ARLINGTON, Va., September 18, 2024 — The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) today announced the recipients of its 2024 research grants and fellowships, including awards co-sponsored by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the LUNGevity Foundation, the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the RTOG Foundation/NRG Oncology and AstraZeneca. Through these strategic partnerships, these awards recognize and support the outstanding efforts of early career researchers in the fields of radiation oncology and medical physics.
“ASTRO is dedicated to fostering the growth and development of the next generation of researchers in radiation oncology,” said Jeff Michalski, MD, MBA, FASTRO, Chair of the ASTRO Board of Directors. “These grants reflect a $1.5 million investment in the innovative ideas and the career development of these outstanding scientists who are dedicated to advancing cancer research and treatment.”
Information on ASTRO’s current research funding opportunities is available on our website. This year’s awardees include:
ASTRO-ACS Clinician Scientist Development Grant
In partnership with the American Cancer Society
- Kelli Brianna Pointer, MD, PhD, Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic; Project: Targeting cholinergic signaling to overcome radiation resistance in gliomas
ASTRO-LUNGevity Residents/Fellows in Radiation Oncology Seed Grant
In partnership with the LUNGevity Foundation
- Nicholas Eustace, MD, PhD, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center; Project: Unraveling the effects of Pl3K signaling activation and hypoxia on radiation and chemoradiation resistance of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung
- Wilson Mai, MD, PhD, Stanford Medicine; Project: Exploiting dependencies created by KEAP1/NFE2L2 mutations in NSCLC to overcome radiation resistance
ASTRO-MRA Young Investigator Award
In partnership with the Melanoma Research Alliance
- Lisa Sudmeier, MD, PhD, Emory University; Project: Harnessing the tumor immune microenvironment of brain metastases
ASTRO-AAPM Physics Residents/Postdoctoral Fellows Seed Grant
In partnership with the American Association of Physicists in Medicine
- David Adam, PhD, Johns Hopkins University; Project: Development of small-scale computational model and pre-clinical validation of patient-specific salivary gland toxicity predictions for beta emitting-radiopharmaceuticals
- Nolan Esplen, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Project: Improving the therapeutic index through the combination of FLASH and spatially fractioned radiation therapies
ASTRO Residents/Fellows in Radiation Oncology Seed Grant
- Nipun Verma, MD, PhD, Yale University School of Medicine; Project: The role of actin capping proteins in homology directed DNA repair and therapeutic response to radiation and immunotherapy
- Mark Chen, MD, PhD, Duke University School of Medicine; Project: Regulation of oncogenesis and tumor response to radiation therapy by phase separation
ASTRO-RTOG NRG Oncology Fellowship in Health Equity
In partnership with the RTOG Foundation and NRG Oncology
- Onyinye D. Balogun, MD, Weill Cornell Medical Center
ASTRO-AstraZeneca Radiation Oncology Research Training Fellowships
In partnership with AstraZeneca
- Bin Gui, MD, Northwell Health
ABOUT ASTRO
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. Radiation therapy contributes to 40% of global cancer cures, and more than a million Americans receive radiation treatments for cancer each year. For information on radiation therapy, visit RTAnswers.org. To learn more about ASTRO, visit our website and media center and follow us on social media.
