2008-01-15 14:18:53 -
www.drcrf.org - CLS Communications, Inc. Cynthia L. Stirling, 650-340-2868 cynthia@cls-communications.com The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation announced today that it has selected the first three recipients of its unique Damon Runyon - Rachleff Innovation Award modeled after venture capital investing to fund young scientists pursuing risky projects that have the potential to significantly impact the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
"Our goal was to find brilliant young investigators with exceptionally original and potentially transformative ideas who did not have the financial support to take these ideas and run with them," said Ronald Levy, MD, chief of oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine and the chair of the scientific advisory committee for the award. "Obtaining funding for risky ideas has always been very difficult and is even more so due to decreased grant funding by the National Institutes of Health." Dr. Levy himself, in his 30's, developed the first monoclonal antibodies that could specifically recognize and target cancer cells and went on to develop the blockbuster cancer drug Rituxan.
The 2008 Damon Runyon - Rachleff Innovators named below are ideal examples of the goal of the program: -0- Nathanael S. Gray, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, age 34. A major discovery in recent years is the identification of a class of proteins called kinases as possible targets for cancer treatment. Kinases send a "GO" signal for many normal cellular processes. During tumorigenesis, these kinases go awry, making them a possible means by which to identify and target cancer cells, without harming healthy cells. Seven new anti-cancer drugs that inhibit kinase activity have recently been approved by the FDA for lung cancer, leukemias and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Since the human genome encodes 529 different protein kinases, there is huge potential for development of new cancer drugs. However, there is urgent need to understand how to differentiate between the signals that originate from a normal versus tumorigenic kinase. Dr. Gray is using organic chemistry to identify the protein partners of tumorigenic kinases, thereby creating a "cancer signaling roadmap" that can be used to develop new drugs that target cancer cells without causing the horrible side effects of most current chemotherapy. "The Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award will allow my research group to develop chemical tools for mapping kinase signal transduction pathways. Our group is thrilled to now have the opportunity to tackle a high-risk/high-reward project that wouldn't stand a chance of getting funded from traditional funding sources," said Dr. Gray. David G. Kirsch, MD, PhD, Duke University, age 37. One of the greatest challenges in cancer therapy is knowing which patients have residual cancer after surgery. Currently half of all cancer patients receive post-surgical radiation therapy and many would be able to avoid this if it could be reliably determined that they have no residual disease. Dr. Kirsch seeks to use the latest molecular imaging technology to develop a hand-held device to image single cancer cells during surgery to identify microscopic residual disease - something he has been told cannot be done. If he is successful, patients will be spared unnecessary radiation therapy and those with residual disease will receive more precisely targeted high dose radiation. "I just started my own lab in September and without preliminary data, I do not think my proposal would have had a realistic chance of being funded from traditional sources," said Dr. Kirsch. "The Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award will give me the resources to develop and test new technology that I hope will one day change the way patients are treated." Sarkis K. Mazmanian, PhD, California Institute of Technology, age 35. Colon cancer is the third most common cause of cancer in men and women and more than 52,000 Americans will die of this disease this year alone. Moreover, the incidence of colon cancer is dramatically increasing. It is clear that both genetic and environmental components are crucial in the disease process. The human colon is a complex ecosystem containing more than 100 trillion microorganisms representing over 1,000 species of bacteria. Eons of co-evolution have formed an inextricably beneficial relationship between symbiotic microbes and humans, enabling the continued evolutionary success of both. Dr. Mazmanian's novel hypothesis is that intestinal bacteria are a critical factor in cancer. He proposes that symbiotic microorganisms have evolved molecular mechanisms to protect their hosts from unfavorable immune responses that cause disease. Furthermore, societal and medical changes of the past few decades (antibiotics, sanitation, vaccination, diet, hygiene) have disturbed our association with these "good" bacteria, potentially leading to cancer. He hopes that understanding of the properties of beneficial molecules of intestinal bacteria may lead to a new class of natural therapeutics for colon cancer. "The 'traditional' granting agencies rarely fund daring science. The Damon-Runyon-Rachleff Innovation award will allow our laboratory to take a potentially rewarding scientific risk; merging the disciplines of microbiology and immunology to understand the fundamental basis of colon cancer," said Dr. Mazmanian.
The Foundation received more than 400 applications for the Innovation Award which were reviewed by a scientific advisory board comprised of world-renowned scientists from a variety of disciplines who themselves conceived breakthrough ideas at a young age. Seventy-three semi-finalists were identified and ten finalists were interviewed before the committee made its final selection.
Each award recipient will receive $450,000 over three years to fund their research. The award was sized to enable the recipients to collect enough data to confirm their hypothesis so that they can attract more substantial funding from traditional cancer research funding sources to complete their research.
Why A Venture Capital Approach to Cancer Research is Needed
The Damon Runyon - Rachleff Innovation Award was established in partnership with Benchmark Capital co-founder Andrew Rachleff and his wife Debra on the belief that the vast majority of true breakthroughs in cancer research will likely come from young investigators. More than two-thirds of Nobel Prizes in medicine have been awarded to scientists who conceived their award-winning ideas when they were younger than 40. In contrast, the average investigator is now 42 years old when she receives her first independent NIH grant, and NIH grants are typically given to safe, incremental research. This year, only a few million dollars out of the NIH's $29 Billion budget will be directed to young investigators pursuing high risk, high reward research.
Funding young people to pursue high risk, high reward, opportunities is the basis of venture capital. Over many decades, venture capitalists have learned that the only way to successfully fund potentially game changing ideas is to ignore the percentage of attempts that succeed ("batting average") and rather focus on trying to hit home runs to optimize portfolio value. Similarly the best way to fund research that has the potential to truly make a difference is to be willing to see the vast majority of funded projects not succeed. The Damon Runyon - Rachleff Innovation Award represents a radically different approach because it will be considered a huge success if only one of the approximately 20 investigators funded over the next few years succeed.
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
Founded in 1946, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is the leading provider of cancer research funding for young investigators. It is highly respected by the scientific community for the quality of the basic and clinical research it has supported and the important role it has played in identifying the most promising young scientists and encouraging them to focus their careers on cancer research. To date, the Foundation has invested over $200 million and funded more than 3,000 scientists. Eleven scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize. The Foundation currently is funding approximately 130 scientists at leading medical centers and research institutions. This year, it will invest approximately $10 million in the most outstanding young investigators in the nation. 100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research. Its administrative and fundraising costs are paid from its Broadway Tickets Service and endowment. For more information visit www.drcrf.org
Bold Proposals for Targeted Therapies, Cancer Cell Imaging, and
Bacteria-Based Colon Cancer Therapy Receive Private Funding via Unique
VC Approach
