LOS ANGELES, Calif., October 24, 2023 – The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) today announced the Class of 2023 Young Investigator Award recipients totaling $6.1 million in funding for innovative prostate cancer research.
PCF Young Investigator Awards are intended to identify a cohort of future research leaders who will keep the field of prostate cancer research vibrant with new ideas and offer career and project support for early career physicians and scientists who are committed to advancing the prostate cancer field. Twenty-eight PCF Young Investigator Awards totaling $6.1 million were awarded to the promising next generation of cancer researchers.
PCF Young Investigator Awards – Class of 2023
For full project descriptions visit https://www.pcf.org/c/young-investigators-class-of-2023/
2023 Lowell Milken – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Wayne Brisbane, MD, University of California, Los Angeles
Mentors: Leonard Marks, MD; Robert Reiter, MD; Paul Boutrous, PhD
Project Title: MMUVE Prostate Cancer: Multi-Omic Evaluation of Micro-Ultrasound Visible Prostate Cancer
2023 Michael & Lori Milken – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: James Buteau, MD, The University of Melbourne
Mentors: Michael Hofman, MBBS; Declan Murphy, MC, Bch, BaO, FRCS Urol, FRACS; Arun Azad, MD, PhD
Project Title: Breaking Barriers in Prostate Cancer: Novel Clinical Uses of PSMA Radioligand Therapy and Imaging with PSMA PET/CT
2023 American Cancer Society (ACS) – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Alexander P. Cole, MD, Harvard – Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Mentors: Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD; Caroline M. Moore, MD; Adam S. Kibel, MD
Project Title: Rural Outpatient Advanced Diagnostics to Maximize Access to Prostate Health (ROADMAP)
2023 Rob & Cindy Citrone – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Sinéad Flanagan, MPH, MB, BCh, BAO, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Mentors: Lorelei Mucci, ScD; Konrad Stopsack, MD, MPH; Tamara Lotan, MD
Project Title: Precision Prevention and Treatment for Aggressive Prostate Cancer with PTEN Loss
2023 Society of Urologic Oncology – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Christopher Gaffney, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Mentors: Howard Scher, MD; David Knorr, MD, PhD; Behfar Ehdaie, MD, MPH
Project Title: Defining Modifiable Components of the Immune Microenvironment in Patients with Prostate Cancer Nodal Metastases
2023 John Black Charitable Foundation – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Peter Godolphin, PhD, University College London
Mentors: Jayne Tierney, PhD; Susan Halabi, PhD; Noel Clarke, ChM
Project Title: Optimal Methods for Identifying and Communicating Which Treatments Are Best for Which People with Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer
2023 Clay Hamlin, Metropoulos Family Foundation, William & Cary Singleton – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Felipe Eltit Guersetti, DDS, PhD, University of British Columbia
Mentors: Michael Cox, PhD; Colm Morrissey, PhD; Raphaele Charest-Morin, MD, FRCSC
Project Title: Investigating How Prostate Cancer Causes Sclerotic Metastatic Bone Lesions and Impact Fracture Risk Using Cellular and Materials Sciences Approaches
2023 Todd Boehly – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Chris Hsiung, MD, PhD, Stanford University
Mentors: Luke Gilbert, PhD; Felix Feng, MD; Howard Chang, MD, PhD
Project Title: Discovering Combination Therapeutic Targets in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Using Highly Multiplexed CRISPR Chromatin Perturbations
2023 Milken Scholars, Merkin Family Foundation – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Sarah Hsu, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentors: Luke Gilbert, PhD; Franklin Huang, MD, PhD; Eric Small, MD
Project Title: Defining Mechanisms of AR Transcriptional Regulation to Improve Outcomes in Advanced Prostate Cancer
2023 Ben Franklin – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Amanda Leiter, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital
Mentors: Juan Wisnivesky, MD; Chung Yin Kong, PhD; Matthew Galsky, MD
Project Title: Optimizing Outcomes in Survivors of Prostate Cancer with Diabetes
2023 Igor Tulchinsky – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Jie Luo, PhD, University of Michigan
Mentors: Shaomeng Wang, PhD; Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD
Project Title: A Novel CBP/p300 PROTAC Degrader Suppresses Prostate Cancer Progression Via Reshaping the Chromatin Landscape and Acetylome
2023 Royalty Pharma – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Shenglin Mei, PhD, Harvard – Massachusetts General Hospital
Mentors: David Sykes, MD, PhD; Philip Saylor, MD
Project Title: Investigating Tumor and Immune Cell Dysregulation for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastases
2023 John & Amy Phelan – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Katherine Morel, PhD, The University of Adelaide
Mentors: Chris Sweeney, MBBS; Lisa Butler, PhD
Project Title: Modulation of Oxidative Stress Responses to Augment Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy
2023 Leerom & Karolina Segal – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Shaghayegh Nouruzi, PhD, University of British Columbia
Mentor: Amina Zoubeidi, PhD
Project Title: Epigenetic and Metabolomic Vulnerabilities in ASCL1-Driven NEPC Subtype
2023 Jeff & Loyd Zisk – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Apurva Pandey, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentors: Michael Evans, PhD; Charles Craik, PhD; Felix Feng, MD
Project Title: Conditionally Activated Membrane Binding Probes for Improved Targeted Radiotherapy in Metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer
2023 National Cancer Institute – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Krishnan Patel, MD, National Cancer Institute
Mentors: Ravi Madan, MD; Deborah Citrin, MD
Project Title: Artificial Intelligence-Based Lesion Kinetics Assessment for the Selection of Therapeutic Targets for Focal SBRT in Patients with Oligoprogressive Metastatic Castration Resistant (mCRPC) and Biochemically Recurrent (BCR) Prostate Cancer
2023 Michael & Lori Milken – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Robert Patton, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Mentors: Peter Nelson, MD; Gavin Ha, PhD
Project Title: Non-Invasive Prediction of Tumor Phenotypes, Therapeutic Targets, and Treatment Response in CRPC Using ctDNA
2023 Kovler Family Foundation – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Soumyajit Roy, MBBS, Rush University Medical Center
Mentors: Daniel Spratt, MD; Felix Feng, MD; Alison Tree, MBBS, FRCR, MD
Project Title: Validation and Integration of Optimized Risk Stratification and Novel Biomarkers for the Personalization of Prostate Cancer Treatment
2023 John Black Charitable Foundation – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Mark Salji, PhD, MB, Bchir, University of Glasgow – Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute
Mentors: Hing Leung, MBBS, PhD; Nima Sharifi, MD; Ruth Morgan, DC
Project Title: N-Acetyl Aspartate Sustains Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer Through Glucocorticoid Induced Sphingolipid Metabolism
2023 Alison & Jim Casey – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Galina Semenova, MD, PhD, Fred Hutchison Cancer Center
Mentors: John Lee, MD, PhD; Peter Nelson, MD
Project Title: Rational Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) Combinations for Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC)
2023 John Curtius – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Takayuki Sumiyoshi, MD, PhD, Kyoto University
Mentors: Takashi Kobayashi, MD; Shusuke Akamatsu, PhD; Akihiro Fujimoto, PhD
Project Title: Development of a Novel Molecular-Based Treatment Strategy for De Novo Metastatic Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer Using Long-Read Transcriptome Sequencing
2023 Debbie & Mark Attanasio – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Amy Taylor, MD, University of Wisconsin
Mentors: Joshua Lang, MD; Kosj Yamoah, MD, PhD; Elisabeth Heath, MD
Project Title: Eliminating Disparities in Molecular Testing with Comprehensive Liquid Biopsy Analysis
2023 The Stewart J. Rahr Foundation – PCF VAlor Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Phoebe Tsao, MD, University of Michigan
Mentors: Megan Caram, MD; Joshi Alumkal, MD
Project Title: Impact of Androgen Receptor Signaling Inhibitors on Depression and Anxiety in Veterans with Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer
2023 Kovler Family Foundation – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Varadha Balaji Venkadakrishnan, PhD, Harvard – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Mentors: Himisha Beltran, MD; Myles Brown, MD
Project Title: Defining Lineage-Specific PRC2 Action and Rational Co-Targeting of EZH1/2 in Prostate Cancer
2023 Michael & Lori Milken – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Adam Weiner, MD, University of California, Los Angeles
Mentors: Rob Reiter, MD; Paul Boutros, PhD, MBA; Jeremie Calais, MD
Project Title: Molecular Correlates with Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) in Prostate Cancer
2023 Tom Murphy – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: David Wise, MD, PhD, New York University
Mentors: Shohei Koide, PhD; J.T. Poirier, PhD
Project Title: A Rapid Molecular Imaging Diagnostic for Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer
2023 Chris & Katia Oberbeck – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: David D. Yang, MD, Harvard – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Mentors: Eliezer Van Allen, MD, PhD; Paul Nguyen, MD; Martin King, MD, PhD
Project Title: Uncovering Novel Biomarkers in Localized Prostate Cancer Through Radiomics and Digital Pathology
2023 Michael & Julie Wirth – PCF Young Investigator Award
Principal Investigator: Noah Younger, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Mentors: Felix Feng, MD; David Quigley, PhD
Project Title: Characterizing cPRC1 as a Mediator of Enzalutamide Resistance in Advanced Prostate Cancer
About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has been responsible for raising more than $1 billion in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 245 leading cancer centers in 28 countries around the world. Since PCF’s inception, and through its efforts, patients around the world are living longer, suffering fewer complications, and enjoying better quality of all life. PCF is committed to creating a global public square for prostate cancer, in service to our mission of ending death and suffering from the disease. Learn more at pcf.org.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Staci L. Vernick
Prostate Cancer Foundation
[email protected]
[email protected]
610-812-6092