Drs. Julie Deutsch, Tamar Nobel, and Yan Yang Receive LUNGevity's Prestigious Career Development Awards

Awards provide essential support for promising lung cancer researchers early in their careers

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation, the nation's leading lung cancer-focused nonprofit organization, announced the recipients of their 2024 Career Development Awards (CDAs) today. 

Now in its 13th consecutive year, LUNGevity's Career Development Awards program continues to champion the bold vision of the future where no one dies of lung cancer by supporting the brightest minds of today. These awards infuse the lung cancer research pipeline with innovative, early-career scientists working toward impactful solutions to improve our ability to diagnose and treat patients with lung cancer.

Awardees receive substantial funding for their research projects and exclusive mentorship opportunities with world-class experts. They also receive training in effective science communications. 

"LUNGevity's strategic focus on translational research helps the lung cancer community push the boundaries of discovery. These awards, and those from previous years, build on the creativity of scientists, helping turn their novel ideas into lifesaving solutions in the real world," says Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, executive director of LUNGevity Research. "We are excited to see how these inventive approaches and pioneering technologies will improve care for patients living with lung cancer."

These are the recipients of this year's award.

Julie Deutsch, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Next-Generation Pathologic Response Assessment in Patients with Lung Cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has seen an unprecedented burst of immunotherapies in the past decade – but none of these new therapies is effective for all patients. It is important to develop tests to determine which immunotherapy is most likely to benefit an individual patient. Dr. Deutsch and her team aim to engineer novel techniques by leveraging digitized biopsy samples and biospecimen analysis software (that originated in the space industry) to create tissue sample tests that can help oncologists identify optimal treatment plans for individual patients.

Tamar Nobel, MD, MPH
Montefiore Medical Center
Building Reliable Oncology Navigation to Ensure Adjuvant Management: BRONx-TEAM Project

Patients with early-stage NSCLC often benefit from therapy after surgery. However, non-White patients with lower socioeconomic status often do not receive these treatments. To help address this healthcare inequity, Dr. Nobel and her team are leveraging their experience developing patient navigation programs in the Bronx to improve postsurgical treatment plans for patients with NSCLC in Black and Hispanic communities with low socioeconomic status. Building on their strong position within the community, Dr. Nobel's team will also gather genomic data to bolster our understanding of the unique needs of these underserved populations.

Yan Yang, PhD
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 
Developing EGFRxHER3 Bispecific CAR-T cells for Targeting EGFR TKI DTPCs

Patients with advanced EGFR-positive NSCLC often benefit from being treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) resulting in the bulk of tumor cells being killed. However, a few cancer cells (called drug-tolerant persister cells, or DTPCs) manage to survive treatment. Researchers believe DTPCs may be responsible for the tumor developing drug resistance and growing back unchecked. CAR-T cell therapy is a new form of cancer treatment that involves engineering T cells to kill cancer cells. Dr. Yang's team conducted preliminary studies that suggest targeting HER3 and EGFR simultaneously with CAR-T cells could be an effective way to eradicate DTPCs. In this project, they will conduct the key laboratory tests needed to confirm their hypothesis. If these studies are successful, they will work to test this potential treatment in a clinical trial.

LUNGevity would like to thank Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, and Merck for their generous support of these research awards. 

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity, the nation's leading lung cancer organization, is transforming what it means to be diagnosed and live with lung cancer. LUNGevity seeks to make an immediate impact on quality of life and survivorship for everyone touched by the disease—while promoting health equity by addressing disparities throughout the care continuum.

• Through research, we use an innovative and holistic approach to finding lung cancer earlier when it is most treatable; advance research into new treatments so people may live longer and better; and ensure a diverse, vital pipeline of investigators for the future of the lung cancer field.
• Through advocacy, we foster groundbreaking collaborations to ensure all people have access to screening, biomarker testing, and treatment breakthroughs.
• Through community, we educate, support, and connect people affected by lung cancer so that they can get the best healthcare and live longer and better lives.

Comprehensive resources include a medically vetted and patient-centric website, Patient Gateways for specific types of lung cancer, a toll-free HELPLine for personalized support, international survivor conferences, and tools to find a clinical trial. All these programs are designed to help us achieve our vision—a world where no one dies of lung cancer. LUNGevity Foundation is proud to be a four-star Charity Navigator organization.

Please visit www.LUNGevity.org to learn more. 

About Lung Cancer in the US

• About 1 in 18 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime.
• More than 234,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year.
• About 60%-65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers.
• Lung cancer causes more deaths than the next two deadliest cancers (colorectal and pancreatic) combined.
• Only 25% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, but if it's caught before it spreads, the chance of 5-year survival improves dramatically.

SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation