BCRF Announces Grants to Support Early-Career Breast Cancer Researchers

Partnerships with leading cancer organizations support early and mid-career investigators focused on breast cancer research

BCRF is committed to supporting promising researchers early in their careers, when funding may be more challenging to obtain. We’ve teamed up with leading cancer organizations Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation; the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR); and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) to do this. BCRF is invested in emerging investigators through these awards because early career funding, mentorship opportunities, and added visibility are critical to help establish their careers and advance fresh ideas that make up the frontiers of science.

We are proud to announce the 2025-26 award recipients. 

Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation Awards

This year, BCRF is supporting 12 awards in three award categories through Conquer Cancer.

The six awardees below received the Young Investigator Award, which empowers them to begin building their careers in clinical breast cancer research. These awards provide funding support during the transition from a fellowship program to a faculty appointment.

• Devora Isseroff, MD of Yale University is focused on understanding the biological differences between breast cancers diagnosed as stage 4 and those that advance after treatment. Dr. Isseroff’s award is in honor of BCRF’s Founding Scientific Director Dr. Larry Norton.
• Aamod Dekhne, MD, PhD of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota is developing and testing new treatment combinations for patients with triple-negative breast cancer. Dr. Dekhne’s award is in honor of Susan Hirschhorn and in memory of her mother.
• Phaedon Zavras, MD of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is investigating how combination therapy improves outcomes in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Dr. Zavras’s award is in memory of BCRF’s founder, Evelyn H. Lauder.
• Julia Ransohoff, MD of Stanford University is developing new methods to detect remaining cancer in breast tissue after chemotherapy.
• Zunairah Shah, MD of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is identifying new targeted treatments for triple-negative breast cancer.
• Daniel Peiffer, MD, PhD of the University of Chicago is expanding the pool of patients with metastatic breast cancer who could benefit from targeted treatments.

Three researchers received Career Development Awards, which support investigators who have received their first faculty appointments—helping them establish independent, patient-focused breast cancer research programs.

• Dionisia Quiroga, DO, PhD of the Ohio State University is improving treatment options for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
• Jasmine Sukumar, MD of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is evaluating how exercise impacts immunotherapy efficacy in triple-negative breast cancer.
• Federica Miglietta, MD, PhD of the University of Padova is developing a new tool to improve treatment decision-making in metastatic breast cancer.

Three researchers received Advanced Clinical Research Awards, which support mid-career investigators conducting clinical and translational breast cancer research.

• Filipa Lynce, MD of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is developing personalized treatment approaches for patients with inflammatory breast cancer.
• Neil Vasan, MD, PhD of New York University is uncovering the origins of treatment resistance in estrogen receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer.
• Enrique Soto Peréz de Celis, MD, PhD of the University of Colorado is investigating unique challenges faced by older adults with breast cancer from racial and ethnic minority groups.

AACR Awards

This year, BCRF is supporting five AACR Career Development Awards to promote diversity and inclusion. These awards support investigators from diverse backgrounds who are underrepresented in breast cancer research in order to foster their career advancement and build a more inclusive future for the field. The funded research projects address many aspects of the disease.

• Maria Teresita Branham, PhD of Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza, Argentina is targeting the ID4 protein that is active in triple-negative breast cancer to make tumors less aggressive.
• Temidayo Fadelu, MD of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is improving outcomes for patients with breast cancer in Rwanda by reducing the stigma around the disease through community interventions.
• Mercedes Fuertes, PhD of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina is improving immunotherapy by targeting MICA, a stress-induced protein that can attract immune cells, to enhance anti-tumor immune activity.
• Fernanda Kugeratski, PhD of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is working to understand the biology of cancer-associated fibroblasts, an abundant cell population of breast tumors that have a pro-tumorigenic function, to uncover ways to specifically target them.
• Fresia Pareja, MD, PhD of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is developing antibody-drug conjugates specifically to treat invasive lobular carcinoma, a type of breast cancer that is biologically distinct from the more common invasive ductal carcinoma.

ASTRO Awards

The ASTRO-BCRF Emerging Investigator Award invests in the ideas and the career development of early-career scientists who are advancing breast cancer care and radiation medicine. This year, Zhen Guo, PhD of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis received the award for his research into understanding and preventing heart damage that may occur in patients who receive radiation and chemotherapy.

Our partnerships with these leading cancer organizations help BCRF support the next generation of breast cancer researchers. And by doing so, we hope to continue to support the research pipeline and nurture the talent of today that powers the progress of tomorrow.

This article was written by Diana Schlamadinger, PhD and Marisa Rubio, PhD.