February 11, 2004
DFCI grant program aims to accelerate research for treatment of solid tumors, including lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers
William Hahn, MD, PhD, (left) confers with Philip Kantoff, MD.
Philip Kantoff, MD, chief of Dana-Farber's Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, is building a new Institutewide grant program aimed at accelerating development of treatments for solid tumors such as lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers.
Among other things, the new fund will provide merit-based awards for DFCI physician-scientists to support high-quality research that could significantly affect the way adult solid tumors are treated. Kantoff and Myles Brown, MD, chief of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, have led a selection committee for choosing the award recipients. Grants are given for one year, and a variable number of awards will be bestowed annually, depending upon merit.
"This program is targeted at enriching the current research in the area of solid tumors," explains Kantoff. "However, we are not just accepting proposals from the Department of Medical Oncology. All interested parties are encouraged to submit their best proposals on adult solid tumors — those that are most likely to translate into clinical advances."
Funding for the program comes from a five-year, $3 million gift from the Tisch family of New York. Thomas Tisch was a Brown University classmate of his longtime friend, Kantoff. They have now joined together to find new cancer therapies for solid tumors.
M. Brown, MD
"For investigators early in their careers and not yet operating their own laboratories, these awards represent a tremendous opportunity," Brown attests. "The grants will help them grow as independent researchers, allowing them to generate the preliminary findings needed to gain large-scale funding. Thus, the gift will have an added benefit: increasing the ranks of physician-scientists with the knowledge and expertise to closely study solid tumor biology and treatment."
Adds Kantoff, "The next few years are critical for understanding and treating solid tumors. This is the time for genetic discovery to drive the next generation of major clinical advances. We want to see several more Gleevec ™ stories take place as a result of work at Dana-Farber. [Gleevec is a highly successful targeted therapy for certain leukemias and sarcomas.] The Tisch family shares in this goal, which is why they have been so generous."
Overall, the grant program is structured to encourage recipients to think creatively and work collaboratively in their solid tumor investigations. Awards for 2003 were given to the following researchers and projects:
Principal Investigators (PIs): Matthew Meyerson, MD, PhD and William Sellers, MD
The analysis of lung and prostate adenocarcinoma genomes using high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays
P.I.: William Hahn, MD, PhD
Systematic application of interfering RNA and chemical biology in human epithelial cells for drug discovery
P.I.: Pamela Silver, PhD
Chemical genetics of tumor cell growth
P.I.s: Massimo Loda, MD, and Geoffrey Shapiro, MD
Therapeutic potential of Cdk inhibitors in Barrett's-associated adenocarcinoma
P.I.: David Frank, MD, PhD
The development of STAT3 inhibitors for the treatment of breast cancer and prostate cancer
"We had a number of truly outstanding proposals," says Brown. "Those grants we funded all employ novel approaches to directly address the problem of sold tumors. Funding from the Tisch family will give these very creative investigators the opportunity to jump-start their research without the usual yearlong delays typical of most funding sources."
