Junior Investigators Win Awards for Pilot Projects

PHILADELPHIA (January 22, 2016) – 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 CCSG 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 (HPV) 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 one 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.

Fox Chase Cancer Center (Fox Chase), which includes the Institute for Cancer Research and the American Oncologic Hospital and is a part of Temple Health, is one of the leading comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase is also one of just 10 members of the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center’s nursing program has received the Magnet recognition for excellence six consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. It is the policy of Fox Chase Cancer Center that there shall be no exclusion from, or participation in, and no one denied the benefits of, the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment.

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