New Brunswick, N.J. – Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey investigators have received $450,000 in funding to support research projects in immunotherapy and basic science research that could impact pancreatic, breast and other cancers. The Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellowship Grants were awarded by the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research (NJCCR).

“As New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute is dedicated to treatment, prevention, education and research. In order to learn more about the mechanisms that drive cancer, funding is needed to foster the work of early-career investigators who are working on elucidating future discoveries that will ultimately become tomorrow’s cancer treatments. We applaud the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research for supporting this critical investment in cancer research,” notes Rutgers Cancer Institute Deputy Director, Chief Scientific Officer and Associate Director for Basic Science Eileen White, PhD, who is also a distinguished professor of molecular biology and biochemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University.

The following investigators received a Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award in the amount of $100,000 each:

• Huailong Chang, PhD – Project: Metformin and RET in Pancreatic Cancer Metastasis -  Mentor: XiangLin Tan, MD, PhD, resident member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute; assistant professor of epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health; and assistant professor of medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School 
• Charles Brent Chesson, PhD – Project: Single Step Nanoparticle Antigen Presentation System for Cancer Immunotherapy - Mentor: Andrew Zloza, MD, PhD, resident member of the Clinical Investigations and Precision Therapeutics Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute; and assistant professor of surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• Mohammad Hadigol, PhD – Project: Data-Driven Cancer Diagnostic Pipeline Using Precision-Calibrated Deep-Sequencing Technology - Mentor: Hossein Khiabanian, PhD, resident member of the Genomic Instability and Cancer Genetics Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute; and assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• Gaurav Mehta, PhD – Project: BRG1 is a Master Regulator of P13K/Akt Signaling in Basal-Like Breast Cancer - Mentor: Michael Gatza, PhD, resident member of the Genomic Instability and Cancer Genetics Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute; and assistant professor of radiation oncology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

The following investigator received a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Award in the amount of $50,000:

• Samuel Kogan, BS – Project: The Role of Cellular Zinc Ion Homeostasis in the Mechanism of Zinc Metallochaperones as Mutant p53 Targeted Anti-Cancer Drugs - Mentor: Darren Carpizo, MD, PhD, resident member of the Clinical Investigations and Precision Therapeutics Program and the Cancer Pharmacology Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute; and associate professor of surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

The award period runs through 2018.

About Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (www.cinj.org) is the state’s first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. As part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Rutgers Cancer Institute is dedicated to improving the detection, treatment and care of patients with cancer, and to serving as an education resource for cancer prevention both at its flagship New Brunswick location and at its Newark campus at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital. Physician-scientists across Rutgers Cancer Institute also engage in translational research, transforming their laboratory discoveries into clinical practice that supports patients on both campuses. To make a tax-deductible gift to support the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, call 848-932-8013 or visit www.cinj.org/giving. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheCINJ.