2010 Awards

Genomic and Molecular Characterization of IGF1R and EGFR in Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor

$50,000 Co-funded Grant for a Study led by Wei Zhang, PhD
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas
and led by Jilong Yang, MD, PhD
Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital and Institute in China

Targeting the PI3K/AKT Pathway in UPS/MFH

$50,000 Grant for a Study led by Quan-Sheng Zhu, MD, PhD and Dina Lev, MD
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas

The role of cytoplasmic p27^kip1 in metastatic osteosarcoma

$50,000 Grant for a Study by Tsz-Kwong Man, PhD
Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas

 

2009 Awards

A Preclinical Mouse Model for Targeted Therapy in Uterine Leiomyosarcoma

$25,000 Grant for a Study by Sandra Orsulic, PhD and Beth Karlan, MD
Women’s Cancer Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California

Molecular Basis of Genomic Instability in Osteosarcoma

$50,000 Grant for a Study by Pulivarthi H Rao, PhD and Debananda Pati, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas

Tumorigenic Cells in Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors

$50,000 Grant for a Study led by Sean J. Morrison, PhD
Life Sciences Institute Center for Stem Cell Biology at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan

2008 Awards

Expression profiles of liposarcomas that have activated different telomere maintenance mechanisms

$50,000 Grant for a Study led by Dominique Broccoli, PhD
Department of Laboratory Oncology Research at the Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson Cancer Institute, Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia

PEDF: a potential therapeutic agent for osteosarcoma

$50,000 Grant for a Study led by Professor Peter F. M. Choong, MD
and involving Crispin R. Dass, PhD
Orthopaedics Department of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia

Analysis of NR0B1 in Ewing’s sarcoma

$100,000 Grant for a Study led by Stephen L. Lessnick, MD, PhD
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah

High throughput miRNA expression profiling for well differentiated and de-differentiated liposarcoma

$50,000 Grant for a Study led by Dina Lev, MD
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas
and led by Matt van de Rijn, MD, PhD
Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California

A mouse model for chordoma

$25,500 Co-funded Grant for a Study led by Brian Harfe, PhD
University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida

Characterization of WWOX tumor suppressor gene in osteosarcoma

$50,000 Grant for a Study led by Jilong Yang, MD, PhD
Tianjin Cancer Hospital and Institute in China
and led by Wei Zhang, PhD
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas

The role of CIP4 in osteosarcoma metastases

$50,000 Co-funded Grant for a Study led by Nadezhda V. Koshkina, PhD
and involving Seth J. Corey, MD
Children's Cancer Hospital at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Small-molecule targeting of EWS-FLI1

$50,000 Co-funded Grant for a Study led by Jeffrey A. Toretsky, MD
and involving Milton L. Brown, MD, PhD
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University

Identification of the Ewing’s Sarcoma Stem Cell

$37,800 Grant for a Study led by David M. Loeb, MD, PhD and involving Saul J. Sharkis, PhD, Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD and Jason T. Yustein, MD, Phd
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Medical School

2007 Awards

MicroRNA Deregulation in Mesenchymal Transformation and Sarcoma-genesis

$50,000 Co-funded Grant for a Study led by Eva Hernando, PhD
New York University School of Medicine

New methodological approaches in assessing and monitoring the targeted treatment of chordoma

$25,000 Grant for a Study led by Dr. Silvana Pilotti
Fondazione IRCCS Istituto dei Tumori in Milan, Italy

 

2006 Awards

Two Ewing's Sarcoma Research Studies at Huntsman Cancer Institute

$50,000 in Grants for Studies led by Stephen Lessnick, MD, PhD
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah

Study of Tissue Samples in Conjunction with a Phase II Trial of Dasatinib in Patients with Advanced Sarcoma

$25,000 Grant for a Study led by Dr. Scott Schuetze
University of Michigan’s School of Medicine

GIST Research Grants

$10,000 Grant for a Study led by Dr. Sebastian Bauer
West German Cancer Center at the University Hospital in Essen, Germany
and led by Dr. Anette Duensing
Hillman Cancer Center at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute

 

2005 Awards

Cancer Vaccine Study at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

$50,000 Grant for a Study led by Dr. John Goldberg and Dr. David Fisher

A pilot study of tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cell vaccine for immune augmentation for high-risk solid tumor patients following autologous stem cell transplantation

$50,000 Co-funded Grant for a Study led by Dr. James Geiger
Dr. John E. Levine and Dr. Raymond Hutchinson, co-investigators
University of Michigan Medical Center

 

2004 Awards

Three Elizabeth Shriver Memorial Research Awards to Study Sarcoma

$25,000 for the Research of Dr. Matt van de Rijn of Stanford University
$25,000 for the Research of Dr. Frederic Barr of the University of Pennsylvania
$25,000 for the Research of Dr. Lisa Wang of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston

 

2003 Award

Our First Research Grant

$14,000 for the Research of Dr. Mary Louise Keohan
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University and New York Presbyterian Hospital

The following articles acknowledge the support of the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative.

Cancer Letters
Deletion of the WWOX gene and frequent loss of its protein expression in human osteosarcoma

Cancer Research
A Role for BRCA1 in Uterine Leiomyosarcoma

Cancer Research
EWS/FLI and Its Downstream Target NR0B1 Interact Directly to Modulate Transcription and Oncogenesis in Ewing's Sarcoma

Cancer Research
Histone H2AX Is a Mediator of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Cell Apoptosis following Treatment with Imatinib Mesylate

Current Opinion in Genetics & Development
Pediatric malignancies: update on sarcomas and leukemia development in children

Genes & Cancer
Emergent Properties of EWS/FLI Regulation via GGAA Microsatellites in Ewing’s Sarcoma

Journal of Clinical Investigation
CD99 inhibits neural differentiation of human Ewing sarcoma cells and thereby contributes to oncogenesis

Journal of Oncology
Is There a Predisposition Gene for Ewing's Sarcoma?

Nature Medicine
A small molecule blocking oncogenic protein EWS-FLI1 interaction with RNA helicase A inhibits growth of Ewing’s sarcoma

Oncogene
GSTM4 is a microsatellite-containing EWS/FLI target involved in Ewing's sarcoma oncogenesis and therapeutic resistanceGSTM4 in Ewing's sarcoma

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Microsatellites as EWS/FLI response elements in Ewing’s sarcoma

Seminars in Oncology
Small Round Cell Sarcomas

Applying for a Grant

At the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative, we believe that work needs to proceed on many of the subtypes of sarcoma and have supported work in a wide range of sarcomas, including:

Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma Chondrosarcoma Chordoma Clear Cell Sarcoma Ewing's sarcoma GIST

Leiomyosarcoma Liposarcoma MFH MPNST Osteosarcoma Rhabdomyosarcoma

We also believe that quality work should be funded wherever it is being done and have awarded grants in Australia, China, Italy, Germany, and to many institutions in the United States.

We seek out other sarcoma advocacy groups and individuals to help fund research studies that have been recommended for funding as a result of our peer-reviewed grant application process. By combining financial resources, organizations can fund more substantive research studies jointly than we could fund independently.

The Initiative funds "basic research seed grants" in sarcoma research. We anticipate that results from these "demonstration" or "starter" grants will provide results that will allow the researcher to apply for funding for a larger study.

We are interested in a wide range of research. Some examples are:

• understanding the molecular biology of sarcomas
• exploring "molecular targets" for new sarcoma therapies
• studying chromosomal translocations, the oncogenes they generate and their role in sarcoma development
• translational studies
• studying vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and mTOR inhibitors
• studying the use of nanotechnology in the diagnosis and treatment of sarcomas
• understanding the basis of radiation-induced sarcoma; modeling of the process of metastases
• exploring the differences in the development of sarcomas in children, adolescents, young adults and adults
• research directed at the early detection and diagnosis of sarcoma

Other areas of research will be considered.

How Grants Can Be Used

Grants can be used for the development of models, conducting experiments, development of sarcoma tissue registries, and similar activities involved in support of research into the causes, origins, development, molecular biology, diagnosis, and treatment of sarcoma. We do not fund clinical trials, but fund basic research that might lead to other research studies or to clinical trials. While not funding clinical trials, proposals that undertake studies with patients undergoing treatment on an investigational study are acceptable.

As our grants are small, they are not intended to support the salary of the investigator nor do they support the indirect costs of the investigator's institution. Investigators selected to receive a grant will need to provide a letter from their institution indicating agreement with these requirements before the award is actually formally made. The Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative awards research grants to both U.S. and international applicants. The applicant's primary affiliation must be with a nonprofit institution. Grant applications can be submitted at any time and applications will be peer-reviewed in a timely manner. We require a 2-3 page summary of the results of the work at the end of the year and request that the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative’s grant be acknowledged in any article submitted for publication in which results obtained from the research study are presented.

How to Apply

If you are interested in submitting a research proposal, please contact us and request a Grant Application Form.