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By the time this year’s Timmerman Traverse team of biotech executives and investors embarked upon their journey to Mt. Kilimanjaro, they had already raised $1 million for Damon Runyon’s scientists. So they set their sights—and their altitude—higher. On Sunday, February 15, 2026, the team reached the mountain’s summit (elev. 19,341 feet) and exceeded their fundraising goal, raising over $1.2 million for cancer research.
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has announced eight recipients of the 2026 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, established to support high-risk, high-reward ideas with the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of cancer. Five extraordinary early-career researchers will receive initial grants of $400,000 over two years, and each will have the opportunity to receive two additional years of funding (for a potential total of $800,000).
In 2021, Damon Runyon scientists Michael E. Pacold, MD, PhD, Robert S. Banh, PhD, and their colleagues at New York University Langone Health discovered how the enzyme CoQ10 is made, a synthesis pathway that scientists had been seeking for over two decades. CoQ10 is crucial for energy production in cells (which is why it is popular as a dietary supplement, though evidence of the health benefits is scant).
New research from Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Breakthrough Scientist Abigail E. Overacre-Delgoffe, PhD, and her lab at the University of Pittsburgh suggests that sucralose—the sugar substitute found in many “sugar-free” sodas, yogurts, and snack foods—may interfere with cancer immunotherapy. Their findings indicate that the widely used artificial sweetener changes the composition of the gut microbiome in ways that weaken patients’ immune systems and blunt the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors, a class of drugs that unleash T cells to attack tumors.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer globally, and treatment options for patients with advanced disease are limited.
In October, the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, PhD, Fred Ramsdell, PhD, and Shimon Sakaguchi, MD, PhD, for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance, which keeps the immune system from attacking the body’s own issues. Together, the laureates identified and defined the “security guards” of the immune system, known as regulatory T cells (Treg).
The Nobel Assembly highlighted how this landmark work stood upon decades of foundational discoveries—many made by Damon Runyon scientists.
The National Academy of Medicine provides independent, evidence-based scientific advice to address national and global health challenges. Membership is considered to be one of the highest honors in the medical field and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. This year, three Damon Runyon alumni were nominated for membership, bringing the total number of Damon Runyon scientists in the organization to 49.
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