MADISON, Wis. – National Lung Cancer Partnership is pleased to announce that Adam Marcus, Ph.D., of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University is the winner of the organization’s 2008 Career Development Award.
The Career Development Award, in the amount of $80,000, provides two years of protected time for newly independent investigators to develop their careers in lung cancer research. “With the support of the Lilly Foundation and our very generous donors, we’re able to offer lung cancer researchers this critical period of time to further their investigation of this deadly disease,” said Regina Vidaver, executive director of National Lung Cancer Partnership.
The award will support Dr. Marcus’ research into how lung cancer cells are able to invade surrounding tissues. He will focus on the how mutations of the LKB1 cellular protein cause lung cancer cells to move into other tissues and how these cell mutations can affect the sensitivity of lung cancer cells to chemotherapy drugs.
“By understanding how LKB1 contributes to lung cancer invasion, our research could potentially impact the development of novel diagnostic and prognostic approaches to control lung cancer malignancy,” said Dr. Marcus.
Lung cancer research is severely under-funded at the federal level in proportion to the death toll from this disease. National Lung Cancer Partnership grants support scientists who choose to pursue lung cancer research, even in the face of a poor funding climate.
National Lung Cancer Partnership is the only national lung cancer organization founded by physicians and researchers and focused on understanding how the disease affects women differently than men. The 501(c) (3) organization was founded in 2001.