Drs. Kellie Smith, Jeffrey Thompson, and Edwin Yau receive prestigious LUNGevity 2018 Career Development Awards

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation, the nation’s leading lung cancer-focused nonprofit organization, announced today the recipients of its 2018 Career Development Awards (CDA) for lung cancer research. These coveted awards fund critical lung cancer research projects and offer the recipients world-class mentorship by LUNGevity’s prestigious Scientific Advisory Board.

“We are excited to support these exceptionally talented new investigators. Interestingly, all three of these projects involve liquid biopsy-based approaches to detecting and optimizing treatment of lung cancer. These new projects may define new avenues for applying liquid biopsies in the clinical setting,” notes Charles Rudin, MD, PhD, Professor and Chief, Thoracic Oncology Service, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and chair of LUNGevity’s Scientific Advisory Board. “We believe that this outstanding group of awardees will help make progress in improving outcomes for lung cancer patients.”

LUNGevity is proud to support the following 2018 Career Development Award researchers:

Kellie Smith, PhD, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Immunometabolic T cell profiling as a prognostic liquid biopsy in non-small cell lung cancer. Dr. Smith’s research group will work to develop a liquid biopsy that predicts advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer patient responses to combination immunotherapy regimens.

Jeffrey Thompson, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Development of markers to predict response to immunotherapy in NSCLC. Dr. Thompson’s laboratory is working to develop blood-based tests to identify individuals most likely to respond to immunotherapy with minimum side effects, helping to ensure customized immunotherapies for advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Edwin Yau, MD, PhD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Lung cancer detection by CRISPR-based detection of circulating tumor DNA. Dr. Yau’s team is developing a quick and cost-effective blood test for early detection of lung cancer that will complement CT screening.

“By funding young investigators, LUNGevity keeps outstanding scientists, still early in their careers, in the lung cancer space. We work closely with these researchers with the hope of seeing them become the next generation of scientific superstars,” says Andrea Ferris, President and CEO of LUNGevity. “The CDA program encourages their continued development in the field of lung cancer research to grow a strong pipeline of dedicated lung cancer researchers.”

Under the stewardship of LUNGevity’s Scientific Advisory Board, a group of 21 prominent scientists and researchers, LUNGevity ensures that grants are awarded to those researchers whose proposals demonstrate the greatest potential for finding lung cancer at its earliest, most treatable phase, as well as for extending and improving lives of lung cancer survivors.

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

LUNGevity’s Scientific Research Program is supported by individual donors, the American Lung Association, Bristol-Myers Squibb, The Thomas G. Labrecque Foundation, Upstage Lung Cancer, and the Schmidt Legacy Foundation.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity is the nation’s leading lung cancer organization investing in lifesaving, translational research and providing support services and education for patients and caregivers. LUNGevity’s goals are three-fold: (1) accelerate research to patients, (2) empower patients to be active participants in their treatment decisions, and (3) remove barriers that patients face in accessing the right treatments.

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. LUNGevity’s comprehensive resources include a medically vetted website, a toll-free HELPLine in partnership with CancerCare®, a unique Lung Cancer Navigator app, peer-to-peer mentoring for patients and caregivers (LUNGevity LifeLine), and survivorship conferences. LUNGevity also helps patients find and navigate clinical trials through our Clinical Trial Finder tool, a Clinical Trial Ambassador program, and participation with EmergingMed.

Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer. For more information about LUNGevity Foundation, a four-star Charity Navigator organization, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.

About Lung Cancer in the U.S.

• About 1 in 16 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime
• More than 234,000 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 takes more lives than the next three leading cancers (colorectal, breast, and prostate) combined
• Only 19% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it’s caught before it spreads, the chance of 5-year survival improves dramatically

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SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation