Seven Early-Career Scientists will Attend the AACR Annual Meeting with Ludwig Support

APRIL 4, 2024, NEW YORK – Ludwig Cancer Research is proud to support seven early-career scientists presenting their research at the conference this year through the AACR Scholar-in-Training Awards (SITA) program, contributing to the cost of their travel and attendance at the conference. The SITA awards, the AACR notes, “recognize outstanding young investigators presenting meritorious proffered papers” at the meeting.

In their personal statements—a required component of their applications—the awardees lauded the Annual Meeting as an opportunity to engage with a culturally and scientifically diverse network of colleagues, broaden their knowledge of the latest findings and technologies in cancer research and potentially forge collaborations that would help advance their research and benefit their careers.

This year’s recipients are as follows:

Kamal Al-Shami, MS,?of German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, will be presenting in a poster session titled Signaling Pathways that Regulate Metabolism 1 on Monday, April 8, 2024, 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm. The poster is titled: 3063 / 3 ‐ Defining oncogene‐specific metabolic vulnerabilities in a mouse model of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Bayu Bekele, MPH, PhD of Washington University in St. Louis, MO will be presenting in a poster session titled Health Disparities Across the Cancer Continuum on Monday, April 8, 2024, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm. The poster is titled: 2153 / 20 – The impact of socioeconomic and racial segregation on cancer stage at diagnosis, treatment and mortality among patients with small cell lung cancer.

Mohamed Gaber, BPharm?of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC and Jennifer Haag, MD, MPH of University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC will each be presenting in a poster session titled Role of Diet, Nutrition, and the Microbiome Across the Cancer Continuum on Monday, April 8, 2024, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm. Gaber’s poster is titled: 2179 / 13 Microbiome-derived metabolites mediate carcinogenic alterations of breast tissue in the context of obesity. Haag’s poster is titled: 2168 / 2 Intermittent fasting in combination with carboplatin in a pre-clinical model of obesity-driven endometrial cancer.

Abram Bunya Kamiza, PhD of University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa will be presenting in a poster session titled Genetic Epidemiology 1: GxE, GWAS, and Next-Generation Sequencing on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm. The poster is titled: 6145 / 7 A trans-ethnic meta-analysis identified additional novel genomic loci associated with cervical cancer.

Melissa Jie-Sze Khaw, BS of University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN will be presenting in a Minisymposium titled Tumor-Targeted Immune Cell Engagers on Sunday, April 7, 2024, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. The presentation is titled: 1241 Enhancing NK cell therapy for head and neck cancer within the solid tumor microenvironment using a B7H3-targeting tri-specific killer engager (TriKE).

Kenneth Kin Leung Kwan, PhD of The University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong SAR will be presenting in a poster session titled Metabolic Pathways 1 on Sunday, April 7, 2024, 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm. The poster is titled: 433 / 11 BCAT1 promotes HCC metabolic reprogramming and survival through HIF-1α stabilization.

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About Ludwig Cancer Research

Ludwig Cancer Research is an international collaborative network of acclaimed scientists that has pioneered cancer research and landmark discovery for more than 50 years. Ludwig combines basic science with the translation and clinical evaluation of its discoveries to accelerate the development of new cancer diagnostics, therapies and prevention strategies. Since 1971, Ludwig has invested nearly $3 billion in life-changing science through the not-for-profit Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the six U.S.-based Ludwig Centers. To learn more, visit www.ludwigcancerresearch.org.

For additional information please contact [email protected].