Lung Cancer Research Foundation® Announces 2024 Scientific Grant Program Awards

The Lung Cancer Research Foundation® (LCRF) has announced its 2024 Scientific Grant Program award will fund $3.55 million in new research, marking “the largest single-year investment in its history.”

“Because research is LCRF’s True North, we are committed to supporting science that seeks solutions to lung cancer’s most challenging issues and unmet needs,” said Kathryn O’Donnell, PhD, chair of LCRF’s Scientific Advisory Board and Associate Professor, Molecular Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, in a statement. “Funding the most innovative research will ultimately lead to improved outcomes for patients with lung cancer.”

The LCRF 2024 research grants and awardees are:

Leading Edge Grant Program:
Lindsay LaFave, PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
William C. Rippe Award for Distinguished Research in Lung Cancer recipient
Investigating chromatin-mediated mechanisms of immune response in lung cancer

Dian Yang, PhD, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York
James B. Dougherty, MD Award for Scientific Merit recipient
Investigating the molecular basis of cancer plasticity in LKB1-mutant lung adenocarcinoma

Minority Career Development Award (CDA):
Tikvah Hayes, PhD, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Cynthia M. Page Merit Award for Innovation in Lung Cancer recipient
Advancing preclinical cell line diversity and decoding TKI-resistance landscapes in EGFR-mutant lung cancer

Luisa Escobar-Hoyos, MSc, PhD, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Altered RNA splicing as a driver of Osimertinib resistance in lung cancer

Research Grant on Early Detection and Pre-Neoplasia in Lung Cancer:
Peggy Hsu, MD, PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Understanding the origin of ALK-driven lung cancer

Research Grants on Understanding Resistance in Lung Cancer:
William Feng, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
Targeting AP-1 in KRAS-mutant lung cancer

Megan Burger, PhD, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
Optimizing immunotherapy sequencing to overcome resistance

IASLC-LCRF Team Science Research Grant on the Next Step in the Cure of Oncogene-Driven Lung Cancers:
David A. Barbie, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
Aaron Hata, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital–Harvard Medical School, Boston
Pasi Jänne, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute–Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
Shunsuke Kitajima, PhD, the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo
Eric Smith, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute–Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
Immune elimination of drug tolerant persister cells in oncogene-driven lung cancer

LCRF awarded its grants for projects that “demonstrate profound promise to make a sustained and lasting impact on lung cancer research and outcomes,” organizers said, noting that the grants are made possible by Research ALK+ve Lung Cancer UK, the LRE Foundation, and “numerous generous donations from LCRF’s supporters.”

“Each year, our Scientific Advisory Board and Research Advocates review hundreds of submissions,” said Colleen Conner Ziegler, Chair of LCRF’s Board of Directors, in a statement. “This ensures that LCRF is funding projects that will have the greatest impact on the lung cancer community and improve patient outcomes, both in the short and long term.”

Several awardees and investigators shared what the grants mean to them and their research programs.

“This LCRF Leading Edge Research Grant will enable my lab to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving cancer plasticity in Lkb1-mutant lung adenocarcinoma, shedding light on potential strategies for developing innovative treatments,” Dr. Yang said in a statement about receiving the James B. Dougherty, MD Award for Scientific Merit as part of the Leading Edge Research Grant Program.

Dr. LaFave, who received the William C. Rippe Award for Distinguished Research in Lung Cancer for investigating chromatin-mediated mechanisms of immune response in lung cancer, explained what she hopes to accomplish with the grant.

“I am honored to receive the William C. Rippe Award for Distinguished Research in Lung Cancer from the Lung Cancer Research Foundation,” Dr. LaFave said in a statement. “Thanks to the support from LCRF we hope to better understand differences in immunity in individuals with and without a smoking history to improve immunotherapy outcomes in lung cancer.”

Dr. Hayes, who received the Cynthia M. Page Merit Award for Innovation in Lung Cancer Research for her project on advancing preclinical cell line diversity and decoding TKI-resistance landscapes in EGFR-mutant lung cancer, shared what it meant to her to receive the grant.

“Thank you to LCRF and the LRE Foundation for this meritorious award,” Dr. Hayes said in a statement. “I’m hopeful that we will develop innovative models and tools to assess the underlying biology of EGFR-mutant lung cancers.”

Source: PR Newswire