Damon Runyon renews its $2.25 million investment to support young clinical cancer inv...( New York NY -- The Damon Runyon Cance...),Health

New York, NY -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named 5 new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators at its May 2007 Clinical Investigator Award Committee review. The recipients of this prestigious, three-year award are outstanding early career physician-scientists conducting patient-oriented cancer research at major research centers under the mentorship of the nations leading scientists and clinicians. Each will receive $450,000 to support the development of his or her cancer research program. The Clinical Investigator Award program is specifically intended to help address the worrisome shortage of physicians capable of translating scientific discovery into new breakthroughs for cancer patients. In partnerships with founding sponsor Eli Lilly and Company, and with Siemens Medical Solutions, Novartis and Genentech, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has committed more than $30 million to support the careers of 39 physician-scientists across the United States since 2000.

The 2007 awardees are Colleen Delaney, MD, from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington; Douglas K. Graham, MD, PhD, from the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center; Juan Carlos Ramos, MD, from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Sylvester Cancer Center; Joel H. Rubenstein, MD, from the University of Michigan; and Catherine J. Wu, MD, from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Dr. Colleen Delaney and mentors Dr. Irwin Berstein and Dr. Fred Appelbaum focus on improving on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The use of umbilical cord blood for transplantation is an attractive alternative for cancer patients who cannot identify a suitable adult donor such as minority patients or patients of mixed ethnicity. However, umbilical cord blood has fewer stem cells, decreasing the likelihood of a successful transplant. Dr. Delaney has developed novel methods for increasing the concentration
'"/>

Contact: Jennifer McCafferty-Cepero
jennifer.mccafferty@drcrf.org
212-455-0520
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
15-Jun-2007