9/22/2011
National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) has announced the six recipients who will receive grants from the largest research initiative it has ever funded – the Mary Catherine Calisto Systems Biology Initiative.
The recipients will each lead teams of experts from different specialties to study brain tumors using a systems biology approach. The more traditional approach of looking at particular genes, proteins, or series of biochemical reactions that appear to drive cancer growth, have had limited success in finding effective treatments. By focusing on looking at brain tumors as a whole, rather than studying one of two parts of the tumor that had gone awry, this approach holds promise to bring new therapies to patients faster.
The recipients are: Ingo Mellinghoff from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Marcus Bredel from the University of Alabama Birmingham; Kesari Santosh of the University of California, San Diego; James Gallo of Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Anna Krichevsky from Brigham and Women’s Hospital; and Brent Reynolds from the University of Florida.
These grants of up to $100,000 are for the first stage of planning, which is focused on developing a feasibility or planning study in the first year. Each team will deliver a top-quality collaborative plan and timeline in phase one. Upon review of the first phase results, three grantees will move on to phase two, where each receive $1.5 million over three years ($500,000 per year) to execute the research plan that is expected to lead to a clinical trial.
National Brain Tumor Society is a nonprofit organization committed to finding a cure for brain tumors. NBTS aggressively drives strategic research, advocates for public policies that meet the needs of the brain tumor community, and provides patient information.
