The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Research Acceleration Network (RAN) and RAN-2 Grants provide funding and strategic project management support to research projects with the potential to double the survival of pancreatic cancer by 2020. Introduced in 2016, the RAN-2 grant provides $2,000,000 over one to three years to support a phase 2 treatment clinical trial or robust nontherapeutic trial. The RAN grants were introduced in 2013 and provide $1,000,000 in funding over one to three years. Both the RAN and RAN-2 grants support multi-institutional team projects. The projects consist of at least two co-principal investigators from distinct institutions and include a clinical component with an endpoint goal oriented to improving detection or treatment of pancreatic cancer.
To date, we have awarded one RAN-2 and seven RAN Grants. The RAN Grants were administered in partnership with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) from 2013 to 2015. Click below to learn more about the grantees.
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 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
2014 Skip Viragh – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Research Acceleration Network Grant
Giulio Draetta, MD, PhD, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Co-Principal Investigator: Lewis Cantley, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College
Developing a Novel Oxidative Phosphorylation Inhibitor in Pancreatic Cancer
2013 Skip Viragh – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Inaugural Research Acceleration Network Grant
Michael Goggins, MD, Johns Hopkins University
Co-PI: Anil Rustgi, MD, University of Pennsylvania
Co-PI: Marcia Canto, MD, Johns Hopkins University
CAPS multicenter trial: Imaging and markers for pancreatic cancer screening
2014 Fredman Family Foundation – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Research Acceleration Network Grant
Dung Le, MD, Johns Hopkins University
Co-Principal Investigator: Todd Crocenzi, MD, Providence Portland Medical Center
GVAX + CRS-207 Heterologous Prime Boost Vaccination with PD-1 Blockade
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
2016 The Shirley Sadoff – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Research Acceleration Network-2 Grant
David Linehan, MD, University of Rochester
Co-PI: Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Targeting Macrophages to Improve Chemotherapy in Metastatic Pancreas Cancer
2013 Tempur-Pedic – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – AACR Inaugural Research Acceleration Network Grant in Memory of Tim Miller
Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, University of Pennsylvania
Co-PI: Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, New York University
Accelerating Development of CD40 Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer