Today, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation announced the selection and funding of three new research awards for mesothelioma research. The three grants, each at $100,000, bring the total research funded by the organization to $10.8 million.
These awards conclude the 2020 grant cycle which began last summer with a call for letters of interest that attracted 49 applicants of which 10 were invited to submit a full application.
“The uncertainty of the covid era continues, but through it we remain focused on the needs of our community and our mission,” explained Mary Hesdorffer, expert nurse practitioner and the executive director of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.
The science advisory board of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, chaired by Tobias Peikert, MD of the Mayo Clinic, is responsible for reviewing and ranking all applications, then recommending the best ones to the board of directors for funding. This year’s process also included a review by community members.
The three grants awarded through this most recent grant cycle include a study into the creation of a mechanism to keep the immune system active against peritoneal mesothelioma cells; a study into engineered natural killer cell therapy; and a study into understanding and separating immunotherapy’s useful features from the side-effect inducing ones.
“My deepest gratitude goes out to our donors whose support is essential to our mission. Without them none of this work would be possible,” added Ms. Hesdorffer.
The Grants
The Anderson Family Grant
Peritoneal Mesothelioma Organoids for Generation of Adaptive Immunity
Konstantinos Votanopoulus, MD, PhD, FACS, Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Grant in memory of Sandy Robb
Mesothelin-targeted CAR-NK cell therapy for malignant mesothelioma
Qun Jiang, PhD, National Cancer Institute
Grant in honor of Rich and Lora Mosca
Immune checkpoint induced tumor and autoimmunity: Can we separate them?
Jonathan Chee, PhD, University of Western Australia
To read the details of these grants or search all the grants the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation has funded, please visit the organization’s grants page on its website.
