Our scientists remain undaunted in their important cancer research, despite the challenges and precautionary measures required to safely work in their laboratories this year. In case you missed them, here are just a few of the exciting discoveries made by Damon Runyon researchers in 2020.

To understand all the genetic alterations driving melanoma, Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Eliezer Van Allen, MD, and his colleagues at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have assembled the largest molecular dataset on this disease and used it to uncover new details that may help in diagnosis and treatment.

The Damon Runyon Annual Breakfast looked different this year, but we were delighted to host the Reimagined Annual Breakfast virtually on December 2, 2020.

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is pleased to announce the new Chair of its Board of Directors, Deborah J. Coleman. Ms. Coleman was unanimously elected at the Board’s annual meeting last month. She succeeds Alan Leventhal, who has led the Board since February 2010.

Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator Elli Papaemmanuil, PhD, and colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have uncovered new clues that may help answer a troubling question—why do some patients develop a secondary blood cancer after receiving radiation or chemotherapy treatment for their initial cancer diagnosis? 

Pancreatic cancer is particularly difficult to diagnose since people usually have no symptoms until the cancer reaches a more advanced stage or spreads to other organs. Though progress against this cancer has been slow, Damon Runyon researchers are making an impact through understanding the biology and developing novel treatments.

Damon Runyon-National Mah Jongg League Fellow Deepshika Ramanan, PhD, has been selected as part of the 2020 class of STAT Wunderkinds, an annual award recognizing the next generation of “scientific superstars.” These researchers are blazing new trails as they tackle some of the biggest questions in science and medicine.

Researchers have conducted the biggest study ever into the path that individual blood cells take to becoming leukemia. Former Damon Runyon-Sohn Fellow Robert L. Bowman, PhD, Former Fellow Aaron D. Viny, MD, and colleagues at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center examined how a series of stepwise mutations in normal blood cells could trigger the transformation to cancer. 

Many cancer immunotherapies, drugs that activate a patient’s immune system, have emerged in recent years, but none are universally effective. To address this shortcoming, Clinical Investigator Anusha Kalbasi, MD, and colleagues at the University of California Los Angeles found a drug that activates the body's natural defenses by behaving like a virus and may uncloak certain stealthy melanoma tumors, so they can be better targeted by immunotherapy.

The Damon Runyon-Jake Wetchler Award for Pediatric Innovation is given annually to a third-year Damon Runyon Fellow whose research has the greatest potential to impact the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of pediatric cancer. This year, Damon Runyon Fellow Dian Yang, PhD, at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research received this special award.