Spotlight: New Mission Boost and Discovery Boost Grants
In the Fall 2024 grant cycle, American Cancer Society invests more than $12 million in new exploratory and translational grants.
Last Fall, the American Cancer Society (ACS) released the full list of 245 new and renewed research grants that were awarded between August 1 and December 31, 2024. Reflecting the ACS commitment to funding cutting edge research and bringing new treatments and preventative approaches to patients as quickly as possible, this new slate of grants includes 37 new Discovery Boost Grants and 4 new Mission Boost Grants. Through these two mechanisms, ACS will be investing over $12 million in innovative new research projects on a range of topics.
One of our research priorities at ACS is helping scientists move their research from the lab into the clinic where it can directly benefit patients. The new avenues being pursued through these Discovery Boost and Mission Boost grants show great promise to improve cancer prevention, detection, and treatment in both the short and long-term.”
Today, we are highlighting several of the standout projects from the Discovery Boost and Mission Boost grantees that are part of the larger Fall 2024 grant slate.
Learn More About These Grants and Our 2024 Fall Grantees
All Fall 2024 Research Grants (PDF)
Spotlight: Fall 2024 Discovery Boost Grantee Projects
ACS Discovery Boost Grants support high-risk, high-reward exploratory cancer research across the research continuum. Discovery Boost Grants are for short-term projects (up to 2 years in length) investigating new ideas with the intention of generating preliminary data that can be leveraged to secure additional grant funding in the future.
Highlights from the new slate of Discovery Boost Grants awarded in Fall 2024 include:
Kyle Bohnert, PhD
St. Ambrose University
Project Title: "Pharmacological Inhibition of the IRE1a/XBP1 Signaling Axis to Alleviate Skeletal Muscle Wasting During Cancer Cachexia"
Cancer cachexia is a devastating wasting syndrome that may affect more than 75% of patients with advanced cancer. Through this project, Dr. Bohnert will test newly developed drugs that have the potential to block a signaling pathway in cells that may underlie the development of cachexia in cancer patients. This project will focus on a new therapeutic strategy specifically for treating cachexia.
Ani Deshpande, PhD
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Project Title: "Multimodal Investigation of Risk-Associated ‘Stemness’ Attributes in AML"
In this project, Dr. Deshpande will investigate the contribution of specific prognostic genes to various facets of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a form of cancer with low survival rates. He is specifically interested in understanding how the expression of these genes may divide AML patients into groups with longer or shorter predicted survival rates by changing the responsiveness of their cancer to treatment.
Dynamic Precision Medicine for Drug Resistant HER2+/ER+ Breast Cancer
Georgetown University
Spotlight: Fall 2024 Mission Boost Grantee Projects
ACS Mission Boost Grants provide support to select current or past ACS grantees to translate their research into human testing, with a Mission Boost Grants focus on innovative, high-risk, high reward projects and are awarded in two stages.
Stage I funding to develop specific milestones related to risk reduction for patients, and Stage II funding for direct testing in humans.
Highlights from the new slate of Discovery Boost Grants awarded in Fall 2024 include:
Shannon Stott, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Stage 1 Funding
Project Title: “Validation of a Blood-Based Microfluidic Assay to Predict Adverse Events in Melanoma Patients”
Through two prior grants that were also funded by ACS, Dr. Stott and her team have developed a new blood test to better monitor immunotherapy-related adverse events relative to treatment success in melanoma patients. This new grant will enable Dr. Stott to conduct a pilot test of this new technology using samples from a large biobank, moving it one step closer to use with patients in the clinic. Dr. Stott’s grant is being funded by a generous donation from the Fairfield County Research Council.
Jing Yang, PhD
Houston Methodist Research Institute
Stage 1 Funding
Project Title: “Targeting ACSS2 for Improving Multiple Myeloma Therapy”
This project will build on Dr. Yang’s earlier ACS-funded work to identify potential therapeutic targets to prevent bone loss in multiple myeloma. With this new grant, Dr. Yang will conduct translational studies focused on potential inhibitors of a key enzyme called Acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2) that is known to contribute to poorer outcomes. If successful, these inhibitors have the potential to increase the efficacy of current frontline drugs, thereby improving multiple myeloma patients’ quality of life and survival.
See Currently Funded Grants to learn more about the more than 700 research grants we're currently funding.
See ACS Grant Mechanisms for upcoming grant opportunities.
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