Stand Up To Cancer Dream Teams

At the heart of Stand Up To Cancer’s (SU2C’s) research program is the Dream Team approach. A Dream Team is a scientific task force, a collaboration of top researchers at different institutions who come together to develop new and improved approaches to cancer. By pooling their knowledge and their resources and working together for common goals, they can make progress faster and move therapies and treatments from the laboratory to doctors’ offices, where they can benefit patients.

SU2C’s distinctive approach to funding cancer research was specifically designed to eliminate barriers to creativity and collaboration by enabling scientists with different areas of expertise from different institutions across the country and around the world to work together. The approach breaks down the “silos” that in the past have often kept scientists from working together.

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has been the Scientific Partner of SU2C since it was launched in 2008, working closely with a Scientific Advisory Committee headed by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp of MIT. 

The AACR is responsible for administering the Dream Team grants, distributing the funds to the Dream Team leaders’ institutions, following the Dream Teams’ progress, and providing scientific oversight through program management and evaluation of the Dream Teams’ achievements during the funding period.

Here are some details on active Dream Teams:

SU2C Meg Vosburg T-Cell Lymphoma Dream Team: Tailoring CAR-based Immunotherapy Strategies to T-cell Lymphoma
Leader: Helen Heslop, MD, Baylor College of Medicine
Co-leader: Gianpietro Dotti, MD, University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Grant Term: March 2019 – February 2022
Total funding: $8 million

SU2C Canada Metastatic Breast Cancer Dream Team: Targeting mRNA Translation to Effectively Treat Metastatic Breast Cancer
Leader: Nahum Sonenberg, PhD, McGill University; and Michael N. Pollak, MD, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research
Grant Term: July 2019 – June 2021

2017 Dream Teams

St. Baldrick’s Foundation-SU2C Pediatric Cancer Dream Team: Immunogenomics to Create New Therapies for High-Risk Childhood Cancers
Leader: John M. Maris, MD, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Co-leader: Crystal L. Mackall, MD, Stanford University
Grant Term: December 2017 – November 2021
Total Funding: $14.5 million

SU2C–Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Interception Dream Team: Intercepting Pancreatic Cancer in High-Risk Cohorts
Leader: Anirban Maitra, MBBS, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Co-leader: Michael G. Goggins, MBBCh, MD, Johns Hopkins University
Co-leader: Scott Lippman, MD, University of California San Diego (UCSD)
Grant Term: February 2018 – January 2022
Total funding: $7 million

SU2C-LUNGevity-American Lung Association Lung Cancer Interception Dream Team: Intercept Lung Cancer Through Immune, Imaging, and Molecular Evaluation (InTIME)
Leader: Avrum Spira, MD, Boston University-Boston Medical Center (BU-BMC) Cancer Center
Co-leader: Steven Dubinett, MD, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Grant Term: March 2018 – February 2022
Total funding: $5 million

SU2C Colorectal Cancer Dream Team: Targeting Genomic, Metabolic and Immunological Vulnerabilities of Colorectal Cancer
Leaders: Luis A. Diaz Jr., MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Charles S. Fuchs, MD, MPH, Yale Cancer Center; Lewis C. Cantley, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine; and Zhenghe Wang, PhD, Case Western Reserve University
Grant Term: January 2017 – June 2020
Total Funding: $12 million

2016 Dream Teams

SU2C Canada-Canadian Cancer Society Breast Cancer Dream Team  
Leader: Tak W. Mak, PhD, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto
Co-leader: Samuel Aparicio, BM, BCh, PhD, University of British Columbia
Grant Term: January 2016 – December 2020
Total Funding: $9 million CAD

2015 Dream Teams

SU2C Canada Cancer Stem Cell Dream Team: Targeting Brain Tumour Stem Cell Epigenetic and Molecular Networks
Leader: Peter B. Dirks, MD, PhD, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Co-leader: Samuel Weiss, PhD, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary
Grant Term: October 2015 – September 2020
Total Funding: $11.79 million CAD

SU2C-Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance-National Ovarian Cancer Coalition Ovarian Cancer Dream Team 
Leader: Alan D. D’Andrea, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Co-leader: Elizabeth M. Swisher, MD, University of Washington
Grant Term: July 2015 – June 2019
Total Funding: $6 million

SU2C-Dutch Cancer Society Colorectal Cancer Dream Team: Molecular Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer – MEDOCC
Leader: Gerrit A. Meijer, MD, The Netherlands Cancer Institute; and Victor E. Velculescu, MD, PhD, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Grant Term: April 2015 – March 2020
Total Funding: €6 million

2014 Dream Teams

SU2C-Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Dream Team: Transforming Pancreatic Cancer to a Treatable Disease
Leader: Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Co-leader: Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania
Grant Term: July 2014 – June 2020
Total Funding: $8 million

Van Andel Institute-SU2C Cancer Epigenetics Dream Team
Leaders: Peter A. Jones, PhD, DSc, Van Andel Research Institute; Co-leader: Stephen B. Baylin, MD, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Grant Term: October 2014 – September 2020
Total Funding: $7.5 million

Completed dream teams

The following teams have completed their projects.  Details of their work are available on the Stand Up To Cancer website. 

SU2C-Dutch Cancer Society Tumor Organoids Dream Team: Tumor Organoids: A New Pre-Clinical Model for Drug Sensitivity Analysis
Leader: Hans Clevers, MD, PhD, Hubrecht Institute; and Johannes L. Bos, PhD, University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht
Grant Term: April 2014 – April 2019
Total Funding: €6 million

SU2C Pediatric Cancer Dream Team: Immunogenomics to Create New Therapies for High-Risk Childhood Cancers
Leader: John M. Maris, MD, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and Crystal L. Mackall, MD, Stanford University
Grant Term: July 2013 – June 2018
Total Funding: $14.5 million

SU2C-Cancer Research Institute Cancer Immunology Dream Team: Immunologic Checkpoint Blockade and Adoptive Cell Transfer in Cancer Therapy 
Leaders: James P. Allison, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Co-leaders: Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); Drew M. Pardoll, MD, PhD, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins; and Cassian Yee, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Grant Term: March 2013 – February 2018
Total Funding: $11 million 

SU2C Pancreatic Cancer Dream Team: Cutting off the Fuel Supply: A New Approach to the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
Leader: Craig B. Thompson, MD, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania [Current Institution: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center]
Leader: Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD, FACP, The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)
Grant Term: December 2009 – October 2017
Total Funding: $22.25 million 

SU2C-Melanoma Research Alliance Melanoma Dream Team: Personalized Medicine for Patients With BRAF Wild-Type (BRAFwt) Cancer
Leader: Jeffrey M. Trent, PhD, FACMG, The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen); and Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, Yale Cancer Center [Previously: Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University School of Medicine]
Grant Term: April 2012 – June 2017
Total Funding: $6 million

SU2C-Prostate Cancer Foundation Prostate Cancer Dream Team: Targeting Adaptive Pathways in Metastatic Treatment-Resistant Prostate Cancer Leader:
Leader: Eric J. Small, MD, University of California, San Francisco
Co-leader: Owen N. Witte, MD, University of California, Los Angeles
Grant Term: January 2013 – December 2016
Total Funding: $10 million

SU2C-Prostate Cancer Foundation Prostate Dream Team: Precision Therapy of Advanced Prostate Cancer
Leader: Arul M. Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD, University of Michigan
Co-leader: Charles L. Sawyers, MD, Memorial Sloan¬ Kettering Cancer Center
Grant Term: August 2012 – July 2016
Total Funding: $10 million

SU2C Epigenetics Dream Team: Bringing Epigenetic Therapy to the Forefront of Cancer Management
Leader: Stephen B. Baylin, MD, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Co-leader: Peter A. Jones, PhD, DSc, University of Southern California [Current Institution: Van Andel Research Institute]
Grant Term: December 2009 – January 2015
Total Funding: $10.2 million 

SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team: An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotypes
Leader: Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Joe W. Gray, PhD, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory [Current institution: Oregon Health and Science University]
Grant Term: October 2009 – September 2014
Total Funding: $17.5 million 

SU2C Circulating Tumor Cell Dream Team: Bioengineering and Clinical Applications of Circulating Tumor Cell Chip
Leader: Daniel A. Haber, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Co-leader: Mehmet Toner, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital
Grant Term: December 2009 – November 2013
Total Funding: $15 million 

SU2C PI3K Dream Team: Targeting the PI3K Pathway in Women’s Cancers
Leader: Lewis C. Cantley, PhD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center [Current Institution: Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medical College]
Co-leader: Gordon B. Mills, MD, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; and Charles L. Sawyers, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Grant Term: November 2009 – October 2013
Total Funding: $14.9 million 

 For non-media related SU2C questions, please send an email to [email protected].

Updated: March 20, 2020