Cancer Frontier Fund Supports 12 New Cancer Research Projects

We are pleased to announce that The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital recently helped fund 12 new projects through the Siteman Investment Program (SIP), a research grant program at Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine.

In total, SIP awarded $2.42 million from a variety of sources, including nearly $1.85 million from the Cancer Frontier Fund and other cancer research funds at the Foundation. The Cancer Frontier Fund includes gifts from generous donors made throughout the year and through the Foundation’s annual Illumination Gala and Pedal the Cause’s annual bike challenge.

SIP is a biannual, highly competitive, peer-reviewed grant program designed to accelerate innovation in cancer research. These grants provide researchers with the opportunities to gather critical evidence necessary to compete for larger federal funding. Often, this early-stage funding determines the ability, success, and rate at which scientific discoveries can progress from an early idea to patient care and treatment. And, for every dollar of philanthropic support, SIP grant recipients leverage an additional $14 from national funding to expand and accelerate research.

Sidharth Puram, MD, PhD, FACS, a 2022 SIP grant recipient, made exceptional progress thanks to this philanthropic support. His Pre-R01 preliminary research examined metastasis and treatment response in head and neck cancer—and the science continues to advance thanks to a $4 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“Funding from SIP has fundamentally altered our pursuit of science,” Dr. Puram says. “It enabled us to engage in high-risk, high-reward research that the NIH would have never supported without these key preliminary data.”

Dr. Puram knows the difference a SIP grant can make in the progression of research—and he continues to apply for grants. His new clinical trial exploring the treatment options for HPV-related throat cancer was awarded funding this cycle.

For over 15 years, the Cancer Frontier Fund has supported more than 197 promising cancer research projects through SIP—including this cycle’s four new clinical trials; one team science trial; and seven Pre-R01 preliminary projects, with two projects in collaboration with the University of Missouri. Through this research, investigators, including Dr. Puram, are aiming to improve the understanding of tumor formation and growth, develop safer and more effective therapies, and explore new cancer screening strategies.

Newly Funded Projects Include:

Clinical Trials

• Phase II Study of Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Plus FAK and RAF/MEK Inhibition in Advanced Pancreas Adenocarcinoma

Principal Investigator: Hyun Kim, MD

Co-Principal Investigators: Patrick Grierson, MD, PhD; David DeNardo, PhD

• Therapeutic RSK1 Targeting in Myeloid Malignancies

Principal Investigator: Stephen Oh, MD, PhD

• Phase II Trial of Surgery Followed by Risk-Directed Post-Operative Adjuvant Therapy for HPV-Related Oropharynx Squamous Cell Carcinoma: “The Minimalist Trial-2 (MINT-2)”

Principal Investigator: Sidharth Puram, MD, PhD

Co-Principal Investigator: Douglas Adkins, MD

• A Multicenter Phase II Study of Propranolol for the Treatment of Kaposi Sarcoma in Adults

Principal Investigator: Lee Ratner, MD, PhD

Co-Principal Investigator: Thomas Odeny, MD, MPH, PhD

Team Science

• Elucidating Mechanisms and Translational Strategies To Enhance Therapeutic Anti-Tumor Immunity

Principal Investigator: Todd Fehniger, MD, PhD

Project Leads: Carl DeSelm, MD, PhD; Robert Schreiber, PhD; Nathan Singh MD, MS

Preliminary Research (Pre-R01)

• Optimizing Targeted Alpha-Emitter Radiopharmaceutical Therapy for Intraperitoneal Carcinomatosis

Principal Investigator: Remco Bastiaannet, PhD

Co-Principal Investigator: David Bauer, PhD (University of Missouri)

• Diet-Related Therapies To Enhance Radiation Anti-Tumor Responses and Minimize Toxicity

Principal Investigator: Carmen Bergom, MD

• Bacteria To Treat Brain Tumors

Principal Investigator: Paul de Figueiredo, PhD (University of Missouri)

Co-Principal Investigator: Milan G. Chheda, MD

• Adapting a Multi-Level Intervention To Increase Lung Cancer Screening and Reduce Rural Cancer Disparities

Principal Investigator: Aimee James, PhD, MPH

• Characterizing Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Tumor Immune Microenvironments To Inform Rationale Combination of Y-90 Radioembolization and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Through Spatial Transcriptomics

Principal Investigator: Christopher Malone, MD

• Targeting c-Myc Transcriptional Stress in Cancer

Principal Investigator: Nima Mosammaparast, MD, PhD

Co-Principal Investigator: Hani Zaher, PhD

• Functional Impact and Clinical Application of DNA Methylation Epimutations in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Principal Investigator: David Spencer, MD, PhD

Through the Cancer Frontier Fund and other cancer research funds at the Foundation, donors are helping to provide SIP grants to research scientists and physicians attempting to solve cancer’s most pressing challenges. This early-stage research funding accelerates the pace of discovery, resulting in better treatments for cancer patients. Donor support of the Cancer Frontier Fund is critical to ensure the fund is replenished and that each generation has access to leading-edge 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 the Cancer Center Support Grant from the National Cancer Institute, the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Research Fund, and various philanthropic gifts to Siteman Cancer Center.