Sarcoma Foundation of America announces 2022 Research Grant Awards
The Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA), an organization dedicated to increasing research and awareness for sarcoma, today announced that it has awarded close to $1 million in research funds to deserving scientists as part and of its 2022 SFA Research Grant Program. Nineteen research grants, each worth $50,000, have been awarded to researchers who have made it their mission to study sarcoma, a cancer that arises in the body’s soft tissue and bone. Grants were funded in seven different countries: United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. All proposals are peer reviewed by members of the SFA Medical Advisory Board who award the grants to the best, most promising research toward the cure for sarcoma.
“By awarding these grants to these outstanding researchers, the Sarcoma Foundation of America makes it possible to take significant steps closer to finding a cure for sarcoma,” said Brandi Felser, SFA Chief Executive Officer. “SFA’s main mission is to fill the research funding gap and make progress in eradicating the disease. These awards reflect our commitment to this mission, and we are pleased to be the leading funder of private research in the sarcoma community.”
Since its inception, the SFA has invested more than $13 million in sarcoma research through its research grant program and collaborative research projects. More information on SFA’s research efforts can be found at www.curesarcoma.org/grant.
Sarcoma Foundation of America
2022 Research Grants
Richard and Valerie Aronsohn Memorial Research Award
Priya Chudasama, PhD
Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ)
“Structural and functional genomics characterization of complex karyotype sarcomas for targeting perturbed telomere maintenance mechanisms”
Catherine Malatesta Memorial Research Award
Ingrid Desar, MD, PhD
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre
“Predicting the response of secondary angiosarcomas to cemiplimab”
Sarcoma Foundation of America Research Awards
Rizwan Haq, MD, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
“A small molecule that targets MiT/TFE dysregulated sarcomas”
Andrea Napolitano, MD, PhD
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
“Integrative multi-Omic analysis of PEComa: biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets”
Daniel Saltzman, MD, PhD
Regents of the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
“Sarcoma Immunotherapy by Attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium Engineered for Tumor Specific Production of Immunomodulators”
Breelyn Wilky, MD
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
“The Role of MYC Amplification in Shaping the Osteosarcoma Tumor Microenvironment”
Haoqiang Ying, MD, PhD
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
“Understand and target ATRX mutation in undifferentiated sarcoma”
Richard and Valerie Aronsohn Memorial Research Award
Robin Jones, M.D. (Res), M.R.C.P, MB BS, BSc
Royal Marsden Hospital
“Translational studies in the GEMMK trial: Optimising immunotherapy in leiomyosarcoma and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma”
Jaclyn Ehrlich Memorial Research Award
Mingli Li, PhD
City of Hope
“Targeting Actin-like 6A (ACTL6A) for Ewing Sarcoma (EwS) Treatment”
Chris Langbein Memorial Research Award
Kevin McHugh, PhD
William Marsh Rice University
“The Cancer Genome as a Novel Target for Malignant Osteosarcoma Immunotherapy”
Amira Yunis Memorial Research Award
Susan Miranda, PhD
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
“Analysis of Cancer Health Disparities in Osteosarcoma by scRNA-seq”
St. Louis Cure Sarcoma 6k Research Award
Karen Pollok, PhD
Indiana University
“Dual targeting of CDK4/6 and PI3K/mTOR in high-risk osteosarcoma”
Richard and Valerie Aronsohn Memorial Research Award
Gloria Ravegnini, PhD
University of Bologna
“Identifying DNA damage repair-related vulnerabilities in leiomyosarcoma”
Adrienne Smith and John Pritchard Memorial Award
Steven Robinson, MBBS
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
“Oncolytic virotherapy: An alternative immune based strategy leveraging cancer testis antigens in synovial sarcoma”
Marcia Brodsky Memorial Research Award
Beat Schaefer, PhD
University Children’s Hospital Zurich
“Understanding the determinants of cell fate decisions in pediatric rhabdomyosarcomas”
Technoblade Memorial Research Award
Pradeep Shrestha, PhD
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
“Modulation of the tumor immune microenvironment by targeting STAT3 and CD47-SIRPa axis for the treatment of osteosarcoma-lung metastasis”
Happy Jack/Giving Tuesday Research Award
Poul Sorensen, MD, PhD
BC Cancer
“Examining oncofusion-driven transcript and protein isoforms that underpin fitness relationships essential for Ewing sarcoma tumor formation and metastasis”
Jay Vernon Jackson Memorial Research Award
Gabriel Tinoco, MD
The Ohio State University
“The sarcoma tumor microbiome as a therapeutic target”
Therese McCarthy Memorial Research Award
Lu Wang, MD, PhD
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
“The PDGF/PI3K/AKT Axis in Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma: Functional Characterization and Implications for Anticancer Therapy”
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About the Sarcoma Foundation of America
The Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization, is an advocate for increased research to find new and better therapies with which to treat patients with sarcoma. The organization raises money to privately fund grants for sarcoma researchers and conducts education and advocacy efforts on behalf of sarcoma patients. For more information, please visit www.curesarcoma.org.
About Sarcoma
Sarcoma is a rare cancer in adults (1 percent of all adult cancers) but rather prevalent in children (about 20% of all childhood cancers). At any one time, 50,000 patients and their families are struggling with sarcoma. Every year, nearly 16,000 new cases are diagnosed and more than 6,000 people die from the disease.