The Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research Announces 2010 Cancer Research Grant Recipients

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The Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research

Apr 07, 2010, 07:50 ET

PHILADELPHIA, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research has selected fifteen scientists from across the United States to receive two-year grants under the Foundation's on-going Kimmel Scholar program. A total of 187 talented cancer researchers have been provided with grant money since the Foundation's inception with each receiving a $200,000 award to further a specific cancer research project.

The Kimmel Scholar Awards were created in 1997 to advance the careers of gifted, young scientists involved in cancer research. Scientists are selected who show the greatest promise and innovation, but whose careers have not evolved sufficiently to provide them the critical mass of prior research that typically justifies receiving major grants from the National Cancer Institute and other funding sources.

Sidney Kimmel, the organization's founder and chairman of the board of Jones Apparel Group and president of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, meets each year with the Foundation's medical advisory board and observes as the esteemed group of leading cancer doctors narrows down the applicants. Since 1997 Kimmel has contributed more than $550 million to cancer centers and cancer research and another $100 million to the arts and Jewish continuity.

Many of the exceptional young scientists who have their careers 'jump started' by the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research go on to receive millions of dollars in funding from the NCI and NIH and make significant contributions to the field of cancer research. Many report that they might never have achieved such success without first receiving the Kimmel grant.

This year's recipients are:

Maximillian Diehn, M.D., Ph.D.*
Stanford University School of Medicine
"Exploring Metabolic Properties of Tumor Initiating Cells"

Matthew Gamble, Ph.D.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
"Exploring the interplay between macro domains and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases in tumor progression and suppression"

Zev Gartner, Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco
"Unraveling the relationship between tissue structure and cancer progression"

Rani George, M.D., Ph.D.*
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
"Functional analysis of ALK mutations in neuroblastoma"

A. McGarry Houghton, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh
"IRS1-Mediated Regulation of PI3K and MEK/ERK Activity in Lung Cancer"

Antoine Karnoub, Ph.D.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
"Role of Stem Cells in the Metastatic Spread of Breast Carcinomas"

Alec Kimmelman, M.D., Ph.D.*
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
"Functional analysis of ALK mutations in neuroblastoma"

Ivan Maillard, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Michigan
"Role of the Ash1L histone methyltransferase in normal and malignant hematopoiesis"

Michael Major, Ph.D.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"New Functional Components of the KEAP1 Tumor Suppressor Protein Complex"

Ashby Morrison, Ph.D.
Stanford University
"A Novel Mechanism for Tumor Suppression by the Retinoblastoma Protein"

Donald Parsons, M.D., Ph.D.*
Baylor College of Medicine
"Defining molecular subtypes of hepatoblastoma"

Flavia Pichiorri, Ph.D.
Ohio State University
"microRNAs in multiple myeloma diagnosis, prognosis and therapy"

Xiaobing Shi, Ph.D.
University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
"The roles of PHD fingers in dynamic histone lysine methylation and human cancer"

Alexander Stegh, Ph.D.
Northwestern University
"Development and Characterization of Bcl2L12-driven GBM Mouse Models"

Nicola Valeri, M.D.*
Ohio State University
"MicroRNA-mediated modulation of genomic stability and apoptosis in sporadic and inflammatory bowel disease associated colon cancer"

* Translational Scholars

The Foundation is particularly interested in helping physicians who are engaged in research which can rapidly be translated into benefits for patients with cancer. This year five of the fifteen awards have been designated for such "Translational Research."

The Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research has also funded four cancer centers at San Diego, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University and Johns Hopkins University. The gift to Johns Hopkins, $150 million, is the largest gift ever received by that institution. In the area of arts and culture, The Kimmel Foundation has supported the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia as well as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., among others. For more information visit http://www.kimmel.org.

Sidney Kimmel: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/SidneyKimmel.jpg

Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research Logo: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/SidneyKimmelFoundation.jpg

Contact: Risa B. Hoag @ 845-627-3000 or [email protected]

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SOURCE The Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research