The Lustgarten Foundation Announces New Pancreatic Cancer Research Funding Totaling $22.8 Million In Fiscal Year 2026

The Foundation increased its new research funding by $8.6M, year over year. 

UNIONDALE, N.Y., Aug. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lustgarten Foundation, the world's largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research, today announced $22.8 million in new research funding in fiscal year 2026, an increase of $8.6 million compared with the previous year. The new funding supports 18 research projects advancing innovative approaches to early detection and interception, therapeutics development, and personalized medicine, with the potential to accelerate discoveries that could change how pancreatic cancer is detected and treated.

"For decades, the Lustgarten Foundation has recognized that transforming pancreatic cancer requires bold, sustained investment in science," said Linda Tantawi, CEO of the Lustgarten Foundation. "Today, pancreatic cancer research is entering a period of unprecedented momentum, driven by discoveries that are reshaping what is possible for patients. As the research community faces increasing uncertainty and funding challenges, the Foundation remains committed to protecting that progress by expanding our investment in the ideas, investigators, and collaborations that will carry these breakthroughs forward."

INVESTING ACROSS THE RESEARCH PIPELINE

The Lustgarten Foundation's research strategy is designed to investigate every stage of pancreatic cancer, from preventing or intercepting the disease before it develops to bringing new therapies to patients faster. Of the 62 total active research grants supported:

• 14% supports early detection and interception research, developing technologies and biomarkers to identify pancreatic cancer earlier and improve screening for high-risk individuals.
• 66% supports therapeutics development, accelerating discoveries from the laboratory into innovative therapies and clinical trials.
• 20% supports personalized medicine, helping researchers better understand the biology and diversity of pancreatic cancer so treatments can be matched to the patients most likely to benefit.

Accelerating Clinical Research 

The Dr. Robert F. Vizza Lustgarten Clinical Accelerator Initiative (CAI) is an innovative program designed to rapidly translate promising laboratory discoveries into science-driven clinical trials. Grants were awarded to: 

• Ashwin Somasundaram, MD, University of North Carolina, for his study "A randomized, phase II study of subjects with advanced basal-like pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with a KRAS G12D inhibitor and erlotinib versus gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel." Somasundaram's team will evaluate a more personalized treatment approach for an aggressive subtype of pancreatic cancer by using a novel test to identify eligible patients and comparing a targeted drug combination with standard chemotherapy.
• Harshabad Singh, MBBS, MD, Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, for his study "A phase 2 trial of a novel Fc enhanced CTLA4 antibody, Vilastobart, in combination with PD-1 inhibitor, Retifanlimab, in BRCA/PALB2 mutated pancreatic cancers." Singh's team will investigate a novel immunotherapy combination for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer whose tumors carry BRCA1, BRCA2, or PALB2 mutations, while studying biological markers to identify those most likely to benefit.
• Mark O'Hara, MD, University of Pennsylvania, for his study "Phase I randomized control trial of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel with or without sotigalimab in a biomarker-selected population of previously untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer." O'Hara's team will investigate whether a simple blood test can identify patients with untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer who are most likely to benefit from adding immunotherapy to standard chemotherapy.
• Anirban Maitra, MD, NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center, for his study "A First-in-Human Trial of Pancreatic Cancer Interception by Targeting Mutant KRAS." Maitra and Team iPACK will evaluate a first-of-its-kind pancreatic cancer prevention strategy by testing whether an oral KRAS inhibitor can safely target precancerous pancreatic cysts with KRAS mutations before they progress to cancer.

The Lustgarten Equity, Accessibility, and Diversity (LEAD) Project supports efforts to increase recruitment and retention in pancreatic cancer clinical trials. This year's grant was awarded to: 

• Rebecca Snyder, MD, MPH, and co-investigator Heather G. Lyu, MD, MBI, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, for their study "TrialScribe: Scalable and Transparent Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trial Matching." Synder and Lyu's team will harness the power of artificial intelligence to make clinical trial enrollment more efficient, consistent, and equitable for pancreatic cancer patients.

Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Signature Stratification for Treatment (PASS-01) demonstrated how collaborative, biomarker-driven clinical trials can accelerate progress in pancreatic cancer research and patient care. To further the trial's success, a grant was awarded to:

• Mari Nakazawa, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine, for her study "Establishing a Multi-Institutional Consortium (PASS-02) for Translational Clinical Trials in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer." Nakazawa's team will build on the success of PASS-01 by establishing a multi-institutional consortium to advance biomarker-driven clinical trials and precision medicine approaches for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC).

A hallmark of the Lustgarten Foundation's unique research strategy, the LABS (Lustgarten Advancing Breakthrough Science) Program, provides long-term funding to promote the development of innovative ideas and speed the pace of discovery by incentivizing interdisciplinary team science. The Foundation supports six LABS sites across the country and this year renewed its commitment to:

• Reuben Shaw, PhD, led LABS Program site at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, launched in 2021, focusing on decoding new targets for pancreatic cancer therapeutics.

Investing in the Next Generation of Scientific Leaders.

The Lustgarten Foundation–AACR Career Development Awards, honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Robert Lewis, support promising early-career investigators pursuing bold ideas in pancreatic cancer research. Grants were awarded to:

• Sandra Misale, PhD, John Hopkins University, for her study "HER2 targeting in KRAS mutant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma." Misale's team will investigate why some pancreatic cancers become resistant to KRAS inhibitors and identify combination treatment strategies that could improve and extend patient responses.
• Dig B. Mahat, PhD, Columbia University, for his study "Targeting immune cell enhancers propagating immunosuppression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma." Mahat's team will investigate how immune cells enable pancreatic tumors to evade the body's immune system.

The Lustgarten Foundation Innovation and Collaboration Program provides seed funding for innovative research with the potential to accelerate pancreatic cancer research, attracting new talent and advancing novel approaches to the field. Grants were awarded to:

• Cosimo Commisso, PhD, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, for his project, "Macropinocytosis: A Paradigm Shift from Metabolic Inhibition to Lethal Hyper-Activation in PDAC." Commisso's team will investigate a first-of-its-kind strategy that exploits pancreatic cancer cells' nutrient-scavenging process to trigger cancer cell death and improve the delivery of chemotherapy.
• Jonathan Serody, MD, and co-investigators Jen Jen Yeh, MD, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Sarah Shelton, PhD, NC State University, and for their project, "Enhancing Metabolic T cell Fitness for Adoptive Cell Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer Using Novel Microfluidic Chips." Serody's team will develop and evaluate metabolically enhanced CAR-T cells that can better survive within pancreatic tumors.

Driving Progress Through Collaboration

The Lustgarten Foundation joined forces with leading cancer research organizations - The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Break Through Cancer, and The Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation (Tina's Wish) - to launch a coalition to accelerate the early detection of deadly cancers, a shared effort focused on one of oncology's most urgent challenges: detecting cancer earlier, when treatment can still change outcomes. Early detection in pancreatic cancer grants were awarded to:

• Nikolaos G. Sgourakis, PhD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania, Mark A. Sellmyer, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, and Possu Huang, PhD, Stanford University, for their study "Programmable Recognition of KRAS Neoantigens for Early Cancer Diagnostics Across Patients." The team will investigate whether a molecular biomarker that is elevated in many cancer cells but largely absent from healthy tissue, can be used to detect pancreatic cancer, as well as breast and ovarian, earlier, identify tumors at risk of progression, and guide targeted treatment approaches.
• Brian M. Wolpin, MD, MPH, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Andrew J. Aguirre, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Julie L. Sutcliffe, PhD, University of California, Davis, and Laura D. Wood, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, for their study "Detection and Interception of KRAS-mutant Pancreatic Cancer Using Small Molecule RAS(ON) Inhibitors." The team will develop a molecular imaging probe that recognizes cancer-specific KRAS mutation signals on tumor cells, with the goal of detecting pancreatic cancer earlier and improving future treatment decisions.

Now in its fourth year, the Lustgarten Foundation–Break Through Cancer Conquering KRAS in Pancreatic Cancer TeamLab continues to drive one of the field's most ambitious collaborative efforts to overcome mutated KRAS, the genetic driver of more than 90% of pancreatic cancers. Building on discoveries from the first phase of the initiative, the Lustgarten Foundation recommitted support for this multidisciplinary team of scientists and clinicians from six leading cancer centers.

Innovative approaches to Early Detection

Pancreatic cancer often progresses silently and aggressively, with symptoms appearing only after it has advanced, when treatment options are few and outcomes are poor ­— earlier detection remains our single greatest opportunity to improve patient outcomes. To explore the subtle changes that occur in the body as pancreatic cancer develops, grants were awarded to:

• Matthew Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for his study "Understanding how pancreatic cancer impacts pancreas function to enable earlier cancer detection." Vander Heiden's team will study how early pancreatic cancer disrupts the normal functions of the pancreas and alters the body's metabolism.
• David Ting, MD, PhD, Mass General Brigham, for his study "Decoding Dark-Matter Humoral Immunity in Pancreatic Cancer." Ting's team will investigate how the immune system responds to normally silent genetic elements that become activated in pancreatic cancer by developing a blood-based test.
• Elliot Fishman, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine, for his study "Felix 2.0: The Earlier Detection of Pancreatic Cancer and the Role of Imaging in its Detection and Management." Fishman's team will build on previous learnings by using AI-driven imaging analysis to identify early pancreatic cancers and precancerous lesions by extracting imaging features that improve detection of small abnormalities and support more accurate clinical decision-making.

Understanding Treatment Response and Resistance 

Pancreatic cancer is particularly difficult to treat because tumors can adapt to therapy and develop resistance, allowing cancer cells to survive and continue growing. To better understand the factors that determine response and resistance, a grant was awarded to:

• Gregory Beatty, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, for his study "Deciphering elements that determine immunotherapy efficacy in pancreatic cancer." Beatty's team will investigate why some pancreatic cancers respond to immunotherapy while others become resistant by analyzing tumor and immune factors that influence treatment response.

LEADING THE WAY

With these latest awards, the Lustgarten Foundation has invested $333 million in pancreatic cancer research across 386 projects at 86 academic institutions, since its founding in 1998. The Foundation drives scientific breakthroughs that are redefining what is possible for patients and bringing the field closer than ever to transforming pancreatic cancer into a curable disease.

About The Lustgarten Foundation
The Lustgarten Foundation is the largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research in the world, funding preeminent pancreatic cancer research, driving the pursuit of bold and innovative science toward earlier detection and better treatments, and transforming pancreatic cancer into a curable disease. The Foundation funds research where creative risks yield high rewards to accelerate and expand life-saving treatment options. We believe time is everything to patients and their families, and that community is power. Lustgarten programs and events provide people affected by pancreatic cancer a voice and a place to create hope, together. For more information about the Lustgarten Foundation, visit lustgarten.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

SOURCE Lustgarten Foundation