NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The National Cancer Center is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2022-23 research grant awards, which support research fellows pursuing promising and innovative cancer research.

This year’s class includes a total of 15 recipients—nine first-time awards and six renewals—from a broad universe of premier cancer research institutions. The four women and 11 men come from China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Belgium, Spain and the U.S., forming a truly global constellation of best-in-class research.

National Cancer Center’s total funding for the 2022-23 year increased by 6.7% to an annual record of $702,000. This growing public support also enabled National Cancer Center to increase the size of its awards by a significant margin. This year, first-time recipients will receive $50,000, up from $40,000 the prior year. Each recipient is eligible to receive a renewal grant of $52,000 (up from $42,000 the prior year) if he or she has demonstrated significant progress at the conclusion of the first year.

“National Cancer Center’s mission is to fill an often-overlooked role in the quest to cure cancer by identifying and funding promising projects by the best up-and-coming research fellows,” said Regina English, Executive Director of the National Cancer Center. “We are excited by the high quality and promise of this year’s winning research projects. And we are grateful for the generosity of our supporters, who have allowed us to meaningfully increase the size of this year’s awards, and for the members of our Scientific Advisory Board, who graciously commit their time and expertise to select the award winners.”

Recipients of the new postdoc fellowship awards, of $50,000 each, are: He Eric Zhu, Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Pietro Berico, Ph.D., New York University Medical School; Audifas Salvador Matus Meza, Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical Center; Yongji Zeng, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine; Gaurav Chauhan, Ph.D., Cleveland Clinic; Youngbin Cho, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh; Ines Godet, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Jungmin Lee, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco; and Lizhong Ding, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles.

In addition, the NCC renewed grants, in the amount of $42,000 each, to Murilo Ramos Rocha, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Chiwei Xu, Ph.D., The Rockefeller University; Elena Grossi, Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine; Carmen Adriaens, Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital; Narek Darabedian, Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; and Varadha B. Venkadakrishnan, Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Further details of these projects can be found on the NCC grants page here.

All award decisions are made by the NCC’s Scientific Advisory Board, which is chaired by Darell D. Bigner, M.D., Ph.D., Duke University Medical Center. In addition to Dr. Bigner, the Scientific Advisory Board includes Jerome Ritz, M.D., Harvard Medical School; John M. Kirkwood, M.D., University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute; Janet M.D. Plate, Ph.D.; Victoria L. Seewaldt, M.D., City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center (Duarte, California); and David Knorr, M.D., Ph.D., Rockefeller University Hospital.

For nearly 70 years, the NCC has been dedicated to providing financial support to research with the promise of conquering cancer. The NCC runs six cancer research programs: Aggressive Cancer Project; Fighting Childhood Leukemia; The Breast Cancer Project; Children’s Cancer Project; Prostate Cancer Project and the NCC Project, which funds research showing particular promise in the following areas: brain tumors, melanoma, DNA repair, anti-cancer therapies, gene mutations and targeted therapeutics.

The organization also provides education on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

About National Cancer Center
National Cancer Center was founded by Dr. J. Ernest Ayre in 1953 as a non-profit organization committed to research and education about cancer. Dr. Ayre was a pioneer in refining and promoting the Pap test for women, a major factor in reducing deaths from cervical cancer. He was also one of the first researchers to recognize the enormous potential of Interferon for cancer treatment.

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