PROGRESS: RESEARCH

The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) announced its 2022 grant class in April: 29 research grants awarded to scientists based at many of the world’s leading cancer research institutions, totaling nearly $6 million in innovative lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) research. LRF maintains a strong commitment to supporting early career investigators, ensuring they can build a successful career in the field of lymphoma research.

This commitment is illustrated in the more than one dozen grants awarded to early career investigators in 2022 alone. They include four dynamic Clinical Investigator Career Development Awards (CDAs), which support physician investigators at the level of advanced fellow or junior faculty member who will contribute to the development of new lymphoma therapies and diagnostic tools. Also included are eight Postdoctoral Fellowship Grants, designed to support investigators at the level of advanced fellow or postdoctoral researcher in laboratory or clinic-based research with results and conclusions that must be relevant to the treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of lymphoma.

“The benefits of early career awards include ensuring that scientists obtain a depth of knowledge in a field like lymphoma, which otherwise proves difficult—if not impossible—to pursue mid-career or later,” said LRF Chief Executive Officer Meghan Gutierrez. “As public funding for such grants decreases and therefore becomes more competitive, the need for private foundations and the support of our partners is more critical than ever before.”

The LRF Lymphoma Scientific Research Mentoring Program (LSRMP) is a first-of-its-kind education and mentoring program for junior scientists who wish to focus on lymphoma and CLL research, whether in the lab or in the clinic. The primary goal of the LSRMP is to retain its talented participants—called LRF Scholars—in the field of lymphoma by providing mentoring and education programming and fostering research collaboration among expert faculty and grantees. Led by the 2022 LSRMP Clinical Research co-chairs Steven Horwitz, MD (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), and Kami Maddocks, MD (The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center); and Laboratory/Translational Research co-chairs Ari Melnick, MD (Weill Cornell Medicine), Christian Steidl, MD (BC Cancer, Vancouver), and Laura Pasqualucci, MD (Columbia University), the new class boasts translational and clinical researchers pursuing a diverse range of research projects with a goal to improve patient outcomes.