TBBCF awards 4 new research grants
By KATHEEN EDGECOMB
The Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation has awarded $400,000 in grants to four researchers who are looking for a cure for breast cancer and better ways to treat the disease in those already diagnosed.
The foundation’s scientific advisory board chaired by founding member Nicholas Saccomano, PhD, reviewed more than 20 applications and conducted telephone interviews with the top six. The 2020 grant recipients are:
Jennifer L. Guerriero, PhD — Dana-Farber Cancer Institute – Harvard Medical School
Sheheryar K. Kabraji, BM BCh –Dana-Farber Cancer Institute – Harvard Medical School
Naiara Perurena, PhD, PharmD –Brigham and Women’s Hospital – Harvard Medical School
Jan Remsik, PhD, PharmD — Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
“This was just a great group,” said foundation president, John LaMattina, PhD, who is also co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board. “We could have given out a dozen grants.”
The grant recipients are working on state-of-the-art research, from studying how cancer spreads into the cerebrospinal fluid and to the brain, to working with mouse models to find ways to kill so-called silent cancer cells that can reappear after treatment.
Go to 2020 Grant Recipients to read about their research.
In addition to Saccomano, who is chief scientific officer and senior vice president at Pfizer Bounder Research and Development, and LaMattina, the former president of Pfizer Global Research and Development, the advisory board includes Michael Garabedian, PhD, professor and course director at New York University Medical Center; Susan Logan, PhD, associate professor at New York University Medical Center; and Michael Morin, PhD, chief executive officer of Immunome Inc. All are founding members of TBBCF.
The foundation raises money for the grants with it’s annual Walk Across Southeastern Connecticut marathon and with donations from cancer survivors, community members and businesses who support the TBBCF mission of giving 100 percent of its fundraising dollars to breast cancer research. Since its founding in 2006, the New London-based foundation has raised nearly $5 million and awarded grants to mostly young researchers just starting out in their careers.
The 2020 research fellows, who will each receive $100,000 grants, will spend the next two years working on their projects.