Grantee Archive

Research Funding Impact

Since 1993, the AACR has awarded more than $542 million in grants to fund meritorious research projects across the spectrum of cancer science, including basic, translational, and clinical research. See how the AACR grants program has contributed to the AACR's mission.

Armored for Victory: Reprogramming CAR T Cells Against Neuroblastoma

Transforming outcomes for children with high-risk cancers demands innovation. In 2023, Kristopher Bosse, MD, a physician-scientist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, received the AACR-AstraZeneca Career Development Award for Physician-Scientists, a grant designed to empower early-career investigators to bridge the gap between laboratory discoveries and clinical breakthroughs. His AACR-supported research, published in Molecular Therapy, explores promising new directions in immunotherapy for children with neuroblastoma.

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AACR Grantees Share Their Findings: Recent Advances in Cancer Research

AACR-supported investigators are contributing to advances in cancer research through studies spanning immunotherapy, tumor biology, genomics, and patient-centered care. Their accomplishments have been made possible, thanks to the support of the AACR and its funding partners.

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RNA to the Rescue: A New DNA Repair Pathway for Double-Strand Breaks

2020 AACR Swim Across America Fellowship recipient Manisha Jalan, DPhil, reveals a novel DNA repair mechanism in human cells where RNA transcripts, once thought to be passive messengers, actively guide the repair of double-strand breaks. Mediated by the DNA polymerase ζ complex, this RNA-templated repair pathway introduces a new dimension to genome maintenance and challenges long-held biological dogma.

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AACR Grantee Summit: Support Goes Beyond Grant Funding

AACR is committed to supporting researchers beyond grant funding. To create opportunities for grantees to share their work, learn from leaders and peers, and build meaningful connections, AACR hosted its second annual Grantee Summit.

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Cholesterol: A Fork in the Road for Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer outcomes can differ depending on where the disease metastasizes, with lung involvement generally associated with better prognosis than liver involvement. Supported by a 2022 AACR-MPM Oncology Charitable Foundation Transformative Cancer Research Grant, Rushika Perera, PhD and her team at UCSF uncovered a key insight: a protein player in cholesterol metabolism, PCSK9, predicts whether pancreatic cancer cells colonize the liver or lungs. This discovery provides new understanding of metastatic behavior and potential therapeutic strategies.

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By Africans, for Africans: Advancing Breast Cancer Screening in Ghana

As breast cancer awareness month approaches, we spotlight the work of Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah, PhD, a 2022 recipient of the Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research (BIG Cat). Dr. Mensah is developing Mbreastcheck, a culturally tailored mobile health app designed to promote early detection and improve cancer care uptake among women in Ghana.

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The Lipid Trigger: Metabolic Rewiring and the Path to Early Breast Tumorigenesis

Mariana Bustamante Eduardo, PhD, received the 2023 AACR-Pfizer Breast Cancer Research Fellowship to investigate the early cellular changes in non-transformed breast cells – work that is shedding light on how a lipid metabolism-induced metabolic shift contributes to several hallmarks of cancer.

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Targeting the Epigenetic Engine of Synovial Sarcoma: Advancing Therapeutic Innovation With AACR Donor Support

With support from end-of-year AACR funds, Dr. Yao Yu advanced a novel PROTAC therapeutic strategy targeting the SS18::SSX-WDR5 chromatin complex - disrupting tumor growth and reactivating p53 defenses in a rare but aggressive soft tissue cancer, synovial sarcoma.

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Redefining Cancer and Immunotherapy Through the Microbiome

A serendipitous observation made possible at least in part by an AACR-PanCAN grant helped lead the way of two-time AACR grant recipient Florencia McAllister, MD. Her journey continues to uncover how microbes play a key role in carcinogenesis and the effectiveness of cancer therapies.

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Breaking Down to Build Back Up: Aurora-A Degraders as Treatment for Neuroblastoma

The survival rate for nearly half of children diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma remains tragically low. This devastating outcome is often linked to the amplification of the MYCN gene. Dr. Daniel Harki, recipient of two AACR-Bayer Innovation and Discovery (IND) Grants.

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