ThyCa Awards New Research Grants: 100% of Funds Go to Research

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. is proud to announce the 2007 ThyCa Research Grants, including two new grants and two continuation grants.

First awarded in 2003, and continuing every year since then, ThyCa’s grants are the first-ever thyroid cancer research grants to be funded entirely by thyroid cancer patients, caregivers, and friends.

The grants are open to researchers and institutions worldwide. An independent expert panel of the American Thyroid Association (ATA), the leading professional organization of thyroidologists in the U.S., evaluated the grant proposals and selected the projects to be funded. ThyCa extends thanks from all of us to the ATA for its wonderful support.

This year’s new ThyCa grant recipients are:

  • Krystian Jazdzewski, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland, and Visiting Scientist, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Jazdzewski’s research will focus on the role of miR146a in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
  • Mabel Ryder, M.D., Assistant Attending Physician, Division of Endocrinology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York. Dr. Ryder’s team will examine the role of Tumor-Associated Macrophages (TAMs) on thyroid cancer progression.

In addition, ThyCa has awarded a second year of funding to its two 2006 grant recipients:

  • Lionel Groussin, M.D., Ph.D., Cochin Institut, Paris, France, who is studying how particular enzymes in thyroid cells may suppress thyroid cancer.
  • Xianmin Xia, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, who is studying a factor that may affect proliferation of human medullary thyroid cancer cells, as well as anaplastic and poorly differentiated papillary thyroid cancer cells.

Thanks to all of us, who have joined together to raise funds for thyroid cancer research. Whether small or large, all of our contributions count.

Together, we are able to accomplish what most of us cannot do individually—fund independently reviewed research toward cures for all thyroid cancers!

ThyCa has two Research Funds. One fund supports research on follicular-cell-derived thyroid cancer, including papillary, follicular, anaplastic, and variants. The other fund supports research on medullary thyroid cancer.

Both funds welcome contributions of any size. ThyCa is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and all donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Our Research grants are open to all researchers and institutions worldwide. The American Thyroid Association donates the crucial peer review service and administrative costs to ThyCa, ensuring that 100% of all money donated to ThyCa for research goes directly into research. ThyCa greatly appreciates the support of the ATA.

“ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association is thrilled to raise much-needed funds for thyroid cancer research, and is grateful for the opportunity to work with the ATA. We’re especially pleased that we have the opportunity to provide these funds to the best thyroid cancer research projects proposed by young investigators, with applications open to researchers and research centers worldwide,” said ThyCa Executive Director Gary Bloom.

“These grants are an important ongoing step as ThyCa constituents around the globe continue to raise funds urgently needed for research to improve the treatment and find cures for all thyroid cancer,” said Bloom. “We are grateful to everyone in the ATA for their commitment, concern, and support for people coping with thyroid cancer.”

In 2003, ThyCa proudly awarded our first thyroid cancer research grant. We continue to award at least one grant per year. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, we awarded two 2-year grants.

Grant recipients from 2003 – 2007 include researchers at the following institutions:

  • Cochin Institut, Paris, France
  • Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
  • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
  • Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio and Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
  • Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
  • University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
  • University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Our thanks to all our generous donors and volunteers for making these grants possible.

ThyCa invites everyone to join us in our quest to find a cure for all Thyroid Cancer, one of the few cancers that is increasing in incidence.

To find out more about our Research Funds, Rally for Research, and opportunities to contribute through the Combined Federal Campaign and other programs, visit http://www.thyca.org/how-to-help/research-funds/.