For more than seventy years, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has been at the forefront of funding critically needed cancer research.
Since 1946, the foundation has invested more than $300 million in over 3,500 exceptional scientists. According to the foundation, they seek out and support the rising stars of cancer research who are willing to take risks and are not daunted by the most complex scientific challenges. Damon Runyon cancer researchers regularly serve as the vanguard of contemporary cancer research, fueling remarkable advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
The Mass General Cancer Center has a long-standing relationship with the foundation, which over the past 40 years has funded 63 researchers, representing an investment of more than $7 million in top young scientists’ cancer research at the hospital. In the past four years alone, the foundation has provided nearly $2 million in support of researchers at Mass General to facilitate new scientific discoveries.
Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, director of Cellular Immunotherapy and current recipient of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, has seen first-hand how the foundation has supported many of her mentors and colleagues working on innovative and translational cancer research. “They take on some of the most complex challenges in cancer research, and support the researchers doing the risky, groundbreaking work to solve those problems,” Dr. Maus says.
It’s clear that the fight against cancer needs bold thinking, followed by bold action, and the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is helping the cancer research community achieve both.
