WASHINGTON, DC — Four Penn Medicine researchers have been awarded a total of $2.4 million in grants from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Among recipients of the groups’ two inaugural Research Acceleration Network (RAN) grants are Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, associate professor of Hematology-Oncology and associate director of Translational Research in the Abramson Cancer Center and Anil Rustgi, MD, chief of the division of Gastroenterology. Both are one of the leaders of three-year grants totaling $1 million each, to support innovative, high-priority projects already under way within the pancreatic cancer research community.
Vonderheide’s team’s project seeks to accelerating the development of agonist CD40 monoclonal antibody therapy for pancreatic cancer, and Rustgi’s grant will support a multicenter trial of new imaging tests and markers for pancreatic cancer screening.
In addition, Andrew D. Rhim, MD, an instructor in the division of Gastroenterology, received a two-year, $200,000 Career Development Award grant to research a method of early-detection in “Using Human Circulating Pancreas Cells as a Biomarker for Early PDAC.” The Career Development Award is designed to attract and support early-career scientists as they conduct pancreatic cancer research and establish successful career paths in the field.
Celeste Simon, PhD, professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, was awarded a $200,000 Innovative grant to look at the “Role of Hif1a in Inflammation, Tissue Repair and Cancer of the Pancreas.” The Innovative Grants aim to promote the development and study of novel ideas and approaches in basic, translational, clinical or epidemiological research that have direct application and relevance to pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and has a five-year survival rate of only six percent.
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and AACR awarded 14 grants this year, contributing more than $5 million for pancreatic cancer research across the United States. The RAN grants are aimed at expediting advances in the field. The recipients were recognized at the AACR Annual Meeting earlier this month.
For more information, see the Pancreatic Cancer Foundation news release.
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