OCRA is pleased to award $7 million in ovarian cancer research funding for 2023, representing the largest annual research investment in our history. With this funding, 20 cancer researchers at 15 medical institutions across the country will pursue projects that break new ground in the fight against this disease.
Selected by OCRA’s Scientific Advisory Committee for their potential to move the needle forward, these studies focus on a wide range of issues impacting the ovarian cancer community — seeking to overcome PARP inhibitor resistance; identifying recurrent disease earlier; predicting response to treatment; finding new therapeutic targets and biomarkers; improving effectiveness of immunotherapy; understanding the mechanisms that drive pre-cancerous cells in the fallopian tube to develop into invasive ovarian cancer; and more.
“OCRA is thrilled to fund this promising group of scientists who are determined to build on our current scientific knowledge of ovarian cancer, and break new ground to find better ways to identify, prevent, and treat this terrible disease,” said Audra Moran, OCRA’s President & CEO.
Your support made this funding possible. We are deeply grateful to our entire community for your commitment to research, advocacy, and patient programs that can change the face of this disease, and save lives.
We look forward to sharing updates on our grantees and their projects, as well as news from across the ovarian cancer field, throughout the year. Learn more about our 2023 grantees and their exciting projects.
OCRA’s 2023 research grantees and projects
Mentored Investigator Grant Recipients
- Duaa Al-Rawi, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, “Examining the Early Events in Fallopian Tube Transformation”
- Antonio Delgado-Gonzalez, PhD, Stanford University, “Mapping the Spatial Proteomic Landscape of Ovarian Tumors”
- Joshua Eggold, PhD, Univeristy of Pennsylvania, “Functional Characterization of Distinct Ovarian Cancer Macrophage Subsets”
- Bisiayo Fashemi, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis, “Organoids to Evaluate an Epigenetic Drug Regimen for HR Proficient Ovarian”
- Chae Young Han, PhD, MD Anderson Cancer Center, “Detection of CA125-Negative Persistent and Recurrent Ovarian Cancer”
- Sonam Mittal, PhD, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc., “Exosome Loaded eIF4A1 Dependent Translational Reprogramming in Macrophages”
- Apoora Uboveja, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, “A Metabolic-Epigenetic Switch Affects DNA Repair Pathway Choice”
- Andres Valdivia, PhD, Northwestern University, “Complement Activation at the Interface Between Cancer Cells and Adipocytes”
- Chen Wang, PhD, MD Anderson Cancer Center, “Epigenetically Targeting Ovarian Cancer Associated Mesenchymal Stem Cells”
Early Career Investigator Grant Recipients
- Richard Adeyemi, DVM, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, “Synthetic Lethality of the Protexin and BRCA Complexes in Ovarian Cancer”
- Brooke Howitt, MD, Stanford University, “Identifying the Cell of Origin for High Grade Serous Carcinoma”
- Xiaowen Hu, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, “Targeting Chromatin Modifiers to Treat Ovarian Cancer”
- Haider Mahdi, MD, Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation, “Targeting CD47-SIRPa Axis to Overcome Therapy Resistance in Ovarian Cancer”
- AJ Robert McGray, PhD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, “BiTE-secreting T cells for Adoptive T cell Therapy in Ovarian Cancer”
- Kyle Payne, PhD, Rutgers University, “Mitochondrial Stress Impairs Protective T Cell Immunity in Ovarian Cancer”
- Priyanka Verma, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis, “Role of Chromatin on PARP Inhibitor Responses in BRCA-Mutant Ovarian Cancer”
Collaborative Research Development Grant Recipients
- Simon Gayther, PhD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, “iPSC Modeling of Ovarian Cancers in BRCA1 & 2 Mutation Carriers”
- Daniel Heller, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, “Perception-Based Detection of an Ovarian Cancer Disease Fingerprint” (in collaboration with Microsoft AI for Health)
- Kristopher Sarosiek, PhD, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, “Targeting Apoptotic Vulnerabilities in Ovarian Cancer”
- Shayan Shams, PhD, San Jose State University Research Foundation, “Employing AI to Predict Clinical Outcomes in Ovarian Cancer” (in collaboration with Microsoft AI for Health)
