Researchers in Sweden and United States Awarded New ThyCa Grants in 2012

We are proud to announce the awarding of 6 thyroid cancer research grants, including three new thyroid cancer research grants and three 2011 continuation grants, all funded by the patients and families who contribute to ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association. This is the ninth consecutive year in which ThyCa has awarded research grants.

One of the new grants is named the Ric Blake Memorial Thyroid Cancer Research Grant, named for ThyCa Co-Founder Ric Blake in honor of his dedication and commitment to ThyCa and to our goal of better futures for everyone with thyroid cancer, everywhere in the world.

The three new research grants are awarded to:

• Niklas Finnberg, Ph.D., Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Hershey, Pennsylvania, for the project titled “Sorafenib and Quinacrine as Potential Combination for Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma.”
• Aime Franco, Ph.D., University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, for the project titled “The Role of RAS versus RAF in Thyroid Cancer Development and Progression.”
• Andreas Lundqvist, Ph.D., Cancer Center Karolinska, Stockholm, Sweden, for the project titled “Study the Role of Natural Killer Cells in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma.” Dr. Lundqvist is the recipient of the Ric Blake Memorial Thyroid Cancer Research Grant.

The three 2011 continuation grants are awarded to:

• Naifa L. Busaidy, M.D., University of Texas – M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, for the project “A PI3K Based Phophoproteome Signature To Predict Prognosis and Response to Therapy in BRAF Mutant Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.”
• Joanna Klubo-Gwiezdzinska, M.D., Ph.D., Washington Hospital Center/Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., for the project, “The Role of the Translocator Protein (TSPO) in the Thyroid Cancer Response to Treatment.”
• Carmelo Nucera, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, for the project “Targeting BRAFV600E with an Orally Available Selective Inhibitor in Novel In Vitro and In Vivo Preclinical Models of Human Papillary Thyroid Cancer.”

Researchers and institutions worldwide are eligible for ThyCa grants. The winning grant proposals were selected by an independent expert panel of the American Thyroid Association (ATA), the professional association of research and clinical thyroidologists. Our thanks to the ATA for your ongoing support and collaboration.

Generous financial support from thousands of contributors make possible ThyCa’s annual research grants. Thank you very much to everyone for their support. No contribution is too large or too small. Everyone is invited to join the Rally for Research.

Together, we make a difference in our future, and are helping advance understanding and research for better management of our cancer as well as cures, toward our dream of a future free of thyroid cancer.