Grants

awarded

The METAvivor Research Program was established in 2009 with the specific goal of funding stage IV metastatic breast cancer research to one day, end death from metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The following list includes current and past grant recipients along with their progress reports.

Kathleen McEnnis, PhD

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Presented by #LightUpMBC Ambassadors in memory of Nola Addante and all lives lost too soon to MBC

Mesenchymal stem cells as platinum nanoparticle delivery system for metastatic breast cancer treatment

Chris McGinnis, PhD

Stanford University School of Medicine

In memory of Amy Verrill Wolfe, MJ Borrelli, members of DENJPA | ALSO Presented by the Family of Erica Griffiths, in her memory

Discovering Anti-Metastatic Immunotherapies and Mechanisms of Secondary Metastatic Dissemination

JAMES MCINTYRE, MA, PhD AND BARBARA FINGLETON, PhD

Vanderbilt University

A Novel Self-Reporting Paclitaxel Prodrug without Systemic Neurotoxicity: Preclinical Assessment for Targeted Treatment of Metas

Efi Kokkotou MD, PhD

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Presented by Minneapolis Metsquerade in memory of Kim Cesarek

Development of a functional predictor assay of therapeutic responses in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Melanie Hayden Gephart MD, MAS

Stanford University

Presented by Be Bold and Behold in loving memory of honorees Jennie Byram and Erica Griffiths

Halting the Progression of Breast Cancer Brain Metastases By Targeting Tumor-Associated Microglia (TAMs)

SOFIA MERAJVER, MD

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center

Engineering cancer metastases platforms for precise medicine

Funda Meric-Bernstam, MD

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Presented By Jacquelyn Vranicar and Jacquelyn and Lindsay’s METAvivor Team in memory of Kelsey Granowski

Optimizing TROP2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate therapy in metastatic breast cancer

VIVEK MITTAL, PhD

Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Targeting Epigenetic Regulator PRC2 as a Therapy for Established Metastasis

Lluis Morey, PhD

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami

Presented by The Pittsburgh Metsquerade in honor of members Amy Fletcher, Bindy Koontz, Roberta Thomas Szpara and Laura Williams

Dual targeting of an epigenetic machinery and a cellular receptor to block metastatic breast cancer

Stefania Morganti, MD

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Presented by the Philadelphia METAvivor Gala in memory of Kerry O’Riordan McAdam and in honor of Jacqueline Beck

Tracking minimal residual disease via circulating tumor DNA in patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer and exceptional response to therapy

Rita Mukhtar, MD

University of California, San Francisco

Lake Tahoe Music for METAvivor in honor of Kelly Shanahan, memory of Barbara Carter | Tonyia’s Hope in memory of Tonyia Lucas

The PLUMB Study: a Prospective study of LobUlar Metastatic Breast cancer using serial circulating tumor DNA to measure disease response

ERIK NELSON, PhD

University of Illinois

Targeting an immune-suppressive cholesterol metabolite in the treatment metastatic breast cancer