PanCAN, RTFCCR and Gateway Award

The new Clinical Continuation Continuation Research Grant has been awarded to David Boothman, Ph.D, professor and associate director for translational research in pharmacology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Boothman will receive $1 million over three years in funding to support next steps after the completion of his Innovative Grant, which was awarded by the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in 2012. The new project entitled “Exploiting an NQO1 ‘Kiss of Death’ for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy” involves further laboratory and initial clinical trial testing of Dr. Boothman’s novel strategy to exploit an abnormality in pancreatic cells to selectively kill the tumor. For the clinical trial, Dr. Boothman will collaborate with Dr. Shaalan Beg (UT Southwestern) and Dr. Daniel Laheru at Johns Hopkins University.

“These grants support research into high-priority areas in an effort to reach the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s goal to double pancreatic cancer survival by 2020,” said Julie Fleshman, president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. “Partnerships with the Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research and Gateway for Cancer Research represent a focused effort at providing financial support for researchers who are moving their discoveries toward benefiting patients.”

“We are thrilled about the potential of this partnership with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and Gateway for Cancer Research,” said Eveline Mumenthaler, Director of Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research.“Together, we were able to identify and fund this important research, which neither organization would have been able to support independently. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer and it is crucial that we support promising studies to further accelerate research that provides hopeful and immediate options for patients everywhere fighting this disease.”

“By working together we can truly advance promising research that is a potentially life-changing therapy for pancreatic cancer patients,” said Teresa Hall Bartels, president of Gateway for Cancer Research.“We view Dr. Boothman’s care of his patients as bringing us one step closer to Gateway’s vision of a world in which a cancer diagnosis is no longer feared. We are excited to collaborate with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and Rising Tide to support this important work.”

Pancreatic cancer has historically been understudied and underfunded, yet it is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, and is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death by 2020. Pancreatic cancer has the lowest five-year survival rate of major cancers, at just 6 percent.