PHILADELPHIA The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the American Association for Cancer Research have awarded Zeshaan A. Rasheed, M.D., Ph.D., the 2010 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Pathway to Leadership Grant. This grant, totaling $600,000 over five years, will support Rasheed's efforts to examine the relevance of cancer stem cells in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Cancer stem cells are a subset of cells hypothesized to mediate the growth and spread of cancer.
"This is a critical area of research that will lay the groundwork for new therapies that can effectively treat pancreatic cancer and stem the tide of this devastating, and too frequently fatal, disease," said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), CEO of the American Association for Cancer Research. "We are pleased to partner with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in order to distribute this and other grants that underscore the urgency to fund high quality, impactful research leading to breakthroughs that save lives."
"This is the first year that we have offered the Pathway to Leadership Grant," stated Julie Fleshman, J.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. "It is a highly competitive award that was developed to attract the brightest and most promising early-career scientists to the field of pancreatic cancer to ensure future leadership of the research community. We congratulate Dr. Rasheed on receiving this esteemed award and we look forward to working with him."
Rasheed earned his medical degree and doctorate in cellular and molecular pharmacology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Currently, he is a medical oncology fellow at The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center of Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His funded research focuses on how different populations of pancreatic cancer stem cell
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| Contact: Michele Leiberman michele.leiberman@aacr.org 267-646-0622 American Association for Cancer Research Source:Eurekalert |