Physician-scientists are uniquely positioned to translate scientific discoveries into therapies that improve and prolong the lives of their patients. However, ...
Thirteen scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs. Administrative and fundraising costs are paid with revenue from the Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and our endowment. Since our founding in 1946, in partnership with donors across the nation, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has invested nearly $420 million and funded over 3,900 scientists. The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists. Based on emerging data demonstrating overexpression of the gene CD70 in AML cells compared to normal tissues, Dr. Leick and his colleagues have recently optimized a CD70-targeted CAR T therapy and demonstrated its efficacy in AML. Despite the superiority of this CAR over prior versions, however, it is less effective against AML cells that present a low amount of the antigen. To help increase the number of physician-scientists, the Foundation created the Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award, which provides physicians who have completed clinical specialty fellowship training the opportunity to gain the skills and experience needed to become leaders in translational and clinical research. Studies have also shown that compounds that degrade a protein called Ikaros can dramatically enhance the efficacy of MI. In seeking to uncover why MI and Ikaros protein degraders work well together, Dr. Bourgeois and his colleagues have found that both drugs target gene expression programs that are critical for the survival of KMT2A-mutant AML cells. To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation provides today's best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative research. (Those who carry APOE3 fall somewhere in between.) Dr. Patel is researching how APOE expression in immune cells either promotes cancer targeting, as in the case of APOE4, or cancer cell survival, as in the case of APOE2. With a better understanding of how the APOE gene affects the body's response to cancer, she hopes to improve cancer therapy by tailoring treatment to the form of APOE each patient carries. Dr. Bourgeois is now working to better understand which genes can be targeted to further enhance the efficacy of Ikaros protein degraders in KMT2A-mutant AML. This work will shed light on the essential gene expression programs required for KMT2A-mutant AML cell survival, and ideally help guide drug development that specifically targets this subtype. A gene that all humans carry, called Apolipoprotein E (APOE), plays a role in how our bodies respond to cancer, including risk of metastasis. Since its launch in 2015, the program has funded 35 new physician-scientists from across a range of disciplines.