It’s always exciting to see our grantees go on to do great things in cancer research. Recently, SWOG’s Front Line announced the latest on the iMATCH trial – a study with a leadership team that includes 2015 Coltman Fellow Dr. Siwen Hu-Lieskovan. She’s helping drive this groundbreaking research and also currently serving as co-chair of SWOG’s immunotherapeutics committee. We’re so pleased to see Dr. Hu-Lieskovan thriving as a leader in our network – yet another example of the impact of the Coltman Fellowship Program.
Latest Coltman Round Results in Two Fellows for 2022
We review new applications to our fellowship programs every March, and from time to time a grant round brings in such fantastic applications that we seek special approval from our board of directors to fund additional awards. This was the case with this spring’s Coltman Fellowship review, and we’re pleased to report these latest grantees:
Kim Blenman, PhD, MS, Yale University
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology), Yale School of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science
Dr. Blenman’s fellowship will support her project, Spatial Dynamics of the TIME in patients from the SWOG S0800 clinical trial, to learn more about the human immune system and how it interacts with cancer cells.
Jonathan Sham, MD, MBEE, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery
University of Washington School of Medicine
The fellowship will help Dr. Sham gain experience in clinical trial design and implementation as he develops his study, Randomized multicenter placebo-controlled trial of lanreotide for the prevention of postoperative pancreatic fistulae.
Spring Also Brings News from the Impact Award Program
We’re excited to announce a newly awarded grant from the SWOG/Hope Foundation Impact Award Program.
Abdul Rafeh Naqash, MD, granted latest SWOG/Hope Foundation Impact Award
Dr. Naqash, a medical oncologist and phase I clinical trialist with the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, has been granted an Impact Award to conduct a study entitled, Multi-omics characterization of the immune landscape and metabolic vulnerabilities in alveolar soft part sarcoma to optimize therapeutic strategies using novel immuno-oncology-based approaches.
Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare and deadly disease primarily affecting younger patients and presently with limited treatment options. Impact program reviewers agreed that ASPS is an important area of unmet need and are pleased to see this outstanding proposal move forward as Naqash furthers his involvement in SWOG and its immunotherapeutics committee.
SWOG/Hope Foundation Impact Awards are granted twice annually and fund 1- or 2-year projects which may involve scientific risk but potentially lead to significant breakthroughs in cancer research.
These and all of our programs are made possible with generous donor contributions – we’re grateful for this support.
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