The GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer has granted the 2019 Young Innovators Team Awards to two groups of investigators studying non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Each group received $250,000 to support their work.
Dr. Jessie Yanxiang Guo
Yanxiang (Jessie) Guo, PhD, of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and Shawn Davidson, PhD, of Princeton University in New Jersey, won the award for their research on tumor metabolism and immunotherapy in KRAS-mutant NSCLC.
Dr. Guo and Dr. Davidson aim to prove that cancer cell metabolism affects the tumor microenvironment and leads to an impaired antitumor immune response. The pair’s ultimate goal is to overcome resistance to immunotherapy in KRAS-mutant NSCLC.
Matthew Bott, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and Tuomas Tammela, MD, PhD, of Weill-Cornell Medical College in New York, won the award for their research on age-related differences in NSCLC.
Dr. Tuomas Tammela
Dr. Bott and Dr. Tammela aim to characterize differences in natural history and treatment response between younger and older patients with NSCLC. The main goal is to determine if different age groups require different approaches to treatment.
Two other researchers, both from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, received grants from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Jeffrey Peterson, PhD, was awarded a $1.4 million grant from the Department of Defense for his research on triple-negative breast cancer. Dr. Peterson will work with postdoctoral research fellows Alexander Beatty, PhD, and Tanu Singh, PhD, to determine if polyunsaturated fatty acids can be used to induce programmed cell death in triple-negative breast cancer.
Dr. Peterson theorizes that metastatic cells may be susceptible to preferential uptake of conjugated linoleic acid, which will trigger ferroptosis and destroy cancer cells without affecting normal cells. His ultimate goal is to set the stage for clinical trials of more effective, less toxic targeted therapies for triple-negative breast cancer.
Dr. Phillip Abbosh
Phillip Abbosh, MD, PhD, was awarded a $658,800 grant from the Department of Defense to investigate the role of the immune system and certain bacteria in mediating responses to therapy in bladder cancers.
Dr. Abbosh theorizes that a better understanding of the interaction between the immune system and bladder tumors could aid the development of new targeted therapies, and perhaps bacteria found in cancer patients’ bladders could be used to enhance treatment.