Gastric and esophageal cancers are among the deadliest malignancies — in 2023 alone, they claimed over a million lives globally. Despite recent scientific advances, these upper GI tract cancers remain stubbornly difficult to diagnose and treat, with limited therapeutic options leading to poor prognoses.

In response to this challenge, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, DeGregorio Family Foundation, and Torrey Coast Foundation are proud to announce three new ASPIRE Awards designed to fuel breakthrough research in upper GI cancers. These grants, to be administered by the Mark Foundation, are the result of a focused call for proposals that went out globally in 2024, aiming to attract teams of collaborators to submit their best research ideas that could address this important area of unmet need. Each grant provides $250,000 of research funding over 12 months.

“As the only public foundation solely devoted to funding research grants for gastric and esophageal cancers, we are pleased that The Mark Foundation has focused on these deadly, underfunded diseases,” said Lynn DeGregorio, President and Founder of the DeGregorio Family Foundation.

One of these grants was awarded to Sarah Derks of Amsterdam UMC in collaboration with Wilbert Zwart of The Netherlands Cancer Institute. They will investigate how epigenetic changes affect the immune response in gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. Their goal is to identify new targets that could help overcome resistance to immunotherapy and make these treatments more effective.

About the mark foundation for cancer research aspire award program

The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research ASPIRE Awards are designed to enable innovative approaches to solving high-impact problems in cancer research that tend to fall outside the scope of other funding opportunities. These awards support high-risk, high-reward projects with research plans designed to answer key feasibility and proof-of-concept questions in an accelerated timeframe, typically one year. Projects that successfully demonstrate feasibility may be selected to apply for additional funding in a second phase to further develop their innovative concepts and increase the speed to impact for cancer patients.

Find the original article here: Three New ASPIRE Awards Break Ground in the Fight Against Gastric and Esophageal Cancers | The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research