Damon Runyon staff interviewed John Parker, MD, about his daughter Nicole’s cancer journey and the role Damon Runyon scientists played in treating her disease

Nicole Parker’s cancer symptoms began when she was 18 years old during a family ski vacation in Utah, when she complained to her father John, an obstetrician-gynecologist, about excruciating headaches. When the headaches persisted upon returning home to Florida, John took Nicole to a local hospital and had her fully examined. The attending physician ordered a CT scan and MRI.

Ash Alizadeh (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ’14-’17) and colleagues at Stanford University School of Medicine reported that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) profiling by non-invasive liquid biopsy reveals distinct patterns of clonal evolution and allows accurate classification of tumor subtypes in lymphoma patients. This enables insights into the biology of how an indolent disease transitions into an aggressive and often fatal disease.

Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘00-‘05) of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine. This is one of the country’s highest and most prestigious honors in the fields of health and medicine. She is recognized for having made fundamental contributions to demonstrating the link between the human papillomavirus virus (HPV) and head and neck cancers.

Lorraine Egan, President & Chief Executive Officer, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

In this year’s Giving section of The New York Times, a prominent Silicon Valley donor, Cari Tuna, was quoted as follows:

“The biggest piece of advice I would give any donor is to be proactive,” Ms. Tuna said.  “Find the best charity for your values.  The charities that are the most aggressive and best at marketing aren’t necessarily the ones doing the most good.”

As the nation prepares for next week’s elections, we invited Mary Woolley, the president and CEO of Research!America, the country’s well-respected and nonpartisan alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority, to share her thoughts on what our national priorities should be.

Damon Runyon staff spoke with NBC News journalist, author and cancer survivor Tom Brokaw after he provided remarks at our 2016 Annual Breakfast. The following blog post was edited and condensed from that interview.

DR: Thank you for attending our 2016 Annual Breakfast.

TB: I was very impressed with the whole organization. I had known kind of broadly about the organization, but that was an impressive breakfast.

Philippe Soriano, PhD, Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

I have been on the Damon Runyon Fellowship Awards Committee for three years and as a developmental biologist, who studies signaling pathways in mouse embryos, I do not strictly work on cancer. However, the Damon-Runyon Fellows are all very bright minds and are curious about all areas of science, so it was really fun to interact with them at the Fellows Retreat in San Jose, CA, from September 25-28, 2016.

The NIH announced the 2016 recipients of awards within its High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. These awards are designed to support scientists proposing highly innovative approaches to major contemporary challenges in biomedical research. Of 88 total awards this year, six were granted to Damon Runyon Scientists. 

2016 Pioneer Award

Christine Mayr, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Innovator '13-'15), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York

2016 NIH New Innovator Award

Dianne K. Newman, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ’88-‘89) of California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, was named one of 23 MacArthur Fellows for 2016. She is recognized for her innovative research investigating the role that bacteria have played in shaping the Earth and continue to play in modern biomedical contexts. The MacArthur Fellows Program awards five-year, unrestricted fellowships to individuals across all ages and fields who show exceptional merit and promise of continued creative work. 

Lorraine Egan, President & Chief Executive Officer, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

A recent article in Nature, “The Unsung Heroes of CRISPR,” highlights the special role of young scientists in research breakthroughs.  They are “unsung,” because they rarely get the credit they deserve for being important drivers of innovation in research.  But they are crucial to progress against cancer and other biomedical research.

It made me think of Lin Manuel Miranda, the celebrated creator of Hamilton, who won his first Tony in 2008, when he was 28.  He is a classic example of a young person breaking the mold.  History is replete with stories of bold innovation by young minds.  Take Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to name two other contemporary examples.  The same is true in biomedical research.  In fact, the majority of Nobel Prizes in science have gone to individuals who made their prize-winning discovery before they were 40.