THE NEUROENDOCRINE Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) has awarded six new research grants, totaling about $1.85 million, to leading academic institutions around the world. The grants fund clinical, translational, and basic research in the United States, Australia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The NETRF grant process is a competitive and structured peer-review process, which starts with an annual global call for letters of intent. All responses are reviewed by NETRF’s Board of Scientific Advisors and external reviewers, with final approval made by the Board of Directors.
2018 Accelerator Grant Award
AN INTEGRATED preclinical and clinical evaluation of DNA-repair mechanisms in determining response to peptide receptor radionuclide therapy as a guide to patient selection and for development of novel combination therapies will be led by Rodney Hicks, MD, of the University of Melbourne, Australia. Over the course of 4 years, Dr. Hicks and colleagues will evaluate the impact of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy on tumor cells’ ability to recognize and repair radiation damage.
2018 Petersen Investigator Grant Award
IN A 2-YEAR Petersen Project study, Roger Schibli, PhD, of the Paul Scherrer Institut, Zurich, Switzerland, will investigate simultaneous auger-electron– and β–particle therapy of metastasized neuroendocrine tumors using 161Tb-DOTATOC.
2018 Pilot Project Grant Awards
JENNIFER CHAN, MD, MPH, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, will investigate biomarkers of response to cabozantinib (Cabometyx) in patients with neuroendocrine tumors. This 1-year pilot project will evaluate cabozantinib and its potential role in treating neuroendocrine tumors.
Exploring the role of epigenetic dysregulation in the progression of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors will be Sita Kugel, PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle. Over the course of 1 year, investigators will study the SIRT6 protein and its role in metastasis in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
Raj Srirajaskanthan, PhD, of Kings College London, United Kingdom, will study the development of ex vivo models of metastatic neuroendocrine tumors utilizing precision cut slice technology.
Charlotte Kuperwasser, PhD, of Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, and colleagues will study the models of neuroendocrine tumors using three-dimensional hydrogels to study the formation and progression of neuroendocrine tumors. ■
