Supporting the Next Generation of Cancer Researchers

Three HMS researchers received Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Awards. The Innovation Award recognizes early-career researchers pursuing “high-risk, high-reward” ideas with the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of cancer.

Innovation Award winners receive initial grants of $400,000 over two years, with the opportunity to receive an additional two years of funding.

November 2022 Damon Runyon Fellows from HMS

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 of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS. Krishnamoorthy is studying the fundamental question of how cell division shapes the cancer genome. Understanding the mechanisms of cancer genome complexity may help identify better diagnostics and treatments for cancers linked with high levels of genome alterations.

James Osei-Owusu, research fellow in the HMS Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, with his sponsor, Andrew Kruse, HMS professor 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.

2023 Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award recipients from HMS

Erin Duffy Lacy, research fellow in the HMS Department of Neurobiology, who is investigating how neuronal activity can regulate gene expression through RNA turnover, a potentially novel mechanism in the developing brain. 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.

Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award recipients from HMS

Lucas Farnung, HMS assistant professor of cell biology, who will research the precise molecular mechanisms that drive acute leukemias, specifically the genetic disruption of the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) 1 gene, which causes about 70 percent of pediatric leukemias and 10 percent of adult leukemias. Farnung hopes his research will provide a platform for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for leukemias.

Ryan Flynn, HMS assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s, who will research the molecules found on the surface of cancer cells, focusing on acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Specifically, he aims to define RNA as a new cell surface molecule that could have unique structures on AML cells. With this knowledge he hopes to develop antibodies to selectively detect cancer cells and enable tumor killing.

Max Jan, HMS assistant professor of pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, who seeks to develop synthetic biology tools to engineer immune cells to recognize tumor proteins present on many advanced cancers and then activate the body’s tumor clearance mechanisms. His goal is to develop cell therapy candidates for direct translation to the care of people with advanced prostate cancer.

Adapted from Damon Runyon Foundation press materials.