ACS Young Investigator Awards


Past Awardees

Past recipients of the ACS Young Investigator Awards have gone on to successfully publish their work in peer-reviewed journals and compete for extramural grant funding.

2011/2012

John Deeken, MD — A Preclinical In Vivo Study of Drug Interactions Between Chemotherapy and Drugs Used to Treat HIV

Roxanne Jensen, PhD — Modern Methods for Comparing Impact of Radiotherapy Techniques for Brain Metastases on Patient-Reported Outcomes

Lixin Mi, PhD — Structure Activity Relationship on Thiol-Reactive Compunds as Tubulin-Degradation Inducers

Ayesha Shajahan, PhD — Differential Roles of Caveolin-1 Variants in Cell Death in Breast Cancer

Huei-Ting Tsai, PhD — Health Disparities in the Use and Outcomes of Intermittent Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Prostate Cancer: A Pilot Study Using Population-Based Claims Data

2010/2011

Sanjay Adhikari, PhD — Molecular Mechanism of Abasic Site (AP-site) Repair by Apurinic-Apyrimidinic Endonuclease (APE)

Mireille Bright-Gbebry, RD, MPH, PhD —Towards Cancer Prevention: A Dietary Questionnaire for West African Immigrants

Olga Timofeeva, PhD — Investigation of STAT3 Acetylation in Regulation of Gene Expression in Breast Cancer Cells

Sherrie Wallington, PhD — Testing the Feasibility of an HPV Educational Intervention with a Cellular Telephone and Text Message Component (Special Interest Award)

2008/2009

Tushar Deb, PhD — Mechanism of Pnck—Induced Tumorigenesis in HER—2 Amplified Human Breast Cancer

Suzanne O’Neill, PhD — Breast Cancer Patients’Experience with Risk for Recurrence Testing

Rebecca Riggins, PhD — Exposure to the Endocrine Disruptor Bisphenol A Induces Tamoxifen Resistance in ER+ Breast Cancer Through Transcriptional Activation of Estrogen Related Receptor Gamma

Tapas Saha, PhD — Role of Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy in Breast Cancer

2007/2008

John Deeken, MD — A Pre-Clinical In Vivo Study of Drug Interactions Via the ABCG2 Transporter Between Chemotherapy Agents and Drugs used to Treat HIV

Jeanine Genkinger, PhD, MHS — Colorectal Cancer Survivorship: Obesity, Diet and Insulin Resistance

Michael Pishvaian, MD, PhD — Targeting Hepatocellular Cancer Through the Inhibition of CDK4

Elena Tassi, PhD — Signficance of FGF Binding Protein 3 (FGF-BP3)
for Human Cancers

2006/2007

Luciane Cavalli, PhD — Role of BP1Homeobox Gene Amplification in Breast Cancer Tumor Suppressor Gene (Abstract)

Sean Collins, MD, PhD — AMP-Activated Protein Kinase as a Molecular Regulator of Prostate Cancer Radiation Resistance (Abstract)

Kristi Graves, PhD — Special Interest Award in the area of “Cancer in the Poor or Underserved": Investigating Racial Disparities in BRCA1/2 Counseling and Testing (Abstract)

Yun-Ling Zheng, PhD — Genetic Susceptibility to Breast Cancer (Abstract)

2005/2006

Insoo Bae, PhD — Role of CRIF1 in Oxidative Stress (Abstract)

Kimberly Davis, PhD — Prostate Cancer Symptom Monitoring Study (Abstract)

Joanna Kitlinska, PhD — Neuropeptide Y and its Receptors as New Targets in Neuroblastoma Therapy (Abstract)

Samuel Waller, MD'08 — Medical Professional Student Stipend: Small-Molecule Inhibitors of Cyclin-Dependent Kinases (Abstract)

Chenguang Wang, PhD — Cyclin D1 Regulation of Mitochondrial Metabolism of Cancer Cells through NRF-1(Abstract)

2004/2005

Janie Heath, PhD, APRN-BC — Carcinogen exposure and risk reduction among smokers randomized to a tobacco potentially reduced-exposure product (PREP) or medicinal nicotine: a feasibility study

Jessica Jones, PhD — Dissecting the functional and physical interaction between the RAG1 V(D)J recombinase and ubiquitin conjugating enzymes

Steven Metallo, PhD — Understanding and exploiting macromolecular crowding

Thuong-Thuong T. Nguyen, MD'07 — Medical Professional Student Stipend: Role of Laminin-5 Signaling in Formation of Invadopodia and Cell Invasion

Judy N. Quong, PhD — Systems biology approach to studying ER pathways in breast cancer

2003/2004

Christopher Albanese, PhD — Mouse Prostate Volumetric Measurement by 3D MRI

Emma Bowden, PhD — An Investigation into the Role of PTEN-ALK Axis in Osteolytic Bone Metastasis

Wenchi Liang, DDS, PhD — Cultural, Psychosocial, and Environment Barriers to Maintaining a Healthy Diet in Inner-City African Americans

Marja Nevalainen, MD, PhD — Stat5 As a Critical Survival Factor in Prostate Cancer

EARLIER YEARS

Research projects pursued by awardees include:

  • Functional relationship between BRCA1 and ERB in mammary gland;
  • Role and the mechanisms of epithin/matriptase, a type II transmembrane serine protease, in mammary gland development and in breast cancer progression;
  • Clinic-based intervention to promote colorectal cancer screening;
  • Building the foundation for the Lombardi late effects clinic for pediatric cancer survivors;
  • Tamoxifen as chemoprevention in breast cancer patients with BRCA1 mutations: a survey of physician attitudes and predictors of recommendations;
  • Structure determination of Bcl-XL/inhibitor complex for a novel anticancer drug development;
  • Akt inhibits c-Myc-induced apoptosis in mouse mammary epithelial cells: a mechanistic investigation;
  • Signal transduction through the pleiotrophin receptor;
  • Health-promoting and health-compromising behavior among pediatric cancer survivors and their family members: implications for intervention.