2020 Research Awards Announced

For more than 20 years, the MRF had advanced the field of melanoma science by supporting researchers studying a broad scientific agenda covering prevention, diagnosis, staging and treatment. This month we are proud to announce the recipients of 2020 Research Awards, a funding cycle that includes researchers at every career stage and studies focused on multiple forms of melanoma, including rare subtypes like ocular, mucosal and acral melanoma. Please join us in congratulating recipients of the following grants:

Team Awards:

MRF Breakthrough Consortium Young Investigator Team Award to Advance the Field of Translational Immuno-Oncology (generously funded through a grant by BMS)

Proposal Title: Integrative Analysis of Prognostic Factors to Neoadjuvant Nivolumab/ CMP-001 in Stage III B/C/D Melanoma

Principal Investigator: Diwakar Davar, MD; University of Pittsburgh
Mentor: Hassane Zarour, MD

Co-PI: Meghan Mooradian, MD; Massachusetts General Hospital
Mentor: Ryan Sullivan, MD

Co-PI: Julie Stein, MD; Johns Hopkins University
Mentor: Janis Taube, MD, MSc

 

Established Investigator Awards:

Proposal Title: Novel Target for Melanoma Therapeutic Development

Principal Investigator: Linda Malkas, PhD; Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope

 

 

Proposal Title: Converting Regulatory into Proinflammatory Anti-Tumor Effector T Cells

Principal Investigator: Thorsten Mempel, MD, PhD; Massachusetts General Hospital

 

 

 

Proposal Title: Defining the Mechanisms of Resistance to Anti-CTLA4 Antibodies in the TME

Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Ravetch, MD, PhD; The Rockefeller University

 

 

 

Career Development Awards:

 

Proposal Title: CXCL9 as an Immune Anti-Melanoma Therapy in Combination with BRAF Inhibition

Principle Investigator: Lawrence Kwong, PhD; The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

 

 

 

 

Proposal Title: Elucidating Metabolic Changes the Occur in Melanoma Brain Metastases

Principal Investigator: Zachary Schug, PhD; The Wistar Institute

 

 

 

 

Proposal Title: Identification of Metastatic Modulators through Zebrafish Modeling

Principal Investigator: Shruthy Suresh, PhD; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

 

 

 

2020 Medical Student Research Award recipients were announced earlier this year. View the complete list of all 2020 funded research in the 2020 MRF Research Report.

The MRF is committed to advancing the most promising research that will lead to a greater understanding, improved treatments and, one day, a cure for melanoma. This is made possible by the generosity of donors and partners who support this life-saving work. Please consider funding the future of melanoma research with a tax-deductible gift today: 

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