Metavivor is thrilled to award an additional six metastatic breast cancer research grants for $750,000. It brings the 2020 metastatic breast cancer research grant award total to $4.4 million!
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (PRWEB) February 04, 2021
METAvivor Research and Support Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for Stage IV metastatic breast cancer (MBC), announces six additional grant awards, bringing the 2020 grant award total to $4,400,000. The research grants will enhance the understanding of metastatic breast cancer, help improve current treatments and develop greatly needed therapeutic options to combat this complicated disease.
Metastatic breast cancer (also known as Stage IV or advanced stage cancer) is the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body -- most commonly to the bones, liver, lungs and/or brain. Approximately 30% of breast cancer patients metastasize, with the mean survival after diagnosis being 33 months. In the US, only 2-5% of all cancer research funds are dedicated to Stage IV cancer research – yet 98% of all breast cancer deaths are caused by a metastasis.
“We announced our 2020 grant awards in early January and were thrilled to have a solid grant year in spite of the pandemic. When we totaled our year end donations for research, we were able to award an additional six grants bringing this year’s research award total to 29 grants and a grand total of $4.4 million” said Jamil Rivers, President of METAvivor’s Board of Directors “We are humbled that our supporters have helped us exceed our goal for funding stage IV metastatic breast cancer in 2020 and we look forward to awarding an even higher amount of research grants in 2021.”
The additional METAvivor grant awards include both Early Career Investigator grants for $100,000 and a Translational Research Grant award of $250,000 for 2020.
“Research is our number one priority. It is imperative we increase research funding for stage IV metastatic breast cancer so that we can find life extending treatments. We continue to lose 114 people every day to metastatic breast cancer.” Said Rivers. “The hope is that the vital research that is being funded will help fulfill the promise to transform metastatic breast cancer from a terminal disease into a chronic, manageable condition.” METAvivor sends a “thank you” to the donors, fundraisers, research partners, sponsors and the metastatic breast cancer community for helping reach the research goal for 2020.
Below are the six additional Research Grant Awards:
Congratulations to Metavivor’s Translational Research Grant Awardees
Adrian Lee, PhD - University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center -Targeting RET for the treatment of breast cancer brain metastasis
Congratulations to the Metavivor Early Career Investigator Grant Awardees
Blake “Eason” Hildreth, DVM, MS, PhD – University of Alabama, Birmingham - Targeting the CSF1R/PU.1 axis and PU.1/BET super-enhancer regulome in breast cancer bone metastasis
Julie Di Martino, PhD – Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Targeting dormant breast cancer cells with ACE inhibitors
Nathan Reticker-Flynn, MD – University of Washington - Targeting lymph node-induced immune tolerance to treat metastatic breast cancer
Lou Song, PhD – University of Virginia - Oncogenic TRIM37 is a new driver of metastasis in triple negative breast cancer patients
Kim Tae-Hyung, PhD – University of New Mexico - Harnessing cell mechanotype to regulate the immune evasion of highly metastatic breast cancer cells
ABOUT METAVIVOR
METAvivor Research and Support Inc. is an Annapolis-based, 501(c)(3), volunteer-led, non-profit organization founded by metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients in 2009. The organization’s main focus is to fund critical research that will lead to advances in treatment options, quality of life and survival for patients diagnosed with MBC. Since 2009, METAvivor has awarded 135 research grants totaling $18 million. METAvivor is the only national organization with a peer-reviewed grant program aimed at exclusively funding metastatic breast cancer research, and 100% of all donations go to fund research.
METAvivor also raises awareness of MBC, provides support for people living with this disease, and offers opportunities for others to help make a difference for the metastatic community. METAvivor has gained a rapidly growing following within the breast cancer community and has become a leader in its field.
Visit METAvivor at http://www.METAvivor.org, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.