New allocations of funding from Pelotonia, an annual grassroots bicycle tour that raises money for cancer research at Ohio State, will support eight projects by teams of OSUCCC – James scientists and 42 projects by Ohio State students working in the labs of faculty mentors.
The faculty-team projects will be funded by the OSUCCC James’ Intramural Research Program (IRP), which receives extensive Pelotonia support. IRP funding, which includes Idea Grants and other awards, goes to teams of scientists who competitively propose groundbreaking studies that will generate data to help them compete later for larger grants from external sources such as the National Cancer Institute.
The newest IRP projects, collectively funded at $1.14 million, range from evaluating targeted therapies for thyroid cancer and immunotherapy treatment approaches in breast cancer, acute myeloid leukemia and brain tumors, to laboratory research aimed at understanding cancer stem cell differentiation in ovarian cancer. Over the past seven years, 108 OSUCCC – James research teams have received Pelotonia-supported IRP awards totaling $11.1 million. Each award provides research support for two years. The Pelotonia Fellowship Review Committee at the OSUCCC – James recently awarded 42 fellowships totaling $2 million to students from multiple disciplines and at various levels of scholarship, including 26 undergraduates, 14 graduates and two postdoctoral fellows.
The undergraduates will receive funding for one year; graduates and postdoctoral fellows will receive funding for two years. Since the fellowship program began, it has allocated $13 million for 436 awards to 205 undergraduates, 128 graduates, 97 postdoctoral researchers and six medical students.