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.

Opening the Barriers in Glioblastoma with Tumor Treating Fields

Treatment options for brain cancers, including aggressive glioblastoma, are limited despite the availability of several chemotherapeutic drugs due to the inability of these drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). AACR-Novocure grantee Dr. Carsten Hagemann and his team showed that the use of low-intensity alternating electric fields known as Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields), an FDA-approved treatment modality, can facilitate drugs crossing the BBB. Using multiple models, they elucidated the mechanisms driving this action.

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AACR Grantees Share their Findings

We are extremely proud of our past and present grantees who published their findings this past year on their work that has been made possible through the support of the AACR and its funding partners.

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Dr. Escobar-Hoyos Leverages Her AACR Grant

Recipient of a 2021 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Pancreatic Cancer Research, Luisa Escobar-Hoyos, PhD, shares how the AACR grant has been a critical step in her quest for federal funding for her more unconventional approach to treat pancreatic cancer.

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From the AACR Annual Meeting to a Therapeutic Strategy for Rhabdomyosarcoma

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in children and young adults. Dr. Amit Sabnis, recipient of the 2017 AACR-Aflac, Inc. Career Development Award for Pediatric Cancer Research, and his research team demonstrated the therapeutic potential of bi-steric mTORC1 inhibitors in FOXO1 fusion positive RMS.

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Establishing Roots in Fundamental Biology with the AACR NextGen Grant: Dr. Tuomas Tammela

Tuomas Tammela, MD, PhD shared how his 2018 AACR NextGen Grant led to the discovery of a new particularly malignant cell state in lung cancer. He lauds the benefits of grants such as the AACR Next Gen grants that provide robust support for research on fundamental biology.

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Building Networks among the Next Generation of Cancer Researchers: AACR Cancer Health Disparities Special Conference

Insights from AACR grant recipients reveal how the AACR Cancer Health Disparities Conference is more than just a transfer of information by serving as a backdrop for conversations among individuals minority and non-minority alike, bound by a singular commitment to provide cancer cures for all.

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Crossing the Bridge over the Valley of Death with an AACR-Bayer Innovation and Discovery Grant

The AACR-Bayer Innovation and Discovery Grants sought to uncover new treatment options for cancers with high unmet medical need and encourage translation of ideas from basic research into novel drugs. Surgical oncologist, Rosa Hwang, MD, received the grant in 2016, helping her pursue a new therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer.

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Motivated by One’s Cancer Diagnosis: Dr. Fariba Behbod

AACR Special Conference “Rethinking DCIS: An Opportunity for Prevention” Plenary Session Speaker Fariba Behbod, Pharm D, PhD, received the AACR-Breast Cancer Research Foundation for Translational Breast Cancer Research award in 2014, when she was an Assistant Professor at the Kansas University Medical Center Research Institute. Now a Full Professor, she speaks on the impact of the AACR grant on her research and career.

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Tumor Treating Fields’ Potential in Mesothelioma

One of the 2021 AACR-Novocure Tumor Treating Fields Research Grant recipients, Maurizio D’Incalci, MD, seeks to elucidate the molecular mechanisms behind the combinatorial efficacy of TTFields /chemotherapy.

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A Novel Target to Mitigate Chemobrain

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI), also known as chemobrain, can affect up to 75% of patients during treatment. Recipient of the 2019 The Bosarge Family Foundation-Waun Ki Hong Scholar Award for Regenerative Cancer Medicine Alfredo Oliveros, PhD, and his colleagues showed that inhibiting adenosine A2A receptor signaling can prevent cisplatin-induced cognitive impairment.

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