Damon Runyon News

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.

Emily P. Balskus, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ’14 – ’16), received the Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists in Chemistry, the largest unrestricted scientific prize ($250,000) offered to the most promising, faculty-level scientific researchers in the United States. Dr. Balskus, a chemical biologist at Harvard University, is being recognized for her “transformative work identifying the novel chemistry of the gut microbiome and deciphering its role in human health and disease.”

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). 

Adrienne A. Boire, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ’17-’20), and Alex Kentsis, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ’16-’19), both of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, each received a 2019 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research. Recipients receive $200,000 per year for up to three years and  opportunities to present their work to scientific and business audiences, helping to bridge the gap between the academic and business communities. 

“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.