Drs. Campbell, Hariri, and Lehman Receive 2016 LUNGevity Career Development Awards

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation today announced the recipients of its 2016 Career Development Awards for lung cancer research. These awards recognize outstanding scientists early in their careers, encouraging their continued development toward leadership in the field by supporting their innovative research projects and providing professional opportunities such as science communications training. Each of these prestigious three-year awards is for $100,000 per year, renewable in the second and third years based on research progress. Awardees serve as non-voting members of LUNGevity's distinguished Scientific Advisory Board for the terms of their awards.

LUNGevity is the only lung cancer organization with a programmatic focus on early detection and a robust Career Development Award Program. The Foundation's award recipients are working on finding a better way to detect lung cancer, and to better diagnose, treat, and prevent its recurrence. The research program, including CDA awards, is a crucial factor in moving the science forward to improve outcomes for people living with lung cancer.

LUNGevity is pleased to award the following researchers with its 2016 Career Development Awards:

Joshua Campbell, PhD, Boston University, who will study how normal lung cells acquire changes in their DNA to form pre-malignant lesions and develop a biomarker signature to predict development of squamous cell lung cancer

Lida Hariri, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, who will use a novel high-resolution imaging technique called Optical Coherence Tomography to perform virtual optical biopsies to determine its value in complementing tissue biopsies in the determination of early-stage lung cancer

Jonathan Lehman, MD, PhD, Vanderbilt University, who will investigate how small cell lung cancer becomes resistant to chemotherapy and identify novel targets for treatment

"We are proud to fund Dr. Campbell, Dr. Hariri, and Dr. Lehman," said Andrea Ferris, President and Chairman of LUNGevity Foundation. "We believe that with these research projects and beyond they will contribute significantly to better outcomes for those with lung cancer, and it is a privilege to provide the support that can help make that happen."

Under the guidance of LUNGevity's Scientific Advisory Board, a group of 16 prominent scientists and researchers, LUNGevity ensures that grants are awarded to the researchers whose proposals demonstrate the greatest potential for finding lung cancer at its earliest, most treatable phase, as well as extending and improving lives for lung cancer survivors. 

LUNGevity's Scientific Research Program is supported by the American Lung Association, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, a Janssen Research & Development Program Award, Pfizer, Upstage Lung Cancer, and individual donors.

For more information on LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org. 

About Lung Cancer

• 1 in 15 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%-65% 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 leading cancers (colorectal, breast, and prostate) combined
• Only 18% 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

Related Links

http://www.lungevity.org