American Association for Cancer Research Recognizes 2022-2023 Research Grantees
PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is proud to announce its newest class of grant recipients.
Since 1993, the AACR has allocated $133 million and awarded 880 research grants to support hundreds of scientists devoted to advancing the understanding, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Our grants support researchers domestically and abroad at every stage of their careers, representing a global commitment to cancer prevention, early detection, interception, and cure.
Fellowships
2021 AACR-Bristol Myers Squibb Immuno-oncology Research Fellowship
- Kelly P. Burke, MD, PhD, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
“Dissecting CTLA-4 and PD-1 Cooperation in Tumor Immunity and Adverse Events”
2022 AACR-Amgen Fellowship in Clinical/Translational Cancer Research
- Maria Caterina Rotiroti, PhD, Stanford University, Stanford, California
“Engineering CAR T Cells for Enhanced Signaling”
2022 AACR-Day One Biopharmaceuticals Pediatric Cancer Research Fellowship
- Joelle Straehla, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
“Investigating the Blood-Tumor Barrier to Design Effective Nanocarriers”
2022 AACR-Exelixis Renal Cell Carcinoma Research Fellowship
- Jin Zhou, PhD, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
“RBM39-DGAT1 Axis is an Oncogenic Driver in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma”
2022 AACR-Genmab Non-Hodgkin B-Cell Lymphoma Research Fellowship
- Charlotte Graham, MBChB, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
“Mechanisms of Cytopenia Associated with CAR T Cell Therapy”
2022 AACR-Merck Cancer Disparities Research Fellowship
- Roy Xiao, MD, MS, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts
“How Hospital Payer-Negotiated Prices Exacerbate Disparities in Cancer Care”
2022 AACR-Merck Immuno-oncology Research Fellowship
- Deyang Yu, PhD,Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
“Targeting CDK4/6 and Immune Checkpoint to Reduce Liver Cancer Disparities”
2022 AACR-Mirati Cancer Chemical Biology Research Fellowship
- Fatima Alghoul, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
“Discovery of Gene Regulation by Non-Canonical Metabolite Cap Structures”
2022 AACR-QuadW Foundation Sarcoma Research Fellowship, in Memory of Willie Tichenor
- Emma Wrenn, PhD, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, Washington
“Targeting Mesenchymal Cell States in Ewing Sarcoma”
2023 AACR Fellowship to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Cancer Research
- Madelyn Espinosa-Cotton, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
“Bispecific Antibody-Based Immunotherapy and Radioimmunotherapy for Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors”
2023 AACR-Bristol Myers Squibb Immuno-Oncology Research Fellowship
- Wenzhi Song, PhD, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York
“Dissecting Neuroimmune: Cancer Crosstalk in the Tumor Microenvironment”
2023 AACR-D-Team Sarcoma Research Fellowship
- Rachel Offenbacher, MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
“Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment to Treat Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma”
2023 AACR-D-Team Sarcoma Research Fellowship
- Chen Khuan Wong, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
“Dissecting MYC-Mediated Tumorigenesis and Plasticity in Angiosarcoma”
2023 AACR-Incyte Immuno-oncology Research Fellowship
- Mingzeng Zhang, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
“Quantitative Immune Profiling of Follicular Lymphoma for Precision Therapy”
2023 AACR-John and Elizabeth Leonard Family Foundation Basic Cancer Research Fellowship
- Ana Rita Nobre, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
“Unveiling the Re-Programming of Choroid Plexus and Leptomeningeal Metastasis”
2023 AACR-QuadW Foundation Sarcoma Research Fellowship, in Memory of Willie Tichenor
- Tiffany C. Eng, PhD,Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
“Identifying Drivers of Elevated Clonality and Relapse in Rhabdomyosarcoma”
Career Development Awards
2022 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Cancer Research
- Daniel Arango, PhD, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
“Delineating the Oncogenic Mechanisms of NAT10 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma”
2022 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Cancer Research
- Yves Chiswili Chabu, PhD, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
“Tolerogenic Mechanisms of KRAS/STK11 Co-Mutated NSCLC”
2022 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Cancer Research
- Bolni Marius Nagalo, PhD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas
“Development of a New Virotherapy Platform to Treat Pancreatic Cancer”
2022 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Cancer Research
- Hai Dang Nguyen, PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
“Delineating ATR Response in U2AF1 Mutant Hematologic Malignancies”
2022 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Cancer Research
- Lia C. Scott, PhD, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
“Structural Inequity and Breast Cancer Disparities by Subtype”
2022 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Clinical Cancer Research
- Roberto Vargas, MD, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
“Evolutionary Experimentation and Radio-Genomics in Endometrial Cancer”
2022 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Clinical Cancer Research
- Ana Velázquez Mañana, MD, MSc, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
“Lung Cancer Equity Through Screening for Social Needs: The LESSON Study”
2022 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Clinical Cancer Research
- Kristen Whitaker, MD, MS, Medstar Georgetown Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C.
“Understanding Cascade Testing for Hereditary Cancer in Diverse Families”
2022 AACR-MPM Oncology Charitable Foundation Transformative Cancer Research Grant
- Rushika M. Perera, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
“Uncovering Metabolic Adaptations that Drive Metastatic Organotropism”
2022 AACR-MPM Oncology Charitable Foundation Transformative Cancer Research Grant
- Xiaotian Zhang, PhD, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas
“Dissect the Novel Function of Mutant NPM1 on Transcriptional Hijacking”
2022 AACR-Novocure Career Development Award for Tumor Treating Fields Research
- Chirag B. Patel, MD, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
“Increasing Glioblastoma Cell Membrane Permeability with TTFields”
2022 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Career Development Award, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Valentina Hoyos Velez, MD, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
“Chimeric Antigen-Receptor T Cell Therapy Against a Novel Target for the Treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer”
2022 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Career Development Award, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Martina McDermott, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
“Preclinical Development of a Novel anti-CLDN16 ADC for Ovarian Cancer”
2022 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Career Development Award, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Chemtai Mungo, MD, MPH, FACOG, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
“Feasibility of Adjuvant Topical Therapy for Cervical Precancer Treatment”
2022 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Career Development Award, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Mya Roberson, PhD, MSPH, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
“Centering Equity in HBOC Genetic Testing: A Mixed Methods Study”
2022 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Career Development Award, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Shuang Zhang, PhD, The Third Affiliated Hospital at Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
“Identification of Epithelial Stem Cell Markers in Fallopian Tube and HGSC”
2023 Lustgarten Foundation-AACR Pancreatic Cancer Career Development Award, in Honor of John Robert Lewis
- Christina M. Ferrer, PhD, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
“Metastasis-Initiating Cells in Pancreatic Cancer”
2023 Lustgarten Foundation-AACR Pancreatic Cancer Career Development Award, in Honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Ashley Kiemen, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
“3D Morphological Analysis of Human Pancreatic Cancer Liver Metastases”
Independent Investigator Awards
2021 AACR-Bayer Innovation and Discovery Grant
- Fatemeh Momen-Heravi, DDS, PhD, MPH, MS, Columbia University, New York, New York
“SafeExo Platform for Lung-Specific Drug Delivery and Gene Editing”
2021 AACR-Bristol Myers Squibb Midcareer Female Investigator Grant
- Andrea Schietinger, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
“Targeting Molecular Drivers of T Cell Dysfunction for Cancer Immunotherapy”
2021 AACR-Novocure Tumor Treating Fields Research Grant
- Spencer J. Collis, PhD, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
“TTFields-based DDRi Combinations to Overcome Spatiofunctional Heterogeneity”
2022 Friends of the AACR Foundation Early Career Investigator Award
- Melina E. Marmarelis, MD, MSCE, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2023 Lustgarten Foundation-Swim Across America-AACR Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Research Grant
- Ajay Goel, PhD, AGAF, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, California
“A Circulating Epigenetic Signature for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer”
2023 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Rising Innovator Research Grant, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Priscilla K. Brastianos, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
“Identification of Drivers of Brain Metastasis from Breast Cancer”
2023 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Rising Innovator Research Grant, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Kemi M. Doll, MD, MCSR, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
“Dissemination Tool of Biopsy- First Early Detection of EC:GUIDES BY US”
2023 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Rising Innovator Research Grant, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Marlene Kok, MD, PhD, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
“Single Cell Analyses of Immunotherapy Responses in TNBC”
2023 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Rising Innovator Research Grant, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Joyce Liu, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
“Targeting Wee1 and ATR in High-Grade/p53-Mutated Endometrial Cancer”
2023 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Rising Innovator Research Grant, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Sandra S. McAllister, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
“Eliminating Age- and Race-Based Disparities in Breast Cancer Outcomes”
Grants Supporting Researchers in Africa
2022 Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research (BIG Cat)
- Leonardo Alves de Souza Rios, PhD, University of Cape Town, South Africa
“Pathobiology of HIV-Associated Lymphomas- Defining the Role of HIV-1 Tat”
2022 Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research (BIG Cat)
- Abram Kamiza, PhD, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
“Evolving Genetic Factors for Cervical Cancer in Women of African Ancestry”
2022 Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research (BIG Cat)
- Imran O. Morhason-Bello, MD, PhD, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
“Epigenetic Biomarkers of Anal HPV Infection in Women with Cervical HPV”