Cancer Frontier Fund Supports Eight New Cancer Research Projects

Gifts to the Cancer Frontier Fund at The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital recently funded eight projects through the Siteman Investment Program (SIP), a research grant program at The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. In total, Siteman Cancer Center disbursed $1.5 million from a variety of sources, including $1.2 million from the Cancer Frontier Fund.

SIP is a biannual, highly competitive, peer-reviewed grant program designed to accelerate innovation in cancer research. SIP provides researchers with catalyst funding to test novel ideas and launch early-stage research necessary to secure larger federal grants and act on breakthroughs. SIP recipients have leveraged an additional $12 in federal grants for every $1 awarded through SIP to sustain and expand projects.

The Cancer Frontier Fund includes gifts from the Foundation’s annual Illumination Gala, Pedal the Cause’s annual bike challenge, and donations throughout the year. 

“It’s an honor to steward our donors’ gifts to fuel long-term innovation in cancer research through this program,” says Susan Ell, vice president and executive director of The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “Significant and transformative change for cancer patients is underway as a result.”

Projects receiving SIP awards include:

• Pilot Clinical Trial of Neoadjuvant SGLT2 Inhibition in High-Risk Localized Prostate Cancer
  Principal Investigator: Melissa Reimers, MD
• Cabozantinib in High Grade Neuroendocrine Neoplasms
  Principal Investigator: Nikolaos Trikalinos, MD, MS
• Posttranscriptional Regulation of the Telomerase RNA Component is a Major Determinant of Hematopoietic Failure in Telomerase Mutants
  Principal Investigator: Luis Batista, PhD
• Brain Tumor Treatment as a Promoter of Tumor Recurrence
  Principal Investigator: Milan G. Chheda, MD
• Priming Antitumor T-cell Responses in vivo with CAR Antigen Presenting Cells
  Principal Investigator: Carl DeSelm, MD, PhD
• Mechanisms of Tumor Immune Evasion
  Principal Investigator: Roberta Faccio, PhD
• Circular RNA Encoded Peptides in Colon Cancer
  Principal Investigator: Ryan Fields, MD, BS
• Knowledge and Beliefs about Alcohol Consumption as a Risk Factor for Cancer
  Principal Investigator: Amy McQueen, PhD

Availability of funding often determines the ability, success, and rate at which scientific discoveries can progress from an early idea to patient care and treatment making your support critical to ensure the fund is replenished and that each generation has access to the most innovative therapies.

Make a gift to the Cancer Frontier Fund today. 

Additional SIP Funding
In addition to gifts to the Cancer Frontier Fund at The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital, further support for SIP comes from Swim Across America – St. Louis and the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Research Fund.