The Prostate Cancer Foundation And Cancer Research Innovation In Science Announce 2020 Young Investigator Award Winners

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Dec 16, 2020, 09:55 ET

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and Cancer Research Innovation in Science (CRIS) today announced two new CRIS Cancer Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Awards. The awards, each in the amount of $250,000, are granted to future research leaders at two of the United Kingdom's leading cancer research institutions who will keep the field of prostate cancer research vibrant with new ideas.

Established by the PCF in 2008, the Young Investigator Awards offer career and project support for young (generally 35 and younger), proven investigators in postdoctoral fellowships or who have recently achieved junior faculty positions and are committing their lives to the field of prostate cancer. Each proposal submitted to the PCF undergoes a rigorous peer-review process that assesses the scientific merit of the project, as well as its potential impact on patients.

"It is a great honor and pride for CRIS to establish this alliance with the PCF and develop grants that will allow promising researchers to continue their careers in Europe," said Diego Megia, president and founder of CRIS. "Our common goal is to beat cancer and for this to happen we have to establish synergy with the best organizations and researchers. It's critical that researchers around the world share their knowledge in order to make giant steps toward our goal."

The two awards are:

2020 CRIS Cancer Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Award

Principal Investigator: Francesco Giganti, MD. University College London
Mentors: Caroline Moore, MD; Monique Roobol-Bouts, PhD
Project Title: A Multi-Center Study to Assess the Impact of MRI for Detection of Aggressive Prostate Cancer In Men on Active Surveillance

Dr. Giganti is developing a new standardized multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) method ("PRECISE score") for more accurate risk assessment and monitoring of disease progression in prostate cancer patients undergoing active surveillance. This will lead to reduced global incidence of advanced and potentially lethal prostate cancer.

Read the full project description at https://pcf.org/YI2020.

2020 CRIS Cancer Foundation-PCF Young Investigator Award

Principal Investigator: Anastasia Hepburn, PhD. Newcastle University
Mentors: Rakesh Heer, PhD; Robert Bristow, MD, PhD
Project Title: Improving Outcomes for PARP Inhibition Treatment in Men with Lethal BRCA2 Mutant Prostate Cancer by Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment

PARP-inhibitors are new precision medicines that have recently received FDA-approval for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer with certain DNA damage repair (DDR) gene alterations.

Dr. Hepburn is studying mechanisms of PARP inhibitor resistance in BRCA2-mutated prostate cancer and identifying new combination treatment strategies that will lead to improved outcomes for these patients.

Read the full project description at https://pcf.org/YI2020.

"The PCF Young Investigator Award is intended to support talented, young investigators who energize the field with novel approaches," said Howard R. Soule, PhD, PCF executive vice president and chief science officer. "We congratulate Drs. Giganti and Hepburn on their research which we believe will lead to better therapies that can potentially end death and suffering from prostate cancer."

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world's leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised more than $830 million in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 220 leading cancer centers in 22 countries around the world. Thanks in part to PCF's commitment to ending death and suffering from prostate cancer, the death rate is down by 52% and countless more men are alive today as a result. The Prostate Cancer Foundation research now impacts more than 70 forms of human cancer by focusing on immunotherapy, the microbiome, and food as medicine. Learn more at www.pcf.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Staci L. Vernick
Prostate Cancer Foundation
[email protected]
[email protected]
610-812-6092

SOURCE Prostate Cancer Foundation