Sylvester has received its first National Cancer Institute Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) award to advance prevention and treatment of HPV‑related cancers. The interdisciplinary PROMISE program brings together researchers from Sylvester, Emory University and Morehouse School of Medicine to develop community‑engaged, translational approaches that improve screening, and address those with the highest risk of cancer in South Florida and beyond.
A five-year, $2.6 million R01 grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is enabling Sylvester researchers Alan Pollack, M.D., Ph.D.; Benjamin Spieler, M.D.; and Radka Stoyanova, Ph.D., to build an MRI- and liquid-biopsy-based model that personalizes therapy intensity for intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer patients.
Jonathan Schatz, M.D., and Hassan Al-Ali, Ph.D., earned a $2.4 million, four-year NCI grant to investigate a protein called GAK that appears critical for cell division in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; they aim to develop new therapeutic targets.
With $1.5 million from the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund, Nagaraj Nagathihalli, Ph.D., assistant director of Sylvester’s Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute, is testing whether the natural metabolite urolithin A can safeguard the gut and reduce inflammation during chemotherapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
The Florida Cancer Innovation Fund (FCIF) awarded $557,637 to Tracy Crane, Ph.D., RDN, co-leader of Sylvester’s Cancer Control Program and director of lifestyle medicine, prevention and digital health, and Matthew Schlumbrecht, M.D., M.P.H., co-lead of Sylvester’s Gynecologic Oncology Site Disease Group and assistant director for community outreach and engagement, to launch the FIT-ENDO trial. They are testing whether prolonged overnight fasting improves blood sugar control and reduces cancer‑promoting hormones in women with endometrial cancer. Dr. Crane is also mentoring post-doctoral scholar Harleen Kaur, Ph.D., and post-doctoral fellow Loren Yavelberg, Ph.D., who obtained a separate FCIF grant for $328,052 to study wearable technology and exercise for pediatric and young adults with sarcoma.
A multidisciplinary research team led by Dr. Crane; David Lombard, M.D., Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Epigenetics Program; Scott Welford, Ph.D., Biology Division chief at the Miller School and co-leader of the Tumor Biology Program; and Jaime Merchan, M.D., co-leader, Translational and Clinical Oncology Research Program, received a $400,000, two-year Sylvester Team Science Award to study how metabolism, body composition, lipids and circadian rhythms influence renal cell carcinoma progression, including a first-of-its-kind pilot trial testing intermittent fasting in newly diagnosed patients.
Sylvester researcher Zheng Chen, M.D., Ph.D., received $100,000 from the DeGregorio Family Foundation to map immune-cell markers and druggable targets in gastric adenocarcinoma, and to evaluate which FDA-approved drugs may offer the strongest therapeutic benefit.
Researcher Ifeanyichukwu Ogobuiro, M.D., M.S., received a $50,000, one-year Radiological Society of North America grant to study how brain protein I3 (BRI3) drives radiation resistance in glioblastoma and whether targeting it can improve tumor sensitivity to radiotherapy.