Prestigious Stephenson Scholar Grants Support Cutting-edge Pancreatic Cancer Studies

The Stephenson Global Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute and its partner City of Hope, 1 of nan country's largest and astir precocious crab investigation and curen organizations, coming announced nan six inaugural recipients of nan prestigious Stephenson Scholar Grants, awarding $5.25 cardinal to support high-impact investigation aimed astatine transforming nan understanding, early discovery and curen of pancreatic cancer.

The grants support a caller procreation of investigation that is collaborative, cross-institutional, and profoundly innovative. The 2025 recipients are tackling immoderate of nan astir urgent and analyzable challenges successful pancreatic cancer-from utilizing AI to emblem high-risk patients for screening, to processing dual-targeting CAR T cells that onslaught some tumors and their fibrotic defenses, to uncovering really diabetes-linked DNA harm whitethorn trigger cancer. Their activity spans early detection, immunotherapy, metabolic vulnerabilities, and precision medicine-and reflects nan benignant of interdisciplinary, translational subject that is urgently needed to amended outcomes for patients.

2025 Stephenson Scholar Grant recipients

• Dr. Renier Brentjens and Dr. Leonid Cherkassky (Roswell Park)
  Engineering Circuit-controlled T Cell Differentiation and Restructuring nan Pancreatic Cancer Stroma to Optimize PDAC-targeted CAR T Cell Therapy for Clinical TranslationCreating next-generation CAR T cells that target some pancreatic tumors and their fibrotic stroma, utilizing synthetic promoters to fine-tune T compartment behavior, offering a promising caller guidance for pancreatic crab immunotherapy.
• Dr. Robert Grant (Princess Margaret/UHN)
  Applying Artificial Intelligence to Electronic Health Records to Guide Pancreatic Cancer Screening
  Utilizing ample connection models to analyse EHR information and emblem high-risk individuals for screening-embedding AI straight into infirmary systems to alteration scalable early detection.
• Dr. Costas Lyssiotis (University of Michigan)
  Lysosomal Lipid Homeostasis is simply a Clinically Exploitable Vulnerability successful KRAS-Inhibited Pancreatic Cancer
  Targeting a unsocial metabolic vulnerability successful KRAS-mutant tumors utilizing clinically applicable narcotics and synthetic lethality, pinch durable cures shown successful preclinical models.
• Dr. Sarah Shuck (City of Hope)
  From Blood Sugar to Tumor Growth: How Diabetes Fuels Pancreatic Cancer Onset
  Investigating really nan sweetener byproduct methylglyoxal leads to DNA mutations associated pinch pancreatic crab and processing a caller blood-based screening tool.
• Dr. Matthew Vander Heiden (MIT)
  Assessment of Pancreas Organ Health for Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection
  Developing a multimodal level that combines stool, blood, and CT imaging to observe pancreatic crab earlier symptoms look and leveraging changes successful organ usability arsenic early informing signs.
• Dr. Forest White & Dr. Tyler Jacks (MIT)
  Identification of Treatment-Associated Tumor Antigens for Targeted Immunotherapy successful Pancreatic Cancer
  Using wide spectrometry to place caller peptide antigens that look aft KRAS inhibition, enabling caller vaccine and BiTE strategies that nexus targeted therapy pinch immunotherapy.

These scientists' pioneering approaches correspond nan early of pancreatic crab research. Their activity exemplifies nan benignant of innovative, collaborative reasoning that nan Stephenson inaugural was created to support."

A. Emmet Stephenson Jr., co-founder of SGPCRI

"Pancreatic crab took my mother acold excessively soon, but my begetter and I cognize that groundbreaking subject tin alteration nan early for truthful galore different families who person faced this disease," said Tessa Stephenson Brand. "These grants are astir hope, urgency, and nan belief that advancement is possible."

The Stephensons made their finance successful grant of Toni Stephenson, loving woman and mother who, aft surviving lymphoma, passed distant from pancreatic crab successful 2020.

"Pancreatic crab remains 1 of nan astir challenging diseases to observe and treat, but we are making meaningful progress," said Dr. Matthew Vander Heiden, nan Lester Wolfe Chair successful Molecular Biology and Professor of Biology astatine MIT. "We're peculiarly encouraged by nan imaginable to place changes successful normal pancreas usability that could alteration earlier detection-when curen is astir effective. The opportunity to rigorously trial this thought is incredibly exciting, and I'm profoundly grateful to nan Stephenson Global Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute for supporting this eager work. Their finance successful innovative investigation is helping move discoveries person to nan patients who request them most."

A collaborative imagination for a world challenge

The Stephenson Scholar Grants correspond nan largest root of backstage backing for pancreatic crab investigation astir nan globe. Pancreatic crab remains nan deadliest crab pinch a five-year endurance complaint of conscionable 13% successful nan United States, impacting hundreds of thousands of families each year. The grants travel astatine a clip erstwhile national backing for crab research-already disproportionately debased for pancreatic cancer-is facing an uncertain future.

These grants bespeak nan Institute's committedness to building a global, collaborative investigation ecosystem. This year's recipients span starring institutions successful nan U.S. and Canada, and their projects are designed to span disciplines, labs, and objective settings. The winners were selected from a competitory excavation of 188 applications spanning six continents, pursuing a rigorous reappraisal by nan Stephenson Scientific Advisory Board, comprising immoderate of nan world's foremost experts successful pancreatic cancer.

The grants are portion of a broader imagination launched pinch a transformative $150 cardinal gift from A. Emmet Stephenson Jr. and Tessa Stephenson Brand to accelerate discovery, foster partnership, and bring dream to patients and families worldwide. They selected City of Hope, a National Cancer Institute-designated broad crab halfway pinch a nationalist footprint, to thief facilitate nan SGPCRI's various initiatives and bring together pancreatic crab leaders successful nan hunt for caller breakthroughs.

"Congratulations to nan inaugural recipients of nan Stephenson Global Scholar Grants," said Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., chair of nan Stephenson Scientific Advisory Board and distinguished professor astatine nan Translational Genomics Research Institute, portion of City of Hope. "These awards support transformative approaches-from assessing pancreatic wellness and enabling earlier discovery to advancing nan latest immunotherapies. There has ne'er been a much important clip to merge astir high-impact science. This teamwork betwixt visionary philanthropists and immoderate of nan world's starring crab institutions is bringing america person to a early wherever pancreatic crab is nary longer a decease sentence. We are besides profoundly grateful to nan members of nan Scientific Advisory Board for their contented and thoughtful deliberation successful guiding this effort."

For much accusation astir nan Stephenson Global Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute and nan Stephenson Global Scholar Grants, sojourn sgpcri.global.