PHILADELPHIA (October 26, 2023) — Lucia Borriello, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cancer and Cellular Biology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and a member of the Cancer Signaling and Microenvironment Research Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, has been awarded a $100,000 Mary Kay Ash Foundation Innovative/Translational Cancer Research Grant.
“I feel humbled and honored to have been selected to receive this prestigious award, and I am delighted that my research is aligned with the mission of the Mary Kay Ash Foundation to eliminate breast cancers,” said Borriello. Her research focuses on understanding how the tumor microenvironment, which consists of normal cells in the immediate vicinity of cancer cells, promotes breast tumor dormancy and metastasis.
While more than 44,000 people in the United States die from breast cancer annually, most do not die due to the primary tumor, but because tumor cells spread to other organs such as the lungs where they form metastases. However, in most patients, tumor cells that migrate to the lung do not immediately begin growing, but can remain in a dormant state, sometimes for decades, before being triggered to grow and leading to metastasis.
The Mary Kay Ash Foundation grant will help Borriello explore how immune cells and macrophages promote breast tumor dormancy, with the goal of developing novel therapeutic strategies to eradicate dormant tumor cells and combat mortality from metastasis.
“For more than 25 years, the Mary Kay Ash Foundation has been unwavering in its mission to support cancer researchers who are seeking cures for cancers affecting women and provide life-saving resources to domestic violence shelters across the country,” said Michael Lunceford, President of the Mary Kay Ash Foundation Board of Directors. “These grants are just one of the ways we are continuing our mission to better the lives of women everywhere.”
Borriello was one of 12 cancer researchers to receive grants from the foundation in support of innovative/translational research efforts in cancers primarily affecting women, potentially leading to better detection, prognosis, and treatment options.
Borriello stressed that nothing ever comes from just one principal investigator. “This award reflects a unique and wonderful supportive and collaborative environment at Temple and Fox Chase. Absolutely, this award would not have been possible without the support of colleagues who are experts in the many disciplines needed to perform this complex project,” she said.
Over two decades, the Mary Kay Ash Foundation has awarded more than $92 million to cancer research programs, women’s shelters, and domestic violence service providers, as well as to related causes throughout the United States.