Damon Runyon News

By Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Scientist Shruti Naik, PhD

“Sorry, I have to take this call… it’s my campaign manager” are not words one expects to hear from a scientist. But Valerie Horsley, PhD, is redefining what it means to be a scientist. Valerie, a tenured professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University and a former Damon Runyon Fellow (’04-’07), decided that it was time she stepped up. She recently secured a bid from the Hamden district of Connecticut to run for the upcoming democratic primary election, which will be held next week on August 14th. She is not alone--greater numbers of scientists are finding themselves at the crossroads between science and politics. In fact, the largest number of scientists in history are running for office now.

by Lorraine Egan, President and CEO of Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation 

I have been obsessed with the story of the Thailand cave rescue. It spoke to me on so many levels, especially in this time of political animus, global conflict, and the constant barrage of dire news reports. The rescue was the ultimate story of humanity: people from across the globe working together with passion and relentlessness, undertaking enormous technical and logistical challenges, and refusing to give up on the goal of saving lives. Then it struck me how similar this story is to the work of cancer researchers around the globe. They, too are committed to saving lives. 

"Every time we visit a doctor today, we are benefiting from tools developed by countless scientists," by Lorraine Egan, President and CEO of Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

Who better to understand the urgent needs of cancer patients for new treatments and push that research in the lab? Physician-scientists, who are experts in both front-line care and cutting-edge science. Yet, fewer MDs are going into research because the career path is challenging and the remuneration lower than clinical practice.  The Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award seeks to reverse that trend by recruiting newly-minted MDs into research careers and providing them with the mentorship and funding they need to succeed, including help repaying medical school loans.

Our lives and the lives of future generations depend on it. Today is World Cancer Day. A day to reflect on the good news about progress against cancer and the challenges that lie ahead.

The good news is that, thanks to cancer research being conducted across the globe, real progress is being made in cancer prevention, early diagnosis and treatment. Cancer deaths in the U.S. have dropped 26% from 1991 to 2015, saving nearly 3 million lives. The pace of development of new therapies is accelerating rapidly thanks to new understanding of what causes and drives cancers.  The challenge is that the world cancer burden is expanding rapidly due to the growth and aging of the population.

When young scientists earn a Damon Runyon award, they join one of science’s most prestigious and collaborative communities, a community dedicated to fostering the next generation of breakthrough cancer researchers.  Former Damon Runyon fellow in the 1980s, Jim Wells, PhD, Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UCSF and a member of our Board of Directors has mentored seven Damon Runyon Fellows, all of whom have gone on to highly successful careers in biomedical research.

We recently sat down with Jim to discuss how mentorship shaped his own career and why he continues to bring Damon Runyon fellows into his lab.

In Time Magazine's The Boss, successful women like Damon Runyon's Lorraine Egan share how they reached the top and the lessons they learned along the way.

At the end of last year, Norman E. Sharpless, M.D., was appointed Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).  In this critically important role, he oversees the federal government’s $6 billion annual investment in cancer research.  We know him well, as Dr. Sharpless has served on the selection committee for the Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award.  

The Damon Runyon-Jake Wetchler Award for Pediatric Innovation is given annually to a third-year Damon Runyon Fellow whose research has the greatest potential to impact the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of pediatric cancer. In its second year, Amanda Balboni Iniguez, PhD, received the award at the annual Fellows' Retreat.

Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets offers Broadway’s best seats and the opportunity to support cutting edge cancer research at the same time.

Some of our most loyal customers, like Rocco Staino, have been purchasing their Broadway tickets through us for years or even decades. Mr. Staino is the retired director of the Keefe Library of the North Salem School District in New York, and a contributing editor for School Library Journal and also writes for the Huffington Post.