BCRF and Partners Award Grants to Early- and Mid-Career Researchers
By BCRF | November 15, 2022
By BCRF | November 15, 2022
BCRF is committed to supporting promising researchers at early and midway points in their careers, which are times when funding may be more challenging to obtain. To accomplish this, we have long partnered with Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and, more recently, we have teamed up with the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) to award grants to researchers at these stages of their careers.
BCRF leverages these partnerships to create a more diverse scientific workforce and support early-career researchers focused on breast cancer disparities. Increasing diversity and inclusion in the oncology and academic biomedical research workforce is vital to ensuring that all researchers who wish to contribute to cancer can have a chance. Below, we highlight this year’s awardees.
Conquer Cancer award recipients are exploring research topics as diverse as the researchers themselves. All Conquer Cancer awards help support investigators who are part of racial/ethnic groups that have been traditionally excluded in academic medicine and breast cancer research. BCRF supported three categories of awards through Conquer Cancer this year.
Six Young Investigator Award winners will receive one year of support as they seek to build a career in clinical cancer research and transition from fellowship programs to faculty appointments:
Two candidates received Advanced Clinical Research Awards, which are given to early- or mid-career clinical investigators who are conducting original breast cancer research that’s not currently funded:
The BCRF/Conquer Cancer five-year Research Professorship in Breast Cancer Disparities was awarded to Mylin A. Torres, MD of Emory University School of Medicine. This award provides support for an investigator’s research project while encouraging them to mentor the next generation of researchers. Dr. Torres will lead research to explore if genetic variations associated with race influence a person’s risk for treatment-related side effects and if they could be significant drivers of disparities in early-stage breast cancer.
BCRF’s Career Development Awards in partnership with AACR seek to foster successful career paths for investigators from diverse backgrounds who are underrepresented in breast cancer research and who are newly appointed to faculty positions. This year, BCRF supported two awards:
Through our partnership with ASTRO, we are supporting two, one-year seed grants for early-career residents and fellows who are addressing disparities and barriers to breast cancer care. By opening the application process to trainees, we seek to position them for more robust mentorship, set solid foundations for their scientific careers, and decrease attrition rates. Both recipients are residents in their institutions’ radiation oncology departments:
Together, these partnership grants not only enable BCRF to support the next generation of breast cancer researchers, but they help diversify the research field—ultimately bolstering balanced and equitable breast cancer care in the U.S. and globally.
When you give to BCRF, you're funding critical hours in the lab. More time for research means longer, healthier lives for the ones we love.