The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research has awarded $12 million in grants to four international, multi-institutional teams tasked with solving high-stakes oncology problems. The funding, distributed across 11 premier research institutions in five countries, aims to accelerate the transition from laboratory discovery to clinical application for treatment-resistant cancers.
This latest investment marks a significant expansion of the Endeavor Award program, which has now committed over $50 million to 15 collaborative projects since 2021. By providing three-year, $3 million grants, the foundation seeks to bypass the limitations of traditional, localized research by integrating diverse fields such as structural biophysics, spatial transcriptomics, and generative AI.
The newly funded projects target some of the most stubborn challenges in modern medicine. One team, led by researchers from VIB in Belgium and McGill University, is investigating the mechanics of replacement-type liver metastases, which are notoriously difficult to treat. Another collaboration between the University of North Carolina and Duke University is focusing on the NLRP3 pathway to overcome immunotherapy resistance in gastric and esophageal cancers.
Additional projects include a transatlantic effort to repurpose corrupted macrophages—immune cells hijacked by tumors—into active cancer-fighters, and the BOLTS project. The latter, involving institutions in Austria, Switzerland, and the U.S., is utilizing a process called SUMOylation to biochemically "lock" transcription factors that were previously considered undruggable. These initiatives are designed to provide teams with the operational flexibility required to address mechanisms that individual laboratories cannot tackle in isolation.
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first!