LOS ANGELES, Calif., October 26, 2022 – The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) today announced the Class of 2022 Young Investigator Award recipients totaling $7.2 million in funding for innovative prostate cancer research.
PCF Young Investigator Awards are intended to identify a cohort of future research leaders who will keep the field of prostate cancer research vibrant with new ideas and offer career and project support for early career physicians and scientists who are committed to advancing the prostate cancer field. Thirty-four PCF Young Investigator Awards totaling $7.2 million were granted to the promising next generation of cancer researchers.
PCF Young Investigator Awards – Class of 2022
For full project descriptions visit https://www.pcf.org/c/young-investigator-award-class-of-2022
2022 Todd Boehly-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Vipul Bhatia, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Mentors: John K. Lee, MD, PhD; Peter Nelson, MD
Project Title: Development of Next-Generation STEAP1 Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapies to Combat Antigen Escape and T Cell Dysfunction
2022 CRIS Cancer Foundation, Eustace Wolfington and Larry Leeds-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Dimitrios Doultsinos, PhD, University of Oxford
Mentors: Claire Fletcher, PhD; Ian Mills, PhD
Project Title: Exploring Synthetic Lethality of Targeting miR346-Unfolded Protein Response Dependent DNA Damage Response Mechanisms in Treatment-Resistant Prostate Cancer
2022 Michael & Lori Milken-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Renu Eapen, MBBS, FRACS (Urology), Peter MacCallum Cancer Center
Mentors: Michael Hofman, MBBS; Declan Murphy, MC, BCh, BaO, FRCS Urol, FRACS; Paul Neeson, PhD
Project Title: The Clinical and Immune Landscape Changes in Response to Upfront Lutetium PSMA Therapy in Patients with High-Risk Localized Prostate Cancer
2022 Foundation Medicine-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Nicolette Fonseca, PhD, University of British Columbia
Mentors: Alexander Wyatt, D.Phil; Kim Chi, MD
Project Title: Developing a Novel ctDNA-Based Approach to Patient Risk Stratification and Treatment Selection in mCRPC: A Large Population-Based Cohort Study
2022 ZERO, John & Amy Phelan, and Alec & Kelly Gores-PCF VAlor Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Jun Gong, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Mentors: Stephen Freedland, MD; Edwin Posadas, MD
Project Title: A Nationwide VA Study on Systemic Treatment Patterns in Black Patients with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
2022 Todd Boehly-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Roni Haas, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Mentor: Paul Boutros, PhD, MBA
Project Title: Associating Germline Variants with Prostate Tumour Evolution and Lethality
2022 Ronald & Victoria Simms-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Ashley E. Holly, PhD, MBA, Cleveland Clinic
Mentors: Nima Sharifi, MD; Matthew Vander Heiden, MD, PhD
Project Title: Elucidating Metabolic Health for Prostate Cancer Patients through Dietary Intervention (DINE Study)
2022 James Coulter-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Tamara Jamaspishvili, MD, PhD, State University of New York Upstate Medical University
Mentors: Jeremy Squire, PhD; Alina Basnet, MD
Project Title: Single-Center Retrospective Clinical Study of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Based Protein Assessment of Three Tumor Suppressor Genes (“Triple-TSG”) for Improved Risk Stratification and Treatment Management of Advanced Prostate Cancer
2022 Michael & Lori Milken-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Mayuko Kanayama, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Mentors: Jun Luo, PhD; Tamara Lotan, MD; William Isaacs, PhD
Project Title: Functional and Treatment Implications of a Rare Germline HOXB13 Variant Affecting Risk of Lethal Prostate Cancer in Patients of African Ancestry
2022 Wild Dunes MGA-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Dong-Woo Kang, PhD, Harvard: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Mentors: Christina Dieli-Conwright, PhD, MPH; Alicia Morgans, MD, MPH; Timothy Rebbeck, PhD
Project Title: Exercise for Tumor Suppressive Impact in Black Patients with Prostate Cancer on Active Surveillance: The RE-MOVE Trial
2022 Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Indu Kohaar, PhD, Center for Prostate Disease Research, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
Mentors: Gyorgy Petrovics, PhD; William Douglas Figg Sr., PharmD
Project Title: Genetic Determinants of Aggressive Prostate Cancer in African American Patients
2022 Tony & Sage Robbins-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Weiping Li, PhD, Columbia University Medical Center
Mentors: Michael Shen, PhD; Christopher Barbieri, MD, PhD; Alberto Ciccia, PhD
Project Title: Investigating the Role of Androgen Signaling in Promoting Genomic Instability in Prostate Cancer
2022 Ronald & Victoria Simms-PCF Valor Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Neil Lin, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Mentors: Andrew Goldstein, PhD; Matthew Rettig, MD; Isla Garraway, MD, PhD
Project Title: Using a Novel 3D Platform to Develop Metabolism-based Prostate Cancer Therapies
2022 Eustace Wolfington-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Jacob Orme, MD, PhD, Mayo Clinic
Mentors: Alan Bryce, MD; Sean Park, MD, PhD; Haojie Huang, PhD
Project Title: Overcoming NRG-1-Mediated Resistance in CRPC
2022 Robert Kraft, Adam Cohn, and Igor Tulchinsky-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Ryan Park, MD, Harvard: Massachusetts General Hospital
Mentors: Nir Hacohen, PhD; Anthony D’Amico, MD, PhD
Project Title: Modulating T cell State to Prevent Radiation-Induced Lymphopenia and Enhance Anti-Tumor Immunity
2022 Joel Holsinger-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Sagar Patel, MD, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Mentors: Martin Sanda, MD; Ashesh Jani, MD; Arthur Stillman, MD, PhD
Project Title: Biomarker-Based Approaches to Understand and Predict Cardiovascular Toxicity from Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Patients with Prostate Cancer
2022 National Cancer Institute-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Michael Rothberg, MD, National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Mentors: Peter Pinto, MD; Adam Sowalsky, PhD
Project Title: Identifying Tumor Microenvironmental Factors Associated with Oncologic Response to Irreversible Electroporation Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer
2022 John Black Charitable Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Ashwin Sachdeva, MBBS, PhD, University of Manchester
Mentors: Noel Clarke, ChM; Nicholas James, PhD, MBBS; Gerhardt Attard, PhD, MBBS
Project Title: Mitigating Toxicity of Novel AR-Targeted Therapies in Advanced Prostate Cancer
2022 Steve & Andrea Wynn-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: David Sanin, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Mentors: Samuel Denmeade, MD; Edward Pearce, PhD
Project Title: Expanded Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Underpin Resistance to Bipolar Androgen Therapy in Patients with Advanced Prostate Cancer
2022 Igor Tulchinsky, Robert Taubman and Richard Sandler-PCF VAlor Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Martin Schoen, MD, MPH, Saint Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Mentors: Kristen Sanfilippo, MD, MPH; Bruce Montgomery, MD; Ruth Etzioni, PhD
Project Title: Outcomes of Metastatic Hormone Sensitive Prostate Cancer in Veterans: Facilitating Personalized Medicine
2022 Michael & Tricia Berns-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Laura Sena, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Mentors: Samuel Denmeade, MD; Erika Pearce, PhD
Project Title: Understanding Metabolic Differentiation of Prostate Cancer by Bipolar Androgen Therapy
2022 Point Biopharma-PCF VAlor Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Marina Sharifi, MD, PhD, University of Wisconsin
Mentors: Joshua Lang, MD; Shuang Zhao, MD, MSc; Brett Carver, MD
Project Title: Interrogating the Intersection of PSMA and PI3K Pathway Signaling as a Novel Combination Approach in Treatment Resistant Prostate Cancer
2022 Todd Boehly-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Raunak Shrestha, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentors: Felix Feng, MD; David Quigley, PhD
Project Title: Investigating Chromatin Reprogramming to Overcome Treatment Resistance in Advanced Prostate Cancer
2022 John Tyson-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Bilal A. Siddiqui, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Mentors: Christopher Logothethis, MD; Sumit Subudhi, MD, PhD
Project Title: Bispecific Immunotherapy Strategies to Overcome the Immunosuppressive Prostate Tumor Microenvironment
2022 Sage & Tony Minella-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Woogwang Sim, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentor: Rohit Bose, MD, PhD
Project Title: PTEN/P53 Altered Prostate Cancer has Unique Role for Tumor Associated Macrophages upon Apalutamide Resistance
2022 Nelson & Claudia Peltz-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Udit Singhal, MD, University of Michigan
Mentors: Todd Morgan, MD; Felix Feng, MD; Daniel Lin, MD
Project Title: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Optimization of Active Surveillance and Genetic Testing in Patients with Localized Prostate Cancer
2022 John & Daria Barry-PCF VAlor Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Alexandra Sokolova, MD, Oregon Health & Science University
Mentors: Bruce Montgomery, MD; Heather Cheng, MD, PhD
Project Title: Cascade Genetic Testing in Prostate Cancer: Evaluating and Overcoming Barriers
2022 John Black Charitable Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Vasilis Stavrinides, MD, PhD, University College London
Mentors: Mark Emberton, MD; Emek Demir, PhD
Project Title: Immune Topology as a Predictor of Prostate Cancer Outcome in Imaging-Based Cohorts
2022 Ms. Lucy Shostak & Dr. Elliot Abramowitz-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: William Storck, PhD, University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center
Mentor: Joshi Alumkal, MD
Project Title: Development of a Rational Co-Targeting Approach to Block Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer Cell Survival
2022 CRIS Cancer Foundation and Clay Hamlin-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Alexander Wurzer, PhD, Technical University of Munich
Mentor: Matthias Eiber, MD
Project Title: Investigating Radiohybrid PSMA-Ligands for Targeted Alpha Therapy, with the Aim to Improve Targeted Alpha Therapy of Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
2022 Silas Chou-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Lanbo Xiao, PhD, University of Michigan
Mentor: Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD
Project Title: Targeting SWI/SNF Chromatin Remodeling Complex to Combat Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer
2022 John Miller-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Young Yoo, PhD, Northwestern University
Mentors: Sarki Abdulkadir, MD, PhD; Navdeep Chandel, PhD
Project Title: Targeting Metabolic Adaptation to Treat TP53-mutated Lethal Prostate Cancer
2022 Dr. Elliot and Nan Abramowitz-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Xiaolin Zhu, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentors: Felix Feng, MD; Rahul Aggarwal, MD; David Quigley, PhD
Project Title: Investigating SSTR1 as a Novel Therapeutic Target for Acquired Resistance to Androgen Receptor Signaling Inhibitors in Advanced Prostate Cancer
2022 William C. & Gina B. Carithers-PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Nicholas Zorko, MD, PhD, University of Minnesota / Masonic Cancer Center
Mentors: Jeffrey Miller, MD; Emmanuel Antonarakis, MD; Martin Felices, PhD
Project Title: Multiplex Engineered CAR iNK Cells Targeting B7-H3 to Treat Metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancers
About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has been responsible for raising close to $1 billion in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 245 leading cancer centers in 28 countries around the world. Since PCF’s inception, and through its efforts, patients around the world are living longer, suffering fewer complications, and enjoying better quality of life. PCF is committed to creating a global public square for prostate cancer, in service to our mission of ending death and suffering from the disease. Learn more at pcf.org.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Staci L. Vernick
Prostate Cancer Foundation
[email protected]
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610-812-6092