Two HMS scientists were among 14 early career researchers named Damon Runyon Fellows by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. The four-year fellowship encourages promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($260,000 total) to investigate cancer causes, mechanisms, therapies, and prevention.
The November 2022 Damon Runyon Fellows from HMS are:
Archana Krishnamoorthy, HMS research fellow in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, with her sponsors David Pellman, the HMS Margaret M. Dyson Professor of Pediatric Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Johannes Walter, professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology. Krishnamoorthy is studying the fundamental question of how cell division shapes the cancer genome. Understanding the mechanisms of cancer genome complexity will help identify better diagnostics and treatments for cancers linked with high levels of genome alterations.
James Osei-Owusu, research fellow in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, with his sponsor Andrew Kruse, professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology. Osei-Owusu is researching RXFP1 molecular signaling and how it can be inhibited for cancer treatment. RFXP1, the relaxin-2 receptor, plays a key role in reproductive and cardiovascular physiology by increasing blood flow and facilitating childbirth. Osei-Owusu hopes to identify candidate therapeutic agents and aid the design of drugs for reproductive cancer treatment.
Two current Damon Runyon Fellows from HMS were also recognized with the Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists. This award recognizes Damon Runyon Fellows whom the Foundation considers most likely to make paradigm-shifting breakthroughs that transform the way cancer is prevented, diagnosed, and treated. The award comes with an additional $100,000 in funding.
The Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award recipients from HMS are:
Erin Duffy Lacy, research fellow in the Department of Neurobiology, who is investigating how neuronal activity can regulate gene expression through a potentially novel mechanism in the developing brain, called RNA turnover. There is evidence that neuronal activity may contribute to pediatric malignant glioma brain tumors.
Esteban Orellana Vinueza, HMS research fellow in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Boston Children’s Hospital, who is investigating whether changes that modify the shape, stability, and function of transfer RNAs (tRNAs) play a role in the development of cancer.
Four Harvard Medical School researchers have been elected by their peers as 2022 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for their contributions to medical sciences.
They are among the more than 500 scientists, engineers, and innovators around the world and across scientific disciplines who are being recognized for their scientific and socially notable achievements during the past year.
“AAAS is proud to elevate these standout individuals and recognize the many ways in which they’ve advanced scientific excellence, tackled complex societal challenges, and pushed boundaries that will reap benefits for years to come,” said Sudip Parikh, chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals.
The 2022 AAAS fellows from HMS are:
Stephen Buratowski, HMS professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, for his research into the mechanisms of eukaryotic gene expression.
Mark Feinberg, HMS associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, for his explorations of the role of noncoding RNAs as new mediators and therapeutic targets in disease progression.
William Carlezon, HMS professor of psychiatry at McLean Hospital, for translational neuroscientific advances in the understanding of stress-related illnesses and autism, for introducing in vivo viral gene transduction to collaborative neuroscience research, and for editorial leadership in his field.
Timothy Padera, HMS associate professor of radiation oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, for contributions to intravital lymphatic system imaging, uncovering mechanisms of lymphatic dysfunction in disease states, and discovering mechanisms of cancer progression and immune suppression.
The new Fellows will be celebrated in Washington, D.C., in summer 2023. They will also be featured in the AAAS News and Notes section of Science in February 2023.
Two HMS researchers have received awards from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB). RPB is a nonprofit organization supporting eye research directed at the prevention, treatment, or eradication of all diseases that damage and destroy sight. RPB awarded more than $400 million in their most recent round of funding to support scientists across the country who are asking important questions to save sight.
Mengyu Wang, HMS assistant professor of ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, received the Research to Prevent Blindness International Research Collaborators Award. The award will provide funding to Wang and his collaborator, Franziska Rauscher at Leipzig University in Germany, to use retinal anatomical features to improve the circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) norms with linear regression and deep learning models using a dataset with healthy subjects.
Thomas Dohlman, assistant professor of ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, has been awarded the Research to Prevent Blindness 2022 Career Development Award. This award will provide $300,000 of support over four years for Dohlman’s research to define the underlying mechanisms driving the increased rate of corneal transplant failure seen in children, and to identify therapeutic strategies for improving transplant outcomes in this population.
