Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University investigators have been awarded a total of $400,000 to support seven new cancer research projects through Winship Invest$. The peer-reviewed pilot grant program is designed to accelerate novel, innovative cancer research across a range of disciplines at Winship. These pilot grants provide seed funding to generate preliminary data for subsequent peer-reviewed funding and publications.
Offered twice a year, Winship Invest$ solicits proposals in various strategic research domains. The most recent funding cycle focused on projects related to early detection, risk reduction and prevention; team science; precision immunotherapy; cancer metabolism; artificial intelligence; nutrition and cancer; cancer healthy equity; and two disease-specific domains, breast cancer and extramammary Paget’s disease.
Winship Invest$ is supported by philanthropic contributions to Winship as well as developmental funds from Winship's Cancer Center Support Grant (P30CA138292) awarded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
The seven newly awarded Winship Invest$ pilot grants are listed below.
Cancer Predisposition in Pediatric and Adolescent Populations – Research and Engagement (PREPARE)
- Karen Effinger, MD, MS
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University - Philip Lupo, PhD, MPH
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University - Tamara Miller, MD, MSCE
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Developing SHMT1/2 inhibitor therapy for infant medulloblastoma using nanoparticle-delivered POx-SHIN2
- Timothy Gershon, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University - Andrey Tikunov, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Empower LCS+: A Multilevel Intervention to Improve Lung Cancer Screening Uptake in Georgia
- Ilana Graetz, PhD
Professor, Department of Health Policy & Management
Emory University Rollins School of Public Health
Co-Leader, Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Stage-Specific Immunoregulation by T-bet⁺CXCR3⁺ Tregs in Nutrition-Driven Steatohepatitis and Liver Cancer
- Chaoran Li, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Cancer Immunology Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
AI-assisted synthetic protein design for use in CAR engineering
- Sarwish Rafiq, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Cancer Immunology Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University - Tyler Beyett, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Patients’ Experiences with Diagnosis, Treatment and Survivorship of Extramammary Paget’s Disease (EMPD)
- Howa Yeung, MD, MSc
Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Understanding and Exploiting the NMT1/2 Myristoylome for Breast Cancer Therapy
- David Yu, MD, PhD
Professor and Jerome Landry, MD, Chair of Cancer Biology, Department of Radiation Oncology
Emory University School of Medicine
Member, Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University - Mylin Torres, MD
James W. Keller Distinguished Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
Emory University School of Medicine
Clinical Translational Liaison, Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University