The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network announced 15 grants this week, including an extension to Nicholas Cosford of the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla.
The patient advocacy organization based in Manhattan Beach awarded 10 new grants and extended four other previously funded grants. The group also made allowances for the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on research in the last three months.
The new investment brings its total research outlay to $21 million in fiscal year 2020.
“Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and diagnoses continue to rise,” said Julie Fleshman, president and CEO of PanCAN. “Research is key as we fight to improve patient outcomes, and we are so grateful to our generous donors who allow us to fund this important science.”
Other recipients include:
- Dr. Mustafa Raoof of City of Hope
- Gillian Gresham of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- Columbia University
- The University of Chicago
- Roswell Park Cancer Institute
- University of Cincinnati, and
- Georgetown University.
Of the newly awarded grants, eight went to first-time PanCAN grantees and three to new institutions.
Five grants awarded support projects led by early-career researchers, helping them further establish themselves in order to secure future funding. The other five grantees received translational grants. These support projects aiming to take important discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic for patient benefit.
All grantees and extensions were selected through an open and highly competitive, peer-review process, according to PanCAN.
Foundation officials noted that the pancreatic cancer research community has been heavily affected this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. In many instances, laboratories had to shut their doors, costing investigators progress and time, they said.
Recipients could initiate their funded period on July 1, marking the beginning of PanCAN’s fiscal year, or to postpone their start date. In addition, PanCAN will allow flexibility with reporting deadlines and other requirements.
“We realize this is an extremely difficult time to be running a lab, so we are taking measures to support our grantees however we can,” said Lynn Matrisian, PanCAN’s chief science officer. “Even in the midst of a pandemic, pancreatic cancer does not slow down or stop, and the research our grantees are conducting is more important than ever.”
Since 2003, PanCAN’s grants program has awarded 199 grants to 187 scientists at 71 institutions.
– City News Service
