The Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University announces the awardees of the 2023 Pilot grant competition. These one-year awards were made after applications were received from throughout Brown University and affiliated hospitals. The goal of the request for pilot grant applications was to encourage collaboration and basic-translational research across the academic medical center and within the Legorreta Cancer Center’s research programs in Cancer Biology, Cancer Therapeutics, and Population Science. In addition, a special request was made for projects addressing the role of nutrition, metabolism, and cancer. Two progress reports are expected from the awardees (at 6 months and at the end of the award) who will also be invited to present updates of their research at Cancer Center venues. Below is a list of the projects that have been approved for funding:
Morganne A. Kraines, PhD
Assistant Professor (Research)
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Butler Hospital
Project Title: Adapting ‘Finding Peace in a Frantic World’ for Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Qualitative Study
Joanne Wilkinson, MD
Associate Professor (Research)
Department of Family Medicine
Kent County Memorial Hospital
Project Title: Exploring and Improving Psychological Distress Related to Abnormal Mammograms
Amanda M. Jamieson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Project Title: Fighting Lung Cancer by controlling the respiratory microbiota
Karl T. Kelsey, MD
Professor
Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Epidemiology
Project Title: Immune Cell Profiling in Response to Immunotherapy
Mamiko Yajima, Ph.D.
Asst. Professor
Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry
Project Title: Functional Contribution of DDX4 in small cell lung cancer regulation
Olin Liang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor (Research)
Medicine
Project Title: Enabling CAR T Cell Immunotherapy in Glioblastoma by Modifying Tumor Microenvironment via Oncolytic Adenoviruses Encoding Bi-specific T Cell Engagers
Benedito A. Carneiro, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Medicine
Shaolei Lu, MD, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Project Title: Investigating cellular Senescence as a mechanism of treatment resistance in prostate cancer