Career Development Award

Career Development Awards are currently two-year grants of $200,000 each that are designed to attract and support junior faculty at academic and medical institutions, and foster their research in pancreatic cancer.

Since 2003, the awards have been administered in partnership with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). In 2003 and 2006, they also were administered by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

To date, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has disbursed 37 Career Development Awards. Click below to learn about these grantees and their funded projects.

2012 The Daniel and Janet Mordecai Foundation – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Jiyoung Ahn, PhD
New York University
Oral Microbiome and Pancreatic Cancer: A Prospective Case-Control Study

2006 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – ASCO Career Development Award
David Chang, MD, PhD
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Treating Pancreatic Cancer with the Well-characterized Anti-allergy Drug Cromolyn, Through a Novel Mechanism of Action

2006 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Ru Chen, PhD
University of Washington
Identifying the Role of the Notch Signaling Pathway in the Development of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

2008 Constance Williams – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Marie-Christine Daniel, PhD
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Multifunctional Nanovectors for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy

2008 Seena Magowitz – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
David Dawson, MD, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles
Wnt Signaling in Pancreatic Cancer Progenitor Cells

2007 Carole and Bob Daly – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Martin E. Fernandez-Zapico, MD
Mayo Clinic, Rochester
Characterization of the Hedgehog Interacting Pathways in Pancreatic Cancer

2007 Nancy Daly Riordan – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Paul J. Grippo, PhD
Northwestern University
Evaluating Kras Oncogene Addiction in Pancreatic Precancer and Cancer

2005 Skip Viragh – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
William G. Hawkins, MD
Washington University in St. Louis
Assessing the Ability of Regulatory T-Cell Depletion to Augment Xenogeneic DNA Vaccination Against Mesothelin as a Method to Overcome Immunologic Tolerance in a Murine Model of Pancreas Cancer

2008 Blum-Kovler – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Joseph Michael Herman, MD
Johns Hopkins University
Evaluation of Focused Radiation to Potentiate a Pancreatic GM-CSF Vaccine

2005 Dr. Laurence A. Mack and Roselle Mack Memorial – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Sunil R. Hingorani, MD, PhD
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
The Cell-of-Origin in Pancreatic Cancer

2005 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Mircea Ivan, MD, PhD
Tufts University School of Medicine
Exploring Hypoxia Resistance in Pancreatic Tumors

2007 Laurie and Paul MacCaskill – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Kimberly Kelly, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Molecular Imaging Agents for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer

2008 Skip Viragh – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Hyunki Kim, PhD
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
MRI to Monitor Early Pancreatic-Tumor Response to a Novel Triple Therapy

2010 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Alec Kimmelman, MD, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
DNA Repair and the DNA Damage Response in Pancreatic Cancer

2003 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – ASCO Career Development Award
Andrew Ko, MD
University of California, San Francisco
Detection, Analysis, and Significance of Micrometastases in Pancreatic Cancer

2006 Michael Landon – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Brian C. Lewis, PhD
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Development of the Early Biomarkers of Pancreatic Cancer to Improve Early Detection While the Cancer is Still Curable

2004 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Anirban Maitra, MD
Johns Hopkins University
Notch Signaling in Pancreas Cancer

2009 Larry Kwicinski – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network - AACR Career Development Award
Maxence Nachury, PhD
Stanford University
Role of the Primary Cilium in the Initiation of Pancreatic Cancer

2009 Paul Mitchell – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Marina Pasca di Magliano, PhD
University of Michigan
Notch Signaling in Pancreatic Cancer Initiation and Progression

2003 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
C. Max Schmidt, MD, PhD
Indiana University
The Chemopreventive Role of Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors in Pancreatic Tumorigenesis

2008 Laurie and Paul MacCaskill – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Lorenzo F. Sempere, PhD
Dartmouth Medical School
Role of MicroRNAs in Initiation and Progression of Pancreatic Cancer

2007 Ralph H. Hruban, M.D. – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Ben Stanger, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Investigation of the Pancreatic "Ductome"

2008 Patty Boshell – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Peter Storz, PhD
Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville
Kinases Regulating Pancreatic Cancer Resistance to Chemotherapeutics

2003 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
David Tuveson, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Tumor Suppressor Gene Loss of Heterozygosity for the Generation of a Murine Model of Ductal Pancreatic Cancer

2010 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Michael VanSaun, PhD
Vanderbilt University
Influence of Adipokines on Pancreatic Cancer Progression

2007 Skip Viragh – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Huamin Wang, MD, PhD
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Functional Study of Hematopoietic Progenitor Kinase-1 in Pancreatic Cancer

2006 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Daoyan Wei, PhD
MD Anderson Cancer Center
The Role of KLF4a in Pancreatic Cancer

2007 Seena Magowitz – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Career Development Award
Rebekah White, MD
Duke University Medical Center
Prostate Stem Cell Antigen: A Specific Target for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy