NEWPORT, RI — October 18, 2021 -- Hope Funds for Cancer Research, dedicated to advancing research for the most difficult-to-treat cancers, has announced that Rigny Turnham, Ph.D., is the recipient of Grillo-Marxuach Family Fellowship.
"Hope Funds is deeply grateful to Dr. Antonio Grillo-Lopez and Maria S. Grillo for this generous support," said Leah Rush Cann, Chair, Hope Funds Executive Committee.
"Postdoctoral studies, research and mentorship are important steps beyond the doctoral degrees our Hope Funds Fellows have achieved," said Mrs. Cann. "These aspects help augment the potential for excellence in research of Fellows, such as Dr. Turnham, and lead to important work."
About Rigney Turnham, Ph.D.
Dr. Turnham is at the University of California San Francisco, in the laboratory of John Gordan, M.D., Ph.D. She received her B.S. in Biochemistry from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her lab has focused on the causes of liver cancer, specifically the hepatitis B virus (HBV) to identify targetable mechanisms of tumor initiation and growth. The goal of her project is to identify signaling dependencies in hepatocellular carcinoma by understanding the effects of HBV on phosphatase and kinase complexes, and thus nominate new therapeutic targets for this difficult to treat cancer.
About the Grillo-Marxuach Family Fellowship
San Diego residents Antonio Grillo-Lopez and Maria S. Grillo created this named gift with Hope Funds for Cancer Research on behalf of the Grillo-Marxuach Family. Antonio Grillo-Lopez and his wife Maria stated they had provided the gift to serve to fund cancer research conducted by promising young scientists in the expectation that new therapies will be found leading to cures for the as yet incurable cancers. Dr. Grillo-Lopez has received numerous awards for his research achievements including the 2007 Hope Funds for Cancer Research Award of Excellence for Clinical Science for the development of the first monoclonal antibody cancer therapy, rituximab; and has served on the Hope Funds Board of Trustees since 2008, with the designation of Life Trustee since 2017.
About the Hope Funds Fellowships
The Hope Funds for Cancer Research supports research for highly innovative projects that challenge the traditional paradigms associated with understanding the causes, mechanisms, progression, disease markers, or risk factors of the most difficult-to-treat cancers. Hope Funds believes it is important to emphasize creative approaches to research and award grants to young scientists based on the following criteria: project innovation and originality; the significance and direct relevance of the research proposal; the project's approach and conceptual framework; the researcher's qualifications and those of his or her mentors; and the quality of the researcher's overall working environment.
About Hope Funds for Cancer Research
Hope Funds for Cancer Research was formed in 2006 to establish a funding vehicle that would take a rational scientific, medical, and investment approach to making grants for the most innovative and promising research efforts to address the most difficult-to-treat cancers, including pancreatic, lung, liver, sarcomas, esophageal, brain, gastric, renal and ovarian cancers, as well as rare leukemias, lymphomas and MDS. These cancers are insidiously aggressive illnesses that kill most of their victims within months, even with aggressive chemotherapy. The Trustees of the Hope Funds for Cancer Research believe that funding young, innovative researchers will lead to breakthroughs in these areas and increase life expectancy for those with these types of cancers. The Hope Funds for Cancer Research is a 509 (a)(1) charity under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service's code.
For additional information about the organization, please visit www.hope-funds.org or call (401) 847-3286.
Hope Funds for Cancer Research: Advancing innovative research in understudied cancers
Hope Funds for Cancer Research is an independent and unaffiliated non-profit organization
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