Two UCSF Postdocs Named to New Class of Damon Runyon Fellows

UCSF postdoctoral scholars Thomas M. Huckaba, PhD, and Melissa R. Junttila, PhD, have been named among 18 new Damon Runyan Fellows by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation at the Foundation's May 2007 Scientific Advisory Committee review. Recipients of the prestigious, three-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country. The Fellowship is specifically intended to encourage the nation's most promising young investigators to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding to work on innovative projects. Huckaba, with his sponsor Ronald D. Vale, PhD, is defining the way in which the organization of the cellular scaffold impacts cancer cell spread or metastasis. Huckaba and his research in this area recently were the focus of a UCSF.edu feature story. Junttila, with her sponsor Gerard I. Evan, PhD, is designing new mouse models to challenge long standing dogma about how p53, the most commonly mutated gene in human cancer, contributes to tumor formation and aging processes. The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has committed more than $140 million to support the careers of cancer researchers across the United States since the programs inception. For further information contact Jennifer McCafferty-Cepero, 215/455-0520. (adapted from a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation news release) Related Links: Looking for Cancer Clues in the Skeletons of Our Cells
UCSF Today, July 18, 2007 Vale Lab Evan Lab Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation