Alberto Chiappori, Julien Sage, And E. Alejandro Sweet-Cordero Receive LUNGevity Foundation 2014 Targeted Therapeutics Awards For Lung Cancer Research

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation today announced the 2014 awardees of its Targeted Therapeutics for Translational Lung Cancer Research program. LUNGevity's Targeted Therapeutics program will help people with lung cancer live longer, better lives by supporting the discovery and validation of biomarkers or novel targeted therapies, including immuno-oncology. Each of the three multi-year awards ranges from $100,000 to $200,000 for the first year and is renewable in that amount, based on research progress, for each subsequent year. Targeted therapies focus on getting the right medicine to the right patient at the right time.

2014 Targeted Therapeutics Awards for Translational Research were made to:

• Alberto Chiappori, MD, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, for
  "Antagonism of adenosine A2A receptor to improve lung cancer immunotherapy"
• Julien Sage, PhD, Stanford University, for
  "Activating phagocytosis to inhibit small cell lung carcinoma"
• E. Alejandro Sweet-Cordero, MD, Stanford University, for
  "Protein engineering to target tumor-stroma interactions in non-small cell lung cancer"

"Personalized lung cancer treatments are transforming lung cancer care by taking into account the intricacies of the human body and genome," said Andrea Ferris, President and Chairman of LUNGevity Foundation. "We are confident that the work of our Targeted Therapeutics Program researchers will bring us closer to uncovering the new, innovative personalized treatments that will lead to extended and improved lives for lung cancer patients."

These awards are in addition to the other 2014 translational awards granted through LUNGevity's Career Development and Early Detection programs.

LUNGevity's Scientific Research Program is supported by Genentech and individual donors.

The Foundation works with its Scientific Advisory Board, nineteen prominent scientists and researchers, and additional experts to ensure that grants are awarded to the proposals with the greatest potential for saving lives. Under the guidance of the Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by Dr. Pierre Massion, Professor of Cancer Biology and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, LUNGevity has become the nation's premier private grant-making organization funding research for the early detection and effective treatment of lung cancer.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity Foundation is firmly committed to making an immediate impact on increasing quality of life and survivorship of people with lung cancer by accelerating research into early detection and more effective treatments, as well as by providing community, support, and education for all those affected by the disease.  

Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer.

For more information about the grants or LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.

About Lung Cancer

• 1 in 14 Americans is diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime
• More than 224,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year
• About 60% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers
• Lung cancer kills more people than the next three cancers (colorectal, breast, and pancreatic) combined
• Only 17% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it's caught before it spreads, the chance for 5-year survival improves dramatically

SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation