January 23, 2019 –
The WMIS is proud to announce WMIS President-Elect Dr. Julie L. Sutcliffe, PhD, University of California Davis, and her team were chosen as one of seven teams of cancer researchers to each receive a $1 million grant on behalf of the The Pancreatic Cancer Collective, the strategic partnership of the Lustgarten Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C).
This is the first-round of funds awarded in the initiative, “New Therapies Challenge” to fund teams of researchers giving them the ability to explore new pancreatic cancer treatments and bring them into the clinic. Dr. Sutcliffe and her team will receive up to $1 million in initial funding, and should they be chosen to advance to the next round, they will receive up to $4 million for clinical studies in the second round.
Dr. Sutcliffe’s work, titled Molecularly Targeted Radionuclide Therapy via the Integrin AlphaVBeta6, has been built on 15 years of research in her lab and includes co-leader, Dr. Richard L. Bold, MD, a surgical oncologist at University of California Davis. During the first round of this initiative, their team will work to develop a peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) to attack a protein called integrin αvβ6 that is significantly upregulated in pancreatic cancer. Dr. Sutcliffe and her team will present their results in late 2019 to determine if they will advance to the second round of funding.
“Ideally, I would like to see us enrolling patients in early 2020 – beginning in 2020, I would like to see the first patient treated,” said Dr. Sutcliffe. “I believe if we work together with other leading clinicians and scientists around the country and beyond, we can make the difference so desperately needed.”
The grants were announced by the American Association for Cancer Research, the scientific partner of SU2C and world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer.
Congratulations, Dr. Sutcliffe, from the entire WMIS Community!
ABOUT THE PANCREATIC CANCER COLLECTIVE
The Pancreatic Cancer Collective is an initiative of the Lustgarten Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer to improve pancreatic cancer patient outcomes. Together, these leading cancer research organizations will attract new collaborators; improve diagnosis of pancreatic cancer using big data; find new treatments for pancreatic cancer; and support the next generation of pancreatic cancer investigators. Engaging thought leaders, researchers, institutions, and companies, the Collective will innovate and accelerate research on the edge of science. For more information, visit www.PancreaticCancerCollective.org
ABOUT THE LUSTGARTEN FOUNDATION
The Lustgarten Foundation is America’s largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research. Based in Woodbury, N.Y., the Foundation supports research to find a cure for pancreatic cancer, facilitates dialogue within the medical and scientific community, and educates the public about the disease through awareness campaigns and fundraising events. Since its inception, the Lustgarten Foundation has directed $165 million to research and assembled the best scientific minds with the hope that one day, a cure can be found. Thanks to separate funding to support administrative expenses, 100% of your donation goes directly to pancreatic cancer research. For more information, visit www.Lustgarten.org.