The AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award is open to tenure-track scientists at the level of Assistant Professor, who completed postdoctoral studies or clinical fellowships no later than July 1 of the application year and ordinarily not more than five years prior to the Award year. It provides a one-year grant of $50,000 for salary and benefits, laboratory supplies, and limited domestic travel to support research in cancer etiology, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention (basic, translational, or clinical cancer research).
Applications for this grant open in the Fall each year.
2008 Recipient
Davide Ruggero, Ph.D.
Rush University Of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Project: Role of IRES-Dependent Translation in Cancer
Dr. Ruggero's research is centered on understanding the molecular mechanisms by which impairments in accurate control of mRNA translation, cell growth, and overall cellular protein synthesis rates lead to cancer. While it is commonly accepted that oncogenic signaling deregulates the transcriptional profile of neoplastic cells, our research has demonstrated a pivotal role for impairments in the translational efficiency of specific existing mRNA species at the post-transcription level towards cancer initiation. Global analysis of the deregulated proteome during cancer formation utilizing novel polysome microarrays pioneered by the Ruggero lab indicates that control of protein production provides a highly specific, robust, and rapid response to oncogenic stimuli. The mRNAs translationally affected encode proteins involved in cell-cell interaction, cell differentiation, signal transduction, and growth control. These findings strongly suggest that a radical shift in the composition of mRNAs associated with actively translating polysomes may lead to an immediate neoplastic phenotype upon an oncogenic lesion. Our research is uncovering that the direct effect on the proteome may serve as common mechanism elicited by multiple oncogenic signals (i.e., PTEN/AKT/TOR, Ras, Myc) to cause cellular transformation and may overshadow the effect on the transcriptosome. The implications of these results will be important in the design of a new generation of compounds that modulate the cellular proteome at the post-genomic level and act as cancer therapeutic agents. "I am honored to receive the 2008 AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award as it will allow me to investigate how the DKC1 tumor suppressor gene, which modifies rRNA, contributes to the cancer susceptibility and pre-mature aging syndrome known as X-linked Dyskeratosis Congenita."
2007 Recipient
Kent W. Christopherson II, Ph.D.
Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Project: Umbilical cord Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cell transplant therapies
Dr. Christopherson leads translational research efforts for the Sections of Hematology & Stem Cell Transplantation in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Rush. His primary scientific expertise and research efforts encompass the fields of experimental hematology and stem cell biology in the context of developing novel treatment strategies for blood cancers. Along these lines, Dr. Christopherson is interested in further developing the usage of umbilical cord blood for adult blood cancer patients who would benefit from hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It is in this context that he states the following, "Large numbers of donor stem cells are required for a successful transplantation and cord blood, by its very nature, is limited in cell number. It can be argued that in order to overcome the limitations of donor cell number it is necessary to expand the transplantable cell population, increase transplant efficiency, or both. The use of genetically mismatched bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to support the expansion of cord blood is not ideal for transplant purposes. As an alternative, we will investigate the use of mesenchymal stem cells derived from the Wharton's jelly of umbilical cord segments to support the ex vivo expansion of cord blood hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. These experiments will generate the necessary data to propose future xenograft transplant model projects and subsequent investigator-initiated clinical trials utilizing human cord blood hematopoietic stem and progenitors cells that were expanded on a genetically identical mesenchymal stem cell layer. I am honored to have been chosen to receive the 2007 AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award and receive the research support provided by the award, especially in light of Gertrude Elion's innovative research approaches that led to novel drug therapies for many diseases, including leukemia."