About Team Science Grants
The Tina’s Wish Team Science Grant (formerly the Individual Investigator Grant) encourages collaboration in pursuit of an effective screen for the early detection or a prevention strategy for ovarian cancer. The Team Science Grant is $400,000 over two (2) years.
Tal Danino, PhD & Ronny Drapkin, MD, PhD
Project Title: “Engineering probiotics for early detection and interception of ovarian cancer"
Dr. Danino is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. Dr. Drapkin is an Associate Professor of Pathology in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania and serves as Director of the Penn Ovarian Cancer Research Center (OCRC), the Director of Gynecologic Cancer Research at the Basser Center for BRCA, and Director of the Ovarian Cancer Translational Center of Excellence at the Abramson Cancer Center
DIPANJAN CHOWDHURY, PhD & KEVIN ELIAS, MD
Project Title: “Personalized screening for ovarian cancer using circulating miRNA risk profiles”
Dr. Chowdhury is a Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/ Harvard Medical School and the Chief of the Division Of Radiation and Genomic Stability and Co-Director of the Center for BRCA and Related Genes. Dr. Elias is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School and a Gynecologic Oncologist and Director of the Gynecologic Oncology Laboratory at Brigham And Women's Hospital.
Sara Buhrlage, PhD, Ronny Drapkin, MD, PhD & Jarrod Marto, PhD
Project Title: “Harnessing Epigenetic Alterations in the Fallopian Tube to Develop Early Interception Strategies in Ovarian Cancer"
Dr. Buhrlage is an Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and a principal investigator in the Department of Cancer Biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Drapkin is Associate Professor of Pathology in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania and serves as Director of the Penn Ovarian Cancer Research Center (OCRC), the Director of Gynecologic Cancer Research at the Basser Center for BRCA, and Director of the Ovarian Cancer Translational Center of Excellence at the Abramson Cancer Center. Dr. Marto is an Associate Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and also a principal investigator in the Department of Cancer Biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In addition, he is the Director of the Blais Proteomics Center and co-Director along with Dr. Buhrlage of the new Center for Emergent Drug Targets at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Ie-Ming Shih, MD, PhD, Thomas R. Pisanic II, PhD, Tza-Huei “Jeff” Wang, PhD & Tian-Li Wang, PhD
Project Title: “PapDREAM – A microfluidic platform for early, epigenetic-based detection of ovarian cancer in tissue proximal fluids"
Dr. Shih is a Richard W. TeLinde Distinguished Professor in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a board-certified attending pathologist in the Division of Gynecologic Pathology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Pisanic is a Senior Research Scientist at The Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology. Dr. Tza-Huei "Jeff" Wang is a professor in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University and a Core Researcher at the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology. Dr. Tian-Li Wang is a Professor of Pathology and Oncology, is the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Gynecologic Tissue Bank, and has extensive experience in biomarker discovery.
Daniel A. Heller, PhD & Kara Long Roche, MD
Project Title: “Liquid Biopsy Platform to Facilitate Triage of Adnexal Mass Malignancy”
Dr. Heller is head of the Cancer Nanomedicine Laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Long Roche is a gynecologic oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Long Roche and Dr. Heller are Co-Principal Investigators on this project.
Angela Belcher, PhD, Lan Coffman, MD, PhD & Kripa K. Varanasi, PhD
Project Title: “Investigating Physico-Chemical Properties of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells as Biophysical Markers for Early Detection of Ovarian Cancers"
Dr. Belcher is the James Mason Crafts Professor of Biological Engineering, Materials Science and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and the head of the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. Dr. Coffman is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh with dual appointments in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology and Division of Gynecologic Oncology. Dr. Varanasi is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT.
Gottfried Konecny, MD & Jillian Phallen, PhD
Project Title: “Early detection of ovarian cancer using cell-free DNA fragmentomes”
Dr. Konecny is a Professor of Oncology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Director of Medical Gynecologic Oncology at UCLA. Dr. Phallen is an Assistant Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Chuan He, PhD, Ernst Lengyel, MD, PhD & Melanie Weigert, PhD
Project Title: “Multimodal, plasma-based biomarkers for ovarian cancer detection”
Dr. He is a chemical biologist and the John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. Dr. Lengyel is an Arthur L. and Lee G. Herbst Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Chicago. Dr. Weigert is a Staff Scientist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Chicago.
Andrew K. Godwin, PhD & Steven Soper, PhD
Project Title: “Liquid Biopsy using Tumor Specific Extracellular Vesicles for the Early Detection of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer”
Dr. Godwin is the Chancellors Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Sciences, Endowed Professor, and Director of Molecular Oncology, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at The University of Kansas Medical Center. In the fall of 2019, Dr. Godwin was named the recipient of the Dolph Simons Award in the Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Soper is a Foundation Distinguished Professor at The University of Kansas and holds joint appointments in the Departments of Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering.
Sammy Ferri-Borgogno, PhD, Samuel C. Mok, PhD & Deepak Nagrath, PhD
Project Title: “Targeting Glutamine in Ovarian Cancer Prevention"
Dr. Ferri-Borgogno is an Instructor in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Mok is a Professor in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Nagrath is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Lindsay G. Cowell, PhD, Salvatore LoCoco, MD, Elena Lucas, MD & Nancy L. Monson, PhD
Project Title: “Leveraging Cancer-Associated T cell Responses for the Early Detection of High-Grade Serous Carcinoma of Tubo-Ovarian Origin (HGSC)"
Dr. Cowell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology and is an expert in bioinformatics and immunology with extensive experience studying immune repertoires. Dr. LoCoco is an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is a surgeon with a specialty in gynecologic malignancies. Dr. Lucas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and jointly serves as Surgical Pathology Medical Director at Parkland Health and Hospital System and as Associate Residency Director for Anatomic Pathology in the Department of Pathology at UT Southwestern. Dr. Monson is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Immunology and directs the biorepository for the Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
#1
deadliest gynecologic
cancer
80%
of women are diagnosed
at an advanced stage
27%
of women have a 5-year
survival rate after an
advanced stage diagnosis