The V Foundation for Cancer Research Awards 2009 V Scholars
Seventeen Scientists were awarded the $200,000 Two-Year Grants

The V Foundation for Cancer Research, one of the nation’s leading cancer research fundraising organizations, announced today that they have awarded the 2009 V Scholar grants to elite researchers across the United States. The V Scholars are the cornerstone of The V Foundation’s grant program, funding young investigators as they initiate their research.  The contribution of funding to these research initiatives continuously brings science steps closer to finding a cure for cancer.

Each V Scholar is selected through a competitive process by The V Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board.  The V Scholar grants are designed to identify, retain and further the careers of young investigators.   This unique funding process provides the essential funds to the facility, earmarked for the individual doctor, allowing the V Scholar to decide how best to use these funds in his or her research project.

“The V Scholars have been chosen from the best and brightest young investigators nominated by more than 50 cancer centers nationwide,” said Robert C. Bast, Jr., M.D., Vice President for Translational Research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board. “Every year we have to choose from better and better candidates.”

Seventeen scientists from ten different states were awarded the $200,000, two-year grants. This year, the 2009 Martin D. Abeloff Scholar Award, which is given to the highest rated V Scholar, was awarded to Dr. Rajat Rohatgi, of the Stanford Cancer Center in Stanford, CA.
“It is an honor to work with such distinguished and gifted professionals,” said Nick Valvano, CEO of The V Foundation for Cancer Research.  “This is an extraordinary group who will have a major impact on cancer research.”

To learn more about The V Foundation and to find out how you can get involved, call 1-800-4JimmyV or log onto www.jimmyv.org.

About The V Foundation for Cancer Research
The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, The Foundation has raised more than $90 million to fund cancer research grants nationwide. It awards 100 percent of all direct cash donations and net proceeds of events directly to cancer research and related programs. The Foundation, which has received seven consecutive top 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator, awards grants through a competitive awards process strictly supervised by a Scientific Advisory Board. For more information on The V Foundation or to make a donation, please visit www.jimmyv.org.

A complete list of the 2008 V Foundation grant recipients follows.

2009

Martin D. Abeloff , M.D. V Scholar Award*

Rajat Rohatgi, M.D., Ph.D.
Stanford Cancer Center
Stanford, CA
Dissecting the role of the tumor suppressor Sufu in Hedgehog-driven cancers

V Foundation V Scholars
Mohammad Azam, Ph.D.
Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
Molecular and therapeutic analysis of myeloid leukemia using human induced-pluripotent stem cells


Rmaeen Beroukhim, M.D., Ph.D.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA
Developing a robust method for genotyping copy-number alterations in clinical samples of low tumor purity


Fernando D. Camargo, Ph.D.
Children’s Hospital Boston
Boston, MA
An Emerging Tumor Suppressor Pathway in Human Cancer


Iona Cheng, Ph.D., MPH
University of Hawaii
Cancer Research Center of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Identifying IFF1 Genetic Susceptibility Variants for Prostate Cancer in African Americans


Andrei Goga, M.D., Ph.D.
University of San Francisco
Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
San Francisco, CA
Synthetic-Lethal Strategies to Target Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs) and Tumor Stem Cells (TSCs)


Ya-Huei Kuo, Ph.D.
City of Hope National Medical Center & Beckman Research Institute
Duarte, CA
Mechanism of inv(16)-induced acute myeloid leukemia stem cell generation and maintenance:  implications for targeted therapy


Roger Lo, M.D., Ph.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
Los Angeles, CA
Genomic Determinants of Melanoma Sensitivity to V600EB-Raf Targeting


Minkui Luo, Ph.D.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY
Protein Arginine Methylation Profiling in Cancer


Leta K. Nutt, Ph.D.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Memphis, TN
Metabolic regulation of caspase-2 activation


Tobias Peikert, M.D.
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN
Measles Virus Mediated Immune Modulation and Anti-tumor Immunity within the Tumor
Microenvironment in Patients with Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer


Sandro Santagata, M.D., Ph.D.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA
Heat Shock Guided Drug Discovery – Identifying Novel Targets for the Treatment of Cancer


Emmanuel Skordalakes, Ph.D.
The Wistar Institute
Philadelphia, PA
Molecular Basis for Telomerase Replication


Shobha Vasudevan, Ph.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Boston, MA
MicroRNP Regulation of VEGF in Breast Cancer


Thomas Westbrook, Ph.D.
Baylor College of Medicine
Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center
Houston, TX
A New Approach to Therapeutic Discovery in Breast Cancer


Catherine Yan, Ph.D.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA
Identification of genetic and epigenomic regulators of malignant transformation in human disease


Qin Yan, Ph.D.
Yale Cancer Center
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Roles of Histone Demethylase Retinoblastoma Binding Protein 2 in Cancer

*The research project that receives the highest rating by the Scientific Advisory Board will annually be designated as the Martin D. Abeloff, M.D. V Scholar Award.