COVID-19 has mobilized scientists across the globe in an unprecedented effort to understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus and stop this disease. Some Damon Runyon scientists have temporarily pivoted their research to contribute to this critical goal by investigating how the virus enters human cells, developing more efficient testing, and searching for treatments. 

Former Damon Runyon Fellow John Blenis, PhD, and colleagues at Weill Cornell Medicine have discovered a molecule produced by our own cells that can accumulate in the blood as we age and help cancer cells spread from one site in the body to others. The researchers found that the level of methylmalonic acid (MMA)—a by-product of protein and fat digestion—is significantly higher in the blood of otherwise healthy people over the age of 60.

Former Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH, and his colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, have published surprising new results that for older individuals with advanced cancer, taking aspirin may increase their risk of cancer growth and early death.

Damon Runyon Fellow Lindsay M. LaFave, PhD, and colleagues at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, discovered that elevated levels of a protein called RUNX2 in human lung tumors predict a worse prognosis—a finding which could lead to new diagnostics and drug targets.

Fifteen early career scientists  from across the country will receive ​grants totaling nearly $3.5 million to pursue brave and bold cancer research. The recipients of the Damon Runyon Fellowship are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators.

Damon Runyon scientists Vinod P. Balachandran, MD, and Lydia Finley, PhD, have received the 2020 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research. Recipients receive $200,000 per year for up to three years and opportunities to present their work to scientific and business audiences, helping to bridge the gap between the academic and business communities.

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has named two outstanding young scientists as recipients of the Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Fellowship Award, committing nearly $500,000 to help address a critical shortage of funding for pediatric cancer research.

When cancer cells escape their primary tumor and move to the fluid and tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord—a condition called leptomeningeal metastasis—the result is devastating. Now, Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Adrienne A. Boire, MD, PhD, and colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering have discovered how these rogue cells are able to survive in the barren environment of the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and suggest a possible strategy for treatment.

A new publication from Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Jonathan E. Shoag, MD, and colleagues at Weil Cornell Medicine shows that PSA screening has benefits beyond lowering prostate cancer death risk, such as prevention of metastatic disease and the impaired quality of life associated with its treatment. The researchers suggest that the balance of benefits and harms of screening may be more favorable than previously recognized.

Damon Runyon chats with Former Clinical Investigator Jakob Dupont, MD, about his pioneering path to develop cellular immunotherapies and other innovative oncology drugs.