Damon Runyon News

When Bruce W. Stillman, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ’79 - ’81), arrived at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory from his native Australia, he expected to stay for two years — the length of his Damon Runyon award. Forty years later, Dr. Stillman is the President and CEO of the renowned institution. 

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named five new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators at its spring 2019 Clinical Investigator Award Committee review. The recipients of this prestigious three-year award are outstanding early career physician-scientists conducting patient-oriented cancer research at major research centers under the mentorship of the nation’s leading scientists and clinicians. Each will receive $600,000 to support the development of his/her project, selected for its potential to impact cancer diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Damon Runyon also repays medical school debt up to $100,000 still owed by the awardee.

The cancer was spreading into her spine, despite the intensive chemotherapy she had already endured. But Denise refused to give up. A single mom and real estate agent, she was determined to see her son graduate from college. 

James E. Rothman, PhD, received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work he began when he was a Damon Runyon Fellow from 1976 to 1978. His research demonstrated, for the first time, how tiny sac-like structures called vesicles help transport substances to different places inside the cell and send molecules from the cell's surface as signals to other cells in the body.

CRISPR pioneer, Former Damon Runyon Innovator Feng Zhang, PhD, and colleagues at the Broad Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have found a new enzyme that can insert custom genes into DNA without first cutting it apart. This method could make future gene editing more accurate and safer for treating a number of diseases by replacing a disease-related gene with a healthy version. 

Henry T. Lynch, MD (Damon Runyon Grantee 1969-70), father of cancer genetics, has passed away at age 91, leaving behind a lasting legacy in cancer research and treatment. When Dr. Lynch began his career, most scientists blamed cancer on environmental causes, such as the presence of carcinogenic chemicals and viruses. Hereditary explanations were dismissed, even shunned. His painstaking research putting together family histories established that certain cancers are hereditary. Today genetic screening is an important part of cancer prevention, saving thousands of lives.

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation honored William M. Raveis, Jr., Chairman and CEO, William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance, for his transformational support and commitment to raising funds and awareness for Damon Runyon.

Mark G. Shrime, MD, PhD, MPH, is a Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator who will compete on the upcoming season of NBC's American Ninja Warrior (Season premieres on Wednesday, May 29 at 8/7c on NBC). 

“It is unthinkable that a doctor could tell you that there is nothing that can be done for your child,” says Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Fellow Kathryn R. Taylor, PhD, of Stanford University School of Medicine. But that is the reality for hundreds of families who are facing a devastating pediatric brain cancer diagnosis called glioma. “We now know that pediatric cancers are not the same as their corresponding adult cancers and may require different treatments. I chose to study the unique biology of pediatric tumors as a developmental disease because it is key to finding effective therapies,” says Kathryn. Her research focuses on how glioma cells use signals in the surrounding brain tissue to promote their own growth.

​(Bronx, NY)  More than 2,150 people from across the country and abroad took part in the 11th Annual Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, May 11, 2019, raising nearly $400,000 to support breakthrough cancer research by today’s best young scientists, funded by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Since the inaugural event in 2009, the annual Runyon 5K has raised more than $5.5 million.