NEWPORT, RI -- July 30, 2021-- The Hope Funds for Cancer Research, dedicated to advancing innovative research for the most difficult-to-treat cancers, recognized four of its graduating research fellows and two named postdoctoral Fellowships at a dinner on July 24, 2021, at The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI.
Recognized at the event were James Byrne, M.D., Ph.D., of the Koch Center at MIT; Mary Jane Tsang Mui Ching of the Whitehead Institute at MIT; Christopher Pirozzi, Ph.D. of Duke University; and Juan Manuel Schvartman, M.D., Ph.D. of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Named Fellowships announced were the Sakonnett Fellowship to Dr. James Byrne, who is in Robert Langer’s lab at MIT, and the Parks Family Fellowship to Alessandra Dall’Agnese, Ph.D, who is at the Whitehead Institute in Richard Young’s lab.
"The Hope Funds Fellows represent the very best of talented young cancer researchers," said Adrian Hobden, Ph.D., Board of Trustees of the Hope Funds for Cancer Research. "Their work will have a positive impact on our ability to understand and treat the most difficult and deadliest cancers."
In addition to honoring the graduating Fellows, Hope Funds presented the Honorable David Gordon with its Tiedemann Award for Courage.
The dinner was hosted by the Hope Funds for Cancer Research Board of Trustees and Scientific Advisory Council. The dinner was attended by past honorees, current and past postdoctoral fellows and mentors, friends and supporters of Hope Funds. The evening was both relaxed and informative. Fellows and Donors played croquet, discussed science, and honored those making a difference in treating cancer.
To view photos, please visit the blog of photographer Julie Skarratt: Click Here
About the Hope Funds Fellowships
The Hope Funds for Cancer Research supports research for highly innovative projects that challenge the traditional paradigms associated with understanding the causes, mechanisms, progression, disease markers, or risk factors of the most difficult-to-treat cancers. Hope Funds believes it is important to emphasize creative approaches to research and award grants to young scientists based on the following criteria: project innovation and originality; the significance and direct relevance of the research proposal; the project's approach and conceptual framework; the researcher's qualifications and those of his or her mentors; and the quality of the researcher's overall working environment.
About The Robert Tiedemann Award for Courage
Robert Tiedemann was a lifelong sailor with a passion for vintage yachts. He passed away at age 56 in May 2006 following a courageous struggle with pancreatic cancer. During his career, he rescued a substantial number of antique sail and powerboats, including two 12-Metres, Gleam and Northern Light. In 2007, the Trustees of the Hope Funds for Cancer Research named its award for courage in Bob's memory. Recipients of this award are selected based on the courage they have demonstrated as patients, advocates, or physicians battling this daunting disease. Previous recipients of the award are Stephen Tebes, M.D. post humus in 2007; Antonio J. Grillo-Lopez, M.D., John K. Naughton and David Straus, M.D. collectively in 2008; our alumnus Nathan Robison, M.D. in 2010, Gary Jobson in 2011, and Lucylee Chiles, post humus, and Wolfram Goessling, M.D., Ph.D. in 2016.
Hope Funds for Cancer Research
Hope Funds for Cancer Research was formed in 2006 to establish a funding vehicle that would take a rational scientific, medical, and investment approach to making grants for the most innovative and promising research efforts to address the most difficult-to-treat cancers, including pancreatic, lung, liver, sarcomas, esophageal, brain, gastric, renal and ovarian cancers, as well as rare leukemias, lymphomas and MDS. These cancers are insidiously aggressive illnesses that kill most of their victims within months, even with aggressive chemotherapy. The Trustees of the Hope Funds for Cancer Research believe that funding young, innovative researchers will lead to breakthroughs in these areas and increase life expectancy for those with these types of cancers. The Hope Funds for Cancer Research is a 509 (a)(1) charity under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service's code.
For additional information about the organization, please visit www.hope-funds.org or call (401) 847-3286.
Hope Funds for Cancer Research: Advancing innovative research in understudied cancers
Hope Funds for Cancer Research is an independent and unaffiliated non-profit organization
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