For
Immediate Release
(New York, NY – December 18, 2008) Uniting Against Lung Cancer (Joan’s Legacy) announces the "Caine Halter Hope Now Award for Lung Cancer Research.”
The annual Hope Now Award is intended for the research lab and its leader showing the most progress in lung cancer research in a particular year. The purpose of the award is to publicly honor and recognize excellence in lung cancer research and to encourage development of novel treatment options for lung cancer survivors.
Caine Halter was a healthy, 45-year old non-smoker whose life was taken by lung cancer in August 2007 after a valiant 13-month battle. Inspired by his courage and grace, Caine's family and friends are committed to raising funds for lung cancer research in his honor, so that others diagnosed may have a fighting chance to live. In 2008, The Caine Halter Fund for Lung Cancer Research began sponsorship of the Hope Now Award, which will hereafter be known as the Caine Halter Hope Now Award.
This year’s awardee is Eric Haura, M.D., of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Florida.
Dr. Haura is studying how mutated proteins in lung cells cause cancer. He is developing new drugs that will kill cancer cells by specifically blocking the function of these abnormal proteins.
In particular, his work continues to focus on tyrosine kinase signaling pathways in lung cancer. The main focus is on STAT signaling pathways, as well as SRC pathways, and preclinical and clinical studies are underway to better understand how inhibitors of these pathways may kill lung cancer cells. Finally, he and his team are invested in applying systems biology to understanding cancer signaling networks and how drugs impact these networks.
Uniting Against Lung Cancer Medical Committee nominated candidates for the award recognizing leading lung cancer research labs, with a specific individual as the recipient. The 2008 awardee, Dr. Haura, received a one-year award of $25,000 to apply towards lung cancer research.
Joan’s Legacy: Uniting Against Lung Cancer is a nonprofit organization committed to fighting lung cancer by funding innovative research and focusing greater attention on the world’s leading cancer killer. Funding $5 Million in new and cutting-edge research in just six years, Uniting Against Lung Cancer is fast becoming recognized as the “venture capital” source for ground-breaking lung cancer research.
|
