Research Highlights

The Walther Cancer Foundation (WCF) has awarded a $392,000 grant to the Behavioral Cooperative Oncology Group – a consortium of behavioral scientists in the Schools of Nursing at Indiana University, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and the Ohio State University. The purpose of the group is to provide a collaborative infrastructure that serves as a training ground for current and future behavioral scientists that will further develop both individuals and the field of behavioral oncology. Grant funds support 1) fellowships for pre-doctoral students at each of the Universities; 2) infrastructure support for research and training including senior faculty mentoring, research assistants and supplies; and 3) funds for an annual colloquium and a scientific retreat.

  A three-year grant in the amount of $877,667 to the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center will provide support for two junior translational clinical researchers as they develop their cancer research careers. Grant monies will provide the two Walther Clinical Research Scholars with “protected time” from other academic and clinical responsibilities to develop and conduct their own investigator-initiated clinical research programs. Foundation funds will also support a clinical research specialist and partially support a research nurse to aid the investigators in the conduct of research trials. This award will allow the IU Simon Cancer Center to increase the capacity of its clinical research program and support exciting clinical trials that otherwise could not be done. Furthermore, the grant will assist in the development of the next generation of cancer researchers.

The Walther Cancer Foundation has awarded a five year grant totaling $1.4 million to the University of Notre Dame to help build a core program in psychosocial oncology. The grant includes funds to recruit a new faculty member at Notre Dame who will work on the identification, prevention, and treatment of problems of cancer survivors and their caregivers. There are currently more than 10 million Americans who are cancer survivors – a number which is projected to grow rapidly in the years ahead. To date, insufficient research has been conducted on the needs of these individuals, and how to prevent and treat any problems they experience as a result of their prior cancer.

Historically, the Purdue Cancer Center has integrated the disciplines of chemistry and biology to focus an interdisciplinary effort on cancer therapeutic development and early cancer detection. WCF has awarded a five year grant totaling $2.1 million to Purdue to support the recruitment of a cancer-focused structural biologist to aid in this effort. The Purdue approach integrates chemical design and synthesis, protein structural analysis, and the molecular mechanisms of cellular growth into a network of collaborative science that generates novel and potentially active cancer therapeutics. More efficient means of taking designed chemical entities from the laboratory to the clinic are needed. Accomplishment of this goal requires the recruitment of a senior investigator with a track record of accomplishment in the field of cancer therapeutics.