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Summer is winding down and the temperatures are starting to drop, but the best part of fall is upon us. THE fall classic is coming up. “Closer to Free,” our annual Smilow/Yale Cancer Center fundraiser, is taking place this weekend, Saturday, September 7.

Most of you are very familiar with Closer to Free. Our fundraiser and community event is now in its 14^th year. We have approximately 2000 riders and countless volunteers registered. Each year, Closer to Free raises about $2 million for research and underfunded clinical programs. This year, we are hoping to exceed that level, and five years from now we hope to be raising $10 million annually. The money raised supports early phase research and newly developed clinical programs. It is the best investment that anyone can make.

I will be out on Saturday riding with 2000 partners. Whether you ride 10, 25, 40, 65, or 100 miles, you are part of a community that is focused on eliminating suffering and mortality from cancer. I have committed to riding 65 miles and am looking forward to the hours in the saddle. I will be joined by my oldest son and a friend, and that makes the ride even more enjoyable. Like many others, I find that riding is an opportunity to contemplate and review. I spend much of my time on the bike thinking about patients I have cared for and are no longer with us, as well as the many who have undergone treatment and are now thriving. I find that the rhythm of cycling, the consistent pedal stroke, the hard work, and the countryside allow me to clear my mind and focus on my work, the patients whom I have known and those who I continue to see, and the mission that we all embrace.

For me, Closer to Free is a special day, and like the many cycling fundraisers that I joined prior to coming to Yale, it provides a sense of peace and joy. Riding alongside of others who share the same commitment and interests makes the experience even more rewarding. And it makes me remember that there will be a time when we will no longer need cycling events to fund cancer research and programs, because cancer will be a disease of the past.

Whether you are riding, volunteering, or doing your own thing on Saturday, think of us and the forward movement we are taking with each pedal stroke. Thank you for being part of the Closer to Free family in whatever way you choose.

Fresh from its summer hiatus, Grand Rounds returned on a new day and time yesterday to a packed house to hear Peter Glazer, MD, PhD, Chair of Therapeutic Radiology present research on hypoxia biology. We look forward to continuing that momentum Tuesdays at noon! The second Tuesday of each month at noon, YCC will host a Distinguished Lecturer focused on basic research in Brady Auditorium. We welcome Sunil Hingorani, MD, PhD, on September 10. Every other Tuesday at noon Grand Rounds will be in the Smilow Auditorium at 55 Park Street. For upcoming events, please check the YCC calendar.

On August 1, Faye Rogers, PhD, hosted the Biomedical Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Symposium and the keynote speaker this year was Enrique DeLa Cruz, PhD, William R. Kenan Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and he was followed by remarks from Nancy Brown, MD, Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of the Yale School of Medicine and C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine. Here is more information.
On September 9, the Yale Cancer Center will launch the 2024 DEI Climate Survey, which will be independently administered by the Barthwell Group. Our goal is to evaluate our current climate and identify areas to target for improvement. Your participation will ensure that YCC is a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of its employees and the community that it serves. Please anticipate an email from the Barthwell Group next Monday.
New faculty and staff web profile options can be viewed on the Yale School of Medicine web site by searching on your name. If you haven't had time to visit the new look or to chose from a variety of new options for your profile, you can visit a help page and see some examples, including Yale School of Medicine Dean Nancy Brown's profile. The new profiles enable you to reflect the breadth and depth of your work in service of the school and the community, and provide customization options so you can tailor your profile to suit your career.
The annual Closer to Free ride, as Dr. Winer mentioned above, is just days away on September 7. Visit the web site to learn about opportunities to ride, volunteer or donate to the ride, which fuels research and care at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center. The full 100% of the approximately $30 million raised in the last 13 years has directly supported research and patient care. The ride began in 2011 with 434 participants, who raised $443,251 for research and care. It's grown since then and last year, 2,485 participants raised $3.3 million. Here is more information on the ride.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology gave its Herbert Tabor Research Award to Joseph Schlessinger, PhD, a professor of pharmacology at Yale University School of Medicine, whose research provided the conceptual foundation for targeted cancer therapies. His lab explores the mechanism of activation of receptor tyrosine kinase and their signaling pathways during homeostasis as well as in cancer and other diseases. He is a member of YCC’s Cancer Signaling Networks Research Program.
The 2024 Yale Lung Cancer SPORE Awards Developmental Research awardees included Anne Chiang, MD, PhD and Arnaud Augert, PhD: Generation and characterization of novel preclinical models to identify tumor intrinsic biomarkers for a novel drug combination in SCLC; Sanja Dacic, Md, PhD: Determination of oncogenic EGFR mutations and prediction of treatment-specific outcomes in patients with resectable non-small cell lung carcinoma using digital pathology and computational models; Nadya Dimitrova PhD and Andrew Xiao, PhD: A long noncoding RNA-dependent mechanism promoting epigenetic plasticity and TKI resistance; Daryl Klein, MD, PhD: Development of biologics targeting ROS1+ fusion proteins in lung cancer; Yansheng Liu, PhD: Glycoproteomic alterations & biofluid markers for lung cancer metastases in the central nervous system. For Career Enhancement the awards went to Maurizio Chioccioli, PhD: Alveolar intermediate progenitor cells as the cellular origin of lung adenocarcinoma; Michael Chiorazzi, MD, PhD: Testing novel interventions for HIV-associated NSCLC; So Yeon Kim, MD: Uncovering the biological drivers of CNS metastasis in KRAS-mutant NSCLC; Mark Lee, MD, PhD: The development of T cell receptor therapeutics targeting public NSCLC antigens.
The Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers chose three YCC teams for its 2024-2025 CGIC Seed Grant Program. The intramural grants aim to spur interdisciplinary team-based basic, translational, clinical, or population health research in GI cancers and to support new or early stage projects. Awardees: Michael Girardi, MD, and W. Mark Saltzman, PhD: Biocompatible and bioadhesive nanoparticles for intraperitoneal treatment of gastrointestinal cancers with peritoneal metastasis; Bubu Banini, MD, PhD, and Xuchen Zhang, MD, PhD: Spatial transcriptomic analysis of immune microenvironment of metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis-related hepatocellular carcinoma; Dennis Shung, MD, PhD, and John Onofrey, PhD: Multimodal Language-Augmented Foundation Vision Model to Personalize Care for Pancreatic Cysts.
Dr. Christopher Tien, PhD, DABR, FAAPM, Associate Professor and Lead Physicist for Brachytherapy in the Department of Therapeutic Radiology at the Yale School of Medicine, has been elected a fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. A designation as fellow honors members who have distinguished themselves by their contributions in research, education, or leadership in the medical physics community. The award was presented at the 2024 AAPM 66th Annual Meeting & Exhibition on July 22.

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and Pfizer are seeking applications from all US investigators proposing research for the optimal management of hematologic toxicities of PARP inhibitors (PARPi) that will advance understanding mechanisms and formulating the optimal management of hematologic toxicity in the treatment for patients with Prostate cancer. Deadline: 5 pm EST September 18. Select this for more.
To encourage research in the Connecticut catchment area for Yale Cancer Center, the Center for Community Engagement and Health Equity (CEHE) is offering a pair of awards of $60,000 per year for one to three years. The research proposed should focus on determining the fundamental cause of, or an effective cure or prevention of, cancer. Applicants must be Yale investigators and are encouraged to review the YCC Connecticut Catchment Area Profile (on the web site) or consult with COE faculty/staff and community members to ensure that it is relevant to the catchment area. Priority cancers: Breast, lung, liver and prostate with cross-cutting themes that include tobacco use, obesity and metabolism, early onset cancer and brain metastases. Micro-catchment foci: urban core residents, age groups with unique concerns, people who identify as Puerto Rican, and Windham county residents. Deadline: 11:59 pm on September 23.
The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer 2025 Prize is for New York City area-based early career scientists intersted in innovative cancer research, facilitated by collaborations with the business community. About a half dozen prizes are offered with winners receiving $250,000 annually for three years, totaling $750,000. There are three stages to the application beginning with letters of intent accepted September 23 to October 28 followed by full-length proposals, by invitation only based on the LOIs and then finally presentations. LOIs must be completed online. For more information visit here.
The DeGregorio Family Foundation has announced a request for applications for researchers with faculty appointments for a pair of grants of up to $500,000 for research on gastroesophageal cancer malignancies that will lead to a clinical trial within two years. The 2024 Michael F. Price Memorial Grant aims to accelerate drug development and to bring new therapies to patients as quickly as possible. Deadline: November 1. For more visit here.

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