The results of the Fox Chase Cancer Center’s American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (IRG) Pilot Project Competition for Junior Investigators that was held in December 2015 have been announced. The competition was open to eligible junior faculty at Fox Chase Cancer Center or Temple University. Applicants from Temple University must have a formal appointment to one of Fox Chase’s Cancer Center Support Grant Research Programs.
The awardees are:
James Duncan, PhD, Fox Chase Cancer Center, for his proposal “Targeting the BET Bromodomain Protein BRD4 in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma”
Italo Tempera, PhD, Temple University, for his proposal “PARP1 as a Novel Regulator of EZH2 Activity”
Kevin Henry, PhD, Temple University Health System, received a Special Interest Award for his proposal “Individual and Geographic Predictors of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Uptake Among Adolescents in the United States (2009–2014)”
Shannon Lynch, PhD, MPH, Fox Chase Cancer Center, received a Special Interest Award for her proposal “Neighborhood Circumstances and Risk Prediction Among High-Risk Men Enrolled in an Early Detection Program”
The purpose of the IRG is to provide “seed” money for the initiation of promising new projects by these investigators so they can obtain preliminary results that will enable them to compete successfully for national research grants. The Special Interest Award provides support for psychosocial and behavioral research; health policy or health services research; cancer in the poor and medically underserved; and childhood cancer. Each award provides funding of $30,000 for 1 year.
Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, is Principal Investigator of the American Cancer Society grant and chair of the review committee for the competition, which received 12 applications. ■
