The AACR and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Partner on Novel Grant Opportunity Focused on the “Science of the Patient”

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced today a new partnership with The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research to support innovative research focused on understanding the influence of the biology of the patient on the genesis, development, treatment, and survivorship of cancer.

“We are excited to partner with The Mark Foundation in this new area of research that will provide important insights into how the human body interacts with a tumor and how this interaction can be disrupted to mitigate disease,” said Mitch Stoller, chief philanthropic officer and vice president of development at the AACR Foundation. “This important approach emphasizes our joint commitment toward elucidating the complexities of cancer and accelerating the development of effective therapeutics for patients.”

Each AACR-Mark Foundation “Science of the Patient” Grant will provide $750,000 over three years to support innovative projects to advance our understanding of cancer initiation, progression, treatment, and survivorship. Projects that explore novel concepts with potential to affect future clinical practice are particularly encouraged.

“In cancer research, we typically drill down to the molecular level for insights, but to truly transform our knowledge of the disease, we also need to step back and look at the whole patient,” said Michele Cleary, PhD, chief executive officer of The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research. “What excites me so much about this partnership is the opportunity it will give researchers to explore cancer biology more holistically. This is an underserved area of research, and we’re proud to lead the way alongside the AACR.”

This is the second time the AACR and The Mark Foundation have worked together to support innovative research. In 2018, The Mark Foundation sponsored an AACR-Mark Foundation NextGen Grant to support the work of Birgit Knoechel, MD, PhD, a pediatric oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. With the support of her AACR-Mark Foundation NextGen Grant, Knoechel is exploring how treatment resistance develops and persists in response to targeted therapy in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), an aggressive form of hematologic malignancy. This work may lead to the identification of new therapeutic approaches to overcome this resistance, contributing to improved outcomes for patients.

Letters of Intent for the new AACR-Mark Foundation for Cancer Research “Science of the Patient” Grants will be accepted from June 1 through July 20, 2020. Please visit the AACR’s funding page for more information.