct pancreatic cancer research and establish successful career paths in the field. In 2010 they include:

•Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Career Development Award in memory of Skip Viragh Jonathan R. Brody Ph.D., Thomas Jefferson University HuR is a predictive and prognostic marker in pancreatic cancer
•Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Career Development Award Alec C. Kimmelman, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute DNA repair and the DNA damage response in pancreatic cancer
•Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Career Development Award Michael N. VanSaun, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Influence of adipokines on pancreatic cancer progression

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Pathway to Leadership Grant is a five-year grant totaling $600,000 to ensure the future leadership of pancreatic cancer research by supporting an outstanding early-career investigator beginning a postdoctoral research position and continuing through the successful transition to independence. The 2010 recipient is:

•Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Pathway to Leadership Grant supported by Tempur-Pedic Retailers
Zeshaan A. Rasheed, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Are cancer stem cells relevant in pancreatic adenocarcinoma?

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Fellowship award is a one-year grant of $45,000 designed to attract and further a young investigator's career in pancreatic cancer research. The 2010 recipient is:

•Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Fellowship in memory of Samuel Stroum
Vikram Bhattacharjee, Ph.D., Fox Chase Cancer Center
Candidate gene validation of sensitizers of pancreatic cancer to gemcitabine

In its mission to advance pancreatic cancer research, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has collaborated with the AACR to promote and support outstanding research focused on conquering this deadly disease. This year, nine grants were awarded, with a total funding level of nearly $2.3 million, the largest annual disbursement since the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network introduced the program in 2003. It reflects a nearly 90 percent increase in funding since last year. Since the inception of its grants program, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has awarded more than $7.2 million in pancreatic cancer research funding.

The grants program aims to develop a comprehensive pancreatic cancer research community, investing in the full range of knowledge necessary to produce breakthroughs and move them into lifesaving treatments.