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Young Investigator Grants

Young Investigator grants are designed to fill the critical need for startup funds for less experienced researchers to pursue promising research ideas. Eligible applicants may apply during their fellowship training or early in their research careers but must not have achieved an appointment higher than Instructor. These grants encourage and cultivate the best and brightest researchers of the future and lead to long-term research projects. The Young Investigator grant offers up to $50,000 per year for three years.

>> Download the 2025 Young Investigator Grant Guidelines

University of California San Francisco

Background

Cancer takes the lives of more children than any other disease and leukemia is the most common type of childhood cancer. African-American children with leukemia die more often than children of other races with leukemia. The reasons for this difference between African-American and Caucasian children are unknown. While there are many possible causes of this difference, we have found in previous research that African-American children come to the hospital sicker than Caucasian children prior to the start of chemotherapy. 

Principal Investigator Name: 

Lena Winestone, MD

Project Title: 

Investigating Racial Disparities in Pediatric Acute Leukemia

Year Awarded: 

2016

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

Targeting Eya2 to Inhibit c-Myc driven Medulloblastoma Tumor Progression

Background

Principal Investigator Name: 

Melanie Vincent, PhD

Project Title: 

Targeting Eya2 to Inhibit c-Myc driven Medulloblastoma Tumor Progression

Year Awarded: 

2016

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Background

Sarcomas are tumors of the bone and soft tissues that comprise up to 20% of cancer diagnoses in children. Despite dismal outcomes for patients with recurrent or metastatic disease, treatment regimens consisting of intense non-specific chemotherapy combined with surgery or radiation remain largely unchanged for decades. 

Principal Investigator Name: 

Asmin Tulpule, MD/PhD

Project Title: 

A CRISPRi Genetic Screen in Ewing sarcoma Identifies a Novel Dependence on Homologous Recombination DNA Repair

Year Awarded: 

2016

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

Bad Influence: EWS/FLI Alters LSD1 and NuRD Interactions to Enforce Oncogenic Function in Ewing’s

Background 

Ewing’s sarcoma is an aggressive pediatric bone tumor characterized by the EWS/FLI fusion gene. While advances in multimodal therapy have raised disease-free survival rates above 70% for patients with localized disease, survival rates for in metastatic and refractory cases remain stuck below 30%. We need better therapeutic strategies for these patients. EWS/FLI remains challenging to treat with drugs directly and sequencing of patient tumors failed to identify additional drug-treatable mutations common across patients. 

Principal Investigator Name: 

Emily Theisen, PhD

Project Title: 

Bad Influence: EWS/FLI Alters LSD1 and NuRD Interactions to Enforce Oncogenic Function in Ewing’s

Year Awarded: 

2016

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI

Background

Principal Investigator Name: 

Nathan Schloemer, MD

Project Title: 

Role of Kindlin-3 In Natural Killer Cell Mediated Tumor Killing

Year Awarded: 

2016

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

Background

Fanconi anemia is a childhood disease associated with impaired bone marrow function, developmental retardation, premature aging and early onset of cancer limiting the lifespan of patients to 35 years. Fanconi anemia results from impairment of one or more steps in the preventive pathway that removes aberrant DNA structures, which are caused by environmental stresses like pollutants, toxins in diet, etc. 


Project Goal

Principal Investigator Name: 

Timsi Rao, PhD

Project Title: 

Elucidating the Role of Human FAN1 Nuclease in DNA Crosslink Repair

Year Awarded: 

2016

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

Pre-clinical Evaluation of LSD1 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Pediatric Ewing sarcoma: Defining the Biomarkers of Sensitivity and Mechanisms of Resistance

Background

Principal Investigator Name: 

Kathleen Pishas, PhD

Project Title: 

Pre-clinical Evaluation of LSD1 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Pediatric Ewing sarcoma: Defining the Biomarkers of Sensitivity and Mechanisms of Resistance

Year Awarded: 

2016

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

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