Patrick Forde, Christine Lovly, And John Poirier Receive LUNGevity Foundation 2014 Career Development Awards For Lung Cancer Research

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation today announced the recipients of its 2014 Career Development Awards for Translational Research. The Foundation's goal for the Career Development awards is to support the nation's future research leaders who keep the lung cancer field vibrant with new ideas. Each of these highly competitive three-year awards is for $100,000 per year and renewable in the second and third years based on career and research progress. The 2014 Awardees will join the 2012 and 2013 cohorts of winners as ex-officio members of LUNGevity's world-class Scientific Advisory Board for the terms of their awards.

2014 Career Development Awards for Translational Research were made to:

• Patrick Forde, MD (MB, BCh), Johns Hopkins University, for
  "Neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 antibody, Nivolumab, in resectable nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC)"           
• Christine Lovly, MD, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, for
  "Dissecting the role of negative feedback inhibition in ALK+ lung cancer"
• John Poirier, PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, for
  "Molecular mechanisms of acquired drug resistance in small cell lung cancer"

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

"Given the federal cutbacks in cancer research spending, LUNGevity's support of young scientists is critical to ensuring that the lung cancer field continues to attract outstanding researchers committed to making lung cancer a survivable and beatable disease," said Andrea Ferris, President and Chairman of LUNGevity Foundation. "We are proud to advance the work of our three 2014 Career Development awardees as well as of our 2013 and 2012 Career Development awardees, whose research is already showing great promise."

The LUNGevity Scientific Research Program is supported by Genentech and individual donors. Dr. John Poirier's research award is co-funded by the American Lung Association.

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