Hundreds of investigators, such as 2008 Young Investigator Award and 2010 Career Development Award recipient Richard Carvajal, MD, have received seed funding from ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation early in their careers—funding that supported their professional growth and helped lay the foundation for their development into today’s oncology leaders. Committed to improving the lives of people with cancer now and in the future, many of these past grantees are now mentoring the next generation of researchers. They are exponentially increasing the impact of the Foundation’s initial investment by imparting their expertise and insight to eager young scientists.
Foundation Lauches Leadership to Legacy Campaign
The number of research proposals the Foundation receives annually far surpasses its funding capacity. In 2010, to provide even more young investigators with the opportunity to pursue their passion, the Foundation launched the Leadership to Legacy™ campaign to raise support for a unique Young Investigator Award (YIA). Designed to extend the impact of the Foundation’s investment, the YIA provides funding for an early-career investigator to conduct an innovative research project under the mentorship of a former Foundation grantee like Dr. Carvajal.
The Leadership to Legacy campaign, supported entirely by ASCO Members and oncology professionals, raised enough funding to support a $50,000 YIA in 2011 and 2012. The 2012 Leadership to Legacy YIA recipient is James Harding, MD, an outstanding researcher at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Harding’s award supports his project, “A Phase 2 Trial of Vorinostat in Patients with Metastatic Uveal Melanoma: Exploring the Molecular Effects and Therapeutic Implications of Histone Deacetylase Inhibition in Uveal Melanomas,” which he will conduct under Dr. Carvajal’s professional guidance and mentorship.
Expanding the Horizon of Cancer Research
Both the YIA and Dr. Carvajal’s mentoring will allow Dr. Harding to gain invaluable clinical research experience and help build the groundwork for his future in oncology. You, too, have the ability to expand the horizon of cancer research and leave your legacy in oncology by supporting the Foundation’s 2012 Leadership to Legacy campaign. Help jump-start the career of a passionate young researcher and make it possible for the Foundation to fund the 2013 Leadership to Legacy YIA. To make a gift, visit www.conquercancerfoundation.org/donate today. Be sure to specify “Leadership to Legacy” in the comments field. ■
© 2012. American Society of Clinical Oncology. All rights reserved
