American Association for Cancer Research Recognizes 2025-2026 Research Grantees
PHILADELPHIA – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is proud to announce its newest class of grant recipients.
Since 1993, the AACR has awarded more than $551 million through more than 1,100 research grants to support scientists in advancing cancer research, improving detection methods, enhancing prevention strategies, and developing new cancer treatments. These grants support researchers both domestically and internationally at every stage of their careers, representing a global commitment to preventing and curing cancer.
Fellowships
2025 AACR Hematologic Malignancies Research Fellowship
- Sean E. Healton, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
“Investigating chromatin-based mechanisms of B cell epigenetic plasticity and lymphomagenesis”
2025 AACR-ALK Positive Lung Cancer Research Fellowship
- Alice Tzeng, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
“Epigenetic drivers of resistance to lorlatinib in anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive lung cancer”
2025 AACR-AstraZeneca Endometrial Cancer Research Fellowship
- Farhia Kabeer, MBBS, PhD, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
“Therapeutic targeting of deficient mismatch repair endometrial cancers beyond immune checkpoints”
2025 AACR-EMD Serono “I’M IN” Oncodisparity Fellowship in Lung and Urothelial Cancers
- Mohamed Osman, MD, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
“Functionally active ecDNA in African Americans drives oncogenic pathways forming therapeutic targets”
- Dena P. Rhinehart, MD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
“Identifying key targets for and feasibility of improving molecular testing for non-small cell lung cancer in the rural US”
2025 AACR-Exelixis Renal Cell Carcinoma Research Fellowship
- Zachary A. Yochum, MD, PhD, Yale University, New Haven, CT
“Determining the role of endogenous retroviruses in adaptive immune responses in renal cell carcinoma”
2025 AACR-Incyte Immuno-oncology Research Fellowship
- Emma MCM Guilbaud, PhD, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA
“Targeting BCL2 and mitophagy to enhance the immunostimulatory effects of radiation in breast cancer”
2025 AACR-John and Elizabeth Leonard Family Foundation Basic Cancer Research Fellowship
- Putzer J. Hung, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
“Regulation of ribosomal RNA synthesis in acute myeloid leukemia”
2025 AACR-Johnson & Johnson Clinical Oncology Research (CORE) Training Fellowship
- Yu Fujiwara, MD, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY
2025 AACR-Johnson & Johnson Interventional Oncology Stimulating Therapeutic Advances through Research Training (START) Grant
- Ángel Ramírez-Fernández, PharmD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
“Adjuvant-enhanced ‘off-the-shelf’ mKRAS-TCR γδ T cells to overcome resistance in lung carcinoma”
2025 AACR-Ocular Melanoma Foundation Research Fellowship
- Malaka Ameratunga, MBBS, PhD, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
“TRIUMPH – Tebentafusp and Roginolisib in Uveal Melanoma to Prolong T-cell Homeostasis”
2025 AACR-QuadW Foundation Sarcoma Research Fellowship in Memory of Willie Tichenor
- Janeala Morsby, PhD, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
“Exploring the mechanism of synergy of the dual inhibition of ATM and PARP in pediatric osteosarcoma”
2025 AACR-Sontag Foundation Brain Cancer Research Fellowship
- Siva Kumar Natarajan, PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
“Elucidating the oncogenic role of itaconate in aggressive, ZFTA-RELA fusion-driven ependymomas”
2025 AACR-Swim Across America Pediatric Cancer Research Fellowship
- Helena Yu, MD, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA
“Targeting developmental changes in proteostasis to improve HSC transplant for pediatric cancer patients”
2025 The Bosarge Family Foundation-Waun Ki Hong Scholar Award for Regenerative Cancer Medicine
- Yoojeong Seo, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
“Manipulating cell plasticity to alleviate radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis”
2025 Conquer Cancer-AACR Young Investigator Award for Translational Cancer Research
- Jaewon Lee, MD, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
“Liquid biopsy-based molecular subtyping of pancreatic cancers”
2026 AACR-Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation Young Investigator Award for Translational Cancer Research
- Amanda Truong, MD, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
“Leveraging desmoplastic melanoma signatures to enhance immunotherapy response”
2026 AACR-Ocular Melanoma Foundation Research Fellowship
- Ronen Stoff, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
“Predicting efficacy and toxicity of systemic & liver-directed therapies in metastatic uveal melanoma”
2026 AACR-QuadW Foundation Sarcoma Research Fellowship in Memory of Willie Tichenor
- Md Imdadul H. Khan, PhD, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
“Therapeutic potential of a novel CBP/p300 inhibitor in fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma”
Career Development Awards
2025 AACR Career Development Award in Lung Cancer Research
- Lisa Derosa, MD, PhD, HDR, Gustave Roussy, Paris, France
“RESET – Rehabilitation of the holosystem via Ecological Shifts and Environmental Tuning”
2025 AACR Career Development Award in Lung Cancer Research
- Pedro Torres-Ayuso, PhD, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
“Targeting the TNIK Signaling Network to reverse EMT and fibrosis in lung squamous cell carcinoma”
2025 AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award
- Carman M. Li, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
“Harness insights from chromatin priming for early interception of basal-like breast cancer”
2025 AACR-Novocure Career Development Award for Cancer Research
- Zhaohui Wang, PhD, Terasaki Institute, Los Angeles, CA
“Overcoming resistance in IDH-mutant gliomas with TTFields and vorasidenib”
2025 AACR-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Research Grant
- Nicole Michmerhuizen, PhD, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
2025 Breast Cancer Research Foundation-AACR Career Development Award to Promote Diversity and Inclusion
- María Teresita Branham, PhD, National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Cellular reprogramming: a novel approach to tackle triple-negative breast cancer”
- Temidayo A. Fadelu, MD, MPH, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
“Developing a multi-modal breast cancer stigma mitigating intervention in Rwanda”
- Mercedes B. Fuertes, PhD, Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IByME-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Monoclonal antibody-based immunotherapy against MICA in triple-negative breast cancer”
- Fernanda G. Kugeratski, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
“Defining the role of LRRC17+ CAFs in the breast tumor microenvironment”
- Fresia G. Pareja, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
“Precision strategies for ADC-based therapeutics in lobular breast cancer”
2025 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Career Development Award, in partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
- Anke Nijhuis, PhD, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
“Targeting RNA splicing to improve therapies for ovarian high grade serous carcinoma”
- Frances K. Turrell, PhD, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
“The aging tumor microenvironment – novel immunotherapy approaches for ER+ breast cancer”
- Heather M. Whitney, PhD, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
“An AI-based equitable ‘virtual’ biopsy pipeline for ovarian cancer diagnosis on ultrasound”
- Eunhee Yi, PhD, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
“Extrachromosomal DNA as a mechanism for therapy resistance in breast cancer”
- Xiaochen Zhang, MBBS, MPH, PhD, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
“A just-in-time adaptive lifestyle program for rural breast and endometrial cancer survivors”
2026 AACR Trailblazer Cancer Research Grant for Early-Stage Investigators
- Ana Luísa Correia, PhD, Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
“Neuro-immune regulation of metastatic breast cancer dormancy”
- Karen O. Dixon, PhD, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
“Identifying and disrupting neuro-immune circuits in lung cancer”
- Justin Milner, PhD, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
“Engineering synthetic T cell states to treat solid cancers”
- Nathan H. Parker, PhD, MPH, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL
“Exercise prehabilitation to improve chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy outcomes”
- Theodore L. Roth, MD, PhD, Stanford University and Arc Institute, Palo Alto, CA
“Universal discovery of patient-specific cellular immunotherapies”
- Jonathan M. Tsai, MD, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA
“Therapeutic alteration of androgen receptor chromatin dynamics”
- Jessalyn M. Ubellacker, MD, PhD, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
“Inducing lipid peroxidation in lymph node cancer cells to promote systemic immunogenicity”
- Natalie Vokes, MD, MPhil, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
“Dissecting mechanisms of therapeutic resistance and vulnerabilities in CDKN2A/MTAP-deleted NSCLC”
- Samir Zaidi, MD, PhD, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
“Mechanisms of cellular plasticity in neuroendocrine prostate cancer initiation”
2026 Lustgarten Foundation-AACR Career Development Award for Pancreatic Cancer Research, in Honor of John Robert Lewis
- Dig B. Mahat, PhD, Columbia University, New York, NY
“Targeting immune cell enhancers propagating immunosuppression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma”
2026 Lustgarten Foundation-AACR Career Development Award for Pancreatic Cancer Research, in Honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Sandra Misale, PhD, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
“HER2 targeting in KRAS mutant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma”
Independent Investigator Awards
2025 AACR Grant for Innovative Bladder Cancer Research
- Carissa Chu, MD, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
“Enhancing nectin-4-targeting therapy in urothelial carcinoma with retinoic acid”
- Bishoy M. Faltas, MD, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
“Characterization of CDADC1, a putative CTP deaminase co-deleted with RB1 in bladder cancer”
2025 AACR-Hope Scarves Metastatic Breast Cancer Innovation and Discovery Grant
- Gloria B. Kim, PhD, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ
“In vivo delivery of polycistronic mRNA-LNPs reprograms CAR T cells for metastatic TNBC therapy”
2025 AACR-KidneyCAN Kidney Cancer Innovation and Discovery Grant
- Ralph J. DeBerardinis, MD, PhD, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
“Inhibiting & imaging mitochondrial enablers of kidney cancer progression”
- Astgik Petrosyan, PhD, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA
“Targeting the extracellular matrix in kidney cancer”
- Srinivas R. Viswanathan, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
“Phenotypic screening for small molecule inhibitors of oncogenic TFE3 fusions”
2025 AACR-Novocure Cancer Research Grant
- Milan G. Chheda, MD, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
“Enhancing tumor treating field efficacy with oncolytic therapy”
- Ioannis Verginadis, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
“Therapeutic synergy of TTFields with radiation therapy and immunotherapy in preclinical PDAC models”
2025 AACR-Ocular Melanoma Foundation Miriam Counts Innovation and Discovery Grant
- William B. Dalton, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
“Targeting SF3B1-mutant uveal melanoma with MISIL”
- Nicholas M. Riley, PhD, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
“Leveraging the sialic acid-Siglec axis to defining actionable targets for uveal melanoma”
2025 Friends of the AACR Foundation Party with a Purpose Early Career Investigator Award
- Alexander Huang, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2025 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Rising Innovator Grant, in partnership with Pelotonia and AACR
- Cecil Han, PhD, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
“Targeting deubiquitin signaling in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma plasticity”
- Li Liu, PhD, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
“Imaging-guided assessment of synergistic treatments for breast cancer”
- Melanie R. Rutkowski, PhD, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
“Investigating how TLR5 signaling on myeloid cells promotes immune therapy failure for ovarian cancer”
2026 AACR Trailblazer Research Grants for Mid-Career Investigators
- Effie Apostolou, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
“Targeting three-dimensional regulatory nodes to rewire cancer programs”
- Adrienne A. Boire, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
“Cancer communication across blood-brain barriers”
- Carla J. Chibwesha, MD, MSc, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
“Improving cervical precancer treatment outcomes in women with HIV”
- Yifat Merbl, PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
“Induced SUMOylation as a novel approach for cancer treatment”
- Aaron M. Newman, PhD, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
“Real-time profiling of tumor microenvironment dynamics to decode immunotherapy response in melanoma”
- Tuomas Tammela, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
“Interrogating epithelial injury-associated tissue programs in cancer plasticity”
2026 AACR-Torrey Coast Foundation Transpacific Gastric and Esophageal Cancer Research Partnership Grant
- Samuel J. Klempner, MD, Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, and Jeeyun Lee, MD, PhD, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea
“Optimizing T cell engagers in gastric cancer”
- Timothy Wang, MD, Columbia University, New York, NY, and Yoku Hayakawa, MD, PhD, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
“Targeting neuro–immune crosstalk to overcome immunosuppression in diffuse gastric cancer”
2026 Mark Foundation-AACR-Lustgarten Foundation Early Detection Awards
- Christina Curtis, PhD, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
“Digital pathology diagnostics for robust stratification of esophageal cancer risk”
- Dan-Avi Landau, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
“Solving the early detection challenge in ovarian cancer through transformative liquid biopsy innovation”
- Trevor Pugh, PhD, University Health Network, Ontario, Canada
“Towards a unified platform for Li-Fraumeni syndrome cancer risk prediction and cell-free DNA surveillance”
- Nikolaos Sgourakis, PhD, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
“Programmable recognition of KRAS neoantigens for early cancer diagnostics across patients”
- Peter Sorger, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
“Molecular profiling of ovarian cancer precursors to transform early detection and precancer stratification”
- Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
“Detection and interception of KRAS-mutant pancreatic cancer using small molecule RAS(ON) inhibitors”
Grants Supporting Researchers in Africa
2025 Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research (BIG Cat)
- Anthony Kayiira, MD, MMed, MSc, Uganda Cancer Institute, Kampala, Uganda
“Developing strategies for implementing oncofertility services for pediatric and AYA cancer survivors”
- Kija Luhuti, MD, MPH, Muhimbili University Health and Allied Sciences, Dar-es-Saleem, Tanzania
“A community-based pilot study for esophageal cancer screening in Tanzania”
- Adeleye Dorcas Omisore, MBBS, FWACS, FMCR, MSc, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife Ife, Nigeria
“Strengthening breast cancer awareness, education and early diagnosis capacity in southwest Nigeria”
Grants Supporting Researchers in Latin America
2025 AACR Maximizing Opportunity for New Advancements in Research in Cancer (MONARCA) Grant for Latin America
- Alejandro J. Cagnoni, PhD, Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IByME), Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Targeting Galectin-1 glycocheckpoint to overcome immunotherapy resistance in colorectal cancer”
- Florencia Cayrol, PhD, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (BIOMED-UCA-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Role of thyroid hormones on chromatin remodeling: Impact on HDACi therapy for T cell lymphoma”
- Tomás Dalotto-Moreno, PhD, Institute of Biology And Experimental Medicine (IByME), Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Translating glycocodes into novel immunotherapeutic strategies to prevent T cell exhaustion”