When our Fellowship Award Committee selected Yung as a Damon Runyon Fellow in 2000, little did they know that they were picking its future CEO. She will be the first scientist and alumna to lead the organization since it was founded in 1946.

Costas A. Lyssiotis, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '10-'13 and Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Breakthrough Scientist '13-'17) of the University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, received the American Gastroenterological Association Young Investigator Award for his contributions to immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer and new drug therapies targeting cancer metabolism. His lab has pinpointed several unique metabolic differences specific to the pancreas and is developing drugs to exploit them. Promising results in mice have led to a phase III clinical trial that will open soon at the Rogel Cancer Center comparing chemotherapy alone versus chemotherapy plus a metabolomic drug that switches off two pathways of energy.

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its fall Fellowship Award Committee review. The Fellowship encourages the nation's most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($231,000 total) to work on innovative projects. The Committee also named six new recipients of the Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists, which provides additional funding to scientists completing a Damon Runyon Fellowship Award who have greatly exceeded our highest expectations.

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation announced that nine scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named 2019 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award. Initial grants of $400,000 over two years were awarded to five early career scientists whose projects have the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Each awardee will have the opportunity for up to two additional years of funding (four years total for $800,000). In addition, continued “Stage 2” support was granted to four awardees, who demonstrated significant progress on their proposed research during the first two years of the award. This year, the Foundation increased the award by 33% from $150,000 to $200,000 annually.

Former Damon Runyon Fellow Gregory J. Hannon, PhD, and colleagues at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, have developed a new interactive, virtual reality 3D model of breast cancer.  A human tissue sample about the size of a pinhead was used to create the model, which can be magnified to appear several meters across, providing researchers an inside view of how breast cancer cells interact with surrounding healthy tissue. 

The Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge brings together the very best researchers from around the globe to unite their talent, pool resources and crack the biggest questions in cancer research. Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '95-'98) of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and Wendy S. Garrett, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '06-'09) of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, received £20 million to lead an international, multidisciplinary team of researchers focusing on the microbiome and its role in colorectal cancer.

In 2018, William Raveis Real Estate raised an incredible $552,000 for cancer research. They have been a staunch supporter of Damon Runyon, hosting several multi-state fundraising events. At the annual Raveis Ride + Walk, held September 30, 2018, at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, Connecticut, Christy Jefremow bravely shared her story. 

Immunotherapy has saved countless lives but it is not effective for all cancer patients and predicting who should be using this therapy has been difficult. New results from Luc G. Morris, MD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator '14-'17) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues, now shed light on this dilemma.

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation increases Junior Faculty Grants by 33%. Effective in 2019, the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation and Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Awards will be increased by 33% for new and current scientists. This investment allows the next generation of elite scientists to conduct work that will lay the foundation for careers filled with untold discoveries that are critical to finding new treatments and cures for patients. 

Recently, the Damon Runyon Bay Area community gathered to celebrate the leadership and generosity of Connie and Bob Lurie and kick off the $1 million Lurie Breakthrough Challenge Fund. “Bob and I are delighted to continue the family tradition of supporting Damon Runyon and are thrilled to be a part of its Bay Area Committee,” Connie Lurie said.  “We hope the Challenge Fund will encourage new support by people who don't know about the work of the foundation and inspire them to get involved. Our goal is to put Damon Runyon on the map as a critically important supporter of the best young scientists in the Bay Area.”