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.
Head and neck cancer (HNC), describing cancers of the oral cavity, throat, nose, and sinuses, is the sixth most common cancer worldwide accounting for 300,000 cancer deaths each year. Epidemiological data has shown disparities between HNC screening, detection, treatment,...
Dedicated to accelerating the conquest of cancer, the AACR is a unique organization committed to funding research projects across all cancer sites and researchers at all career levels. In partnership with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), a nationwide organization dedicated to pancreatic cancer, the AACR-PanCAN Pathway to Leadership Grant was established in 2010. Running until 2017, the joint program offered $600,000 over five years to facilitate the career transition of pancreatic cancer researchers from postdoctoral/clinical research fellow to independent faculty.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.