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In 2015, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network will invest nearly $6.8 million in research, a 21 percent increase over last year’s investment.
Since the inception of the Research Grants Program in 2003, we have awarded more than $28 million in funding through 123 grants to talented, dedicated scientists and clinicians throughout the United States.
For the 2015 Research Grants Program, we have awarded 11 grants to outstanding scientists nationwide through a joint program with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The awardees’ novel investigations span basic, translational and clinical research and address such important topics as immunotherapy, targeting KRAS, heredity in pancreatic cancer, and tumor metabolism. Our research investment is focused on supporting projects with the potential to enhance diagnosis and treatment options aimed at improving patient outcomes. Some of our grants are intended to attract and retain early-career investigators into the pancreatic cancer field.
We have also awarded two Fellowships in a unique partnership with the National Cancer Institute’s Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research. Both Fellowships support research on KRAS mutations that are relevant to pancreatic cancer in order to improve treatment outcomes.
Read more about the 2015 grantees and their research below, as well as the press release announcing the grants awarded in our joint program with AACR and the press release announcing the KRAS Fellowships.
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award (Grant funded by an anonymous foundation)
Gregory Beatty, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Immune escape mechanisms in metastatic pancreatic cancer
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
David Boothman, PhD, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Co-PI: Muhammad Beg, MD
Use of PARP1 inhibitors to leverage a tumor-selective ‘kiss of death’
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Research Acceleration Network Grant
Jonathan Brody, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University
Co-PI: Michael Pishvaian, MD, PhD, Georgetown University
Co-PI: Christopher Albanese, PhD, Georgetown University
Co-PI: Subha Madhavan, PhD, Georgetown University
Co-PI: Emanuel Petricoin III, PhD, George Mason University
Developing an algorithm for Molecular Tailored Therapy
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Pathway to Leadership Grant
Kirsten Bryant, PhD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Exploiting pancreatic cancer cell metabolism for therapeutic gain
2015 Skip Viragh – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Cosimo Commisso, PhD
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Targeting macropinocytosis via Na+/H+ exchanger inhibition in PDAC
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Research Acceleration Network Grant
Channing Der, PhD, University of North Carolina
Co-PI: Jason Fleming, MD, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Co-PI: Krister Wennerberg, PhD, University of Helsinki, Finland
Defining novel combination KRAS-targeted therapeutic strategies
2015 Samuel Stroum – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – NCI, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research KRAS Fellowship
John Hunter, PhD
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Structural Studies on Mutant K-Ras
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award (Grant funded by an anonymous foundation)
Nada Kalaany, PhD
Children’s Hospital Boston
Role of arginine metabolism in obesity-associated pancreatic cancer
2015 Celgene Corporation – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Research Acceleration Network Grant
Steven Leach, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Co-PI: Douglas Fearon, MD, Weill Cornell Medical College
Eliminating T cell barriers in pancreatic cancer patients
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
David Linehan, MD
University of Rochester
Targeting Inflammatory Monocytes in Metastatic Pancreas Cancer
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – NCI, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research KRAS Fellowship
Lynn McGregor, PhD
University of California, San Francisco
Development of an Oncogene-Specific Inhibitor of K-Ras G12D
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
Nipun Merchant, MD, University of Miami
Co-PI: Michael VanSaun, PhD
Targeting downstream effectors of KRAS via MEK and CDK-4 inhibition in PDAC
2015 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
Kazuki Sugahara, MD, PhD, Columbia University
Co-PI: Andrew Lowy, MD, FACS, University of California, San Diego
Clinical development of a tumor-penetrating peptide for enhanced pancreatic cancer therapy
