NCCN Foundation Announces 2024 Young Investigator Awards

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the NCCN Foundation announced five winners for the 2024 NCCN Foundation Young Investigator Awards (YIA). These annual awards honor some of the most promising new oncology researchers from across NCCN’s Member Institutions. Investigator selection and project oversight is organized through the NCCN Oncology Research Program (ORP). Funding of up to $150,000 over two years per awardee will be provided by the NCCN Foundation.

“It is always a great honor to be able to support up-and-coming talent in the field of cancer research,” said Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN—a former NCCN Foundation YIA recipient. “We have the honor of supporting people who are involved in exciting new research and give them tools to take their careers—and our understanding of cancer—to an even higher level. I congratulate all five recipients and look forward to seeing what they do in the future.”

The 2024 NCCN Foundation Young Investigator Award recipients are:

• Zachary Burke, MD, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center/University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, for Identification and Exploitation of Collateral Sensitivity in Treatment Resistant Osteosarcoma
• Alexander Muir, PhD, The UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center for Targeting Microenvironmental Synthetic Lethalities in Pancreatic Cancer
• Andreas Rauschecker, MD, PhD, MSc, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center for Deep Learning Radiogenomic Analysis of Primary CNS Lymphoma on Brain MRI
• James Smithy, MD, MHS, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for A Phase 2 Trial of IO102/IO103 and Nivolumab-Relatlimab Fixed-dose Combination in Previously Untreated, Unresectable Melanoma
• Jennifer N. Vega, PhD, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center for Neuroplasticity-Based Cognitive Remediation for Persistent Cancer/ Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairment

“The YIA program is a cornerstone of our work to advance cancer care,” said Patrick Delaney, Executive Director, NCCN Foundation. “These awards help cultivate and encourage some of the nation’s top next-generation cancer researchers as they guide the course of treatment innovation and advancement.”