Post by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has awarded Dana-Farber and our Office for Faculty Development (OFD) a three-year Institutional Research Grant to provide early career investigators with seed funding for innovative research that has the potential to identify new directions for cancer research. Three investigators will receive funding each year and will benefit from mentoring and connections with other ACS-funded researchers. The 2026 awardees – Kristen Brantley, PhD, instructor in Medical Oncology; Ryan Collins, PhD, instructor in Medical Oncology; and Mark Murakami, MD, assistant professor in Medical Oncology – received one-year awards of $40,000 from the ACS and $15,000 from Dana-Farber. With a focus on young patients with breast cancer, Brantley aims to learn more about how inflammation contributes to an elevated risk of poor outcomes compared to older patients. Brantley will measure inflammatory biomarkers in young patients with breast cancer to discover how inflammation is related to tumor characteristics, treatments, and social demographics, and to disease-free survival and symptom burden. She will also explore whether having an inherited predisposition to elevated inflammation affects inflammation levels among patients. Understanding how inflammation contributes to cancer outcomes could help inspire targeted interventions for these patients. Collins is interested in Lynch syndrome, which is the most common hereditary cancer syndrome and elevates the risk of several forms of cancer, including colorectal and endometrial cancers. Collins aims to discover additional inherited genetic factors that explain why some people with Lynch syndrome develop cancer and others do not. He will leverage whole-genome sequencing to study approximately 2,000 cases of Lynch syndrome to comprehensively identify additional inherited genetic factors that influence the development of cancer. The knowledge produced could lead to the development of novel, personalized interventions to help prevent or detect cancer early in these patients. Murakami aims to learn more about the cancer cells that are left behind after treatment for follicular lymphoma. These cells can give rise to relapses, but not enough is known about the cells to target them precisely and prevent relapses. Murakami aims to study patient samples to differentiate residual cancer cells from noncancerous cells and identify unique features of these residual cells, such as markers on the surface and genetic variations within. The goal is to give investigators ways to find these residual cancer cells, understand their biology and vulnerabilities, and devise new therapies to eradicate them.