Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
Our Goal: End Cancer Disparities
African Americans face the highest cancer death rates among all racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.
Since its inception, the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund has awarded nearly $16 million in research grants, thanks to contributions from the Sports Humanitarian Awards, Bristol Myers Squibb, signature events, and generous donors like you. Our goal is to eliminate cancer disparities by addressing racism, unconscious bias, and inequities in healthcare. Join us in this critical mission.
"It is incredibly concerning that our patients’ survival from cancer can be impacted by their race. Understanding how race influences cancer will allow us to find better treatments and ultimately improve lives."
The American Association for Cancer Research’s 2020 report on cancer health disparities reveals alarming statistics:
- The breast cancer death rate for African American women is 39% higher than for white women.
- African American men face prostate cancer incidence and death rates more than 1.5 times and 2 times higher, respectively, than those of other racial and ethnic groups.
- African Americans have double the death rates from multiple myeloma and stomach cancer compared to whites.
- Colorectal cancer incidence and death rates have long been significantly higher for African Americans than whites, influenced by factors like higher obesity rates and lower screening rates among African Americans.
Your Impact Through the Stuart Scott Fund
After receiving the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPY Awards in 2014, Stuart delivered an inspiring speech: “When you die, it does not mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.” Stuart’s legacy lives on through the continued impact of the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund.
The Fund supports underrepresented researchers through two key grants:
- Translational Grants: These grants fund research into the biological basis of cancer disparities among minority populations, covering areas like cancer causes, aggressiveness, treatment, and relapse.
- V Scholar Grants: These grants provide early-career funding for minority researchers underrepresented in science, helping them establish their labs and advance their careers in cancer research.
Your donation to the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund will help drive vital research and support underrepresented scientists dedicated to ending cancer disparities. Together, we can make a difference.
Stuart Scott Fund Translational Grant Recipients
- Victoria Bae-Jump, M.D., Ph.D. UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Chapel Hill, NC Metabolic and Molecular Biomarkers of Metformin Response in Obesity-driven Endometrial Cancer Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund
- Yanis Boumber, M.D., Ph.D. Fox Chase Cancer Center Philadelphia, PA Biomarkers of combined PD1 and VEGFR2 blockade in metastatic NSCLC Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund
- Margaret Callahan, MD, Ph.D. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY Immunotype Identifies Immune Checkpoint Blockade Responders: dissecting the mechanism and understanding the scope and impact of immunotype across diverse cancer patient populations Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Marcin Cieslik, Ph.D. and Co-PI: Ajjai Alva, M.D. University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center Ann Arbor, MI Large-scale discovery and validation of predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy across cancers and treatments Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Roisin Connolly, M.D. and Vered Stearns, M.D. Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center/John Hopkins Medicine Philadelphia, PA Harnessing the Immune System to Treat Breast Cancer Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund
- Irene Ghobrial, M.D. Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Boston, MA Defining The Role of The Immune Microenvironment in Precursor Multiple Myeloma Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Sanford Markowitz, M.D., Ph.D. Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Cleveland, OH Interpreting the Mutational Signature of African American Colorectal Cancers Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund
- Matthew Meyerson, M.D., Ph.D. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston, MA The contribution of germline genomic variation to EGFR mutation frequency in non-small cell lung cancers in Latin American populations: implications for cancer risk prediction, screening and intervention. Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund
- Adam Murphy, M.D. Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Chicago, IL A Prospective Validation of a Prostate Cancer Biomarker in African American Men Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Haeseong Park, M.D. Siteman Cancer Center St. Louis, MO Targeting the Tumor-Stromal Innate Immune Pathway to Potentiate Chemo-immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Jong Park, Ph.D. Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute Tampa, FL Genomic predictors of aggressive and lethal prostate cancer in African-American men Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund
- Ulrich Steidl, M.D., Ph.D. Albert Einstein Cancer Center Bronx, NY Role of Stem Cell Subclones in Myelodysplasia and Leukemic Progression Partially funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Ralph Weissleder, M.D., Ph.D. Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center Boston, MA Enhanced holographic diagnostics and profiling of breast cancer using smartphones for point-of-care use Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund
Stuart Scott Fund V Scholar Grant Recipients
- Daniel Arango, Ph.D., Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chicago, IL, Investigating the mechanistic role of RNA Acetylation and Oxidation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Daniel Blanco-Melo, Ph.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, Understanding the diverse roles of human endogenous retroviruses in cancer, Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund and the V Foundation Wine Celebration in honor of Leo Slattery, 2022 Volunteer Grant Honoree
- Rogelio Hernandez-Lopez, PhD, Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA, Engineering Next-generation Breast Cancer Cell Therapies: Targeting HER2 heterogeneity, Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund and the V Foundation Wine Celebration for Julie Maples, in honor of Antrese Rose Allegro
- Richard Phillips, MD, PhD, Abramson Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, Targeting chromatin in adult midline glioma, Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Francisco Sánchez-Rivera, PhD, Koch Institute For Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, MA Deconstructing cancer using precision functional genomics, Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Claudio Alarcon, Ph.D. Yale Cancer Center New Haven, CT Epitranscriptomic Regulation of Cancer Metastasis Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Raymond Blind, Ph.D. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Nashville, TN Nuclear lipids as hepatocellular carcinoma biomarkers Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Donita Brady, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Philadelphia, PA Targeting autophagy in KRAS-Driven pancreatic cancer via copper reduction Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Mariana Byndloss, DVM, Ph.D. Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Nashville, TN Obesogenic diet links epithelial dysfunction, intestinal dysbiosis and colorectal cancer Funded through the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund by John and Michele Truchard in honor of Jo Ann Truchard
- Stephanie Correa, Ph.D. Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Los Angeles, CA Hypothalamic targets for mitigating the side effects of adjuvant endocrine therapy Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Christian Dibble, Ph.D. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, MA Understanding and Exploiting Deep Deletions within the Coenzyme A Biosynthetic Pathway in Cancer Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Hector Franco, Ph.D. UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Chapel Hill, NC Mining Transcriptional Enhancers to Identify Regulatory Addictions in Ovarian Cancer Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Francine Garrett-Bakelman, M.D. University of Virginia Health System Charlottesville, VA Determining of an age-appropriate integrative risk classification in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Gianna Hammer, Ph.D. Duke Cancer Institute Durham, NC Microbiota induced upregulation of PDL√ on intestinal dendritic cells in intestinal tumorigenesis Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Rodney Infante, MD, Ph.D. Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center Dallas, TX A JAK-dependent Cytokine-Adipose-Hypothalamic Axis is Central to Cancer Cachexia Development Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Verline Justilien, Ph.D. Mayo Clinic in Florida Jacksonville, FL RAB27B-Dependent Mechanisms in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Stem Cells Funded by Bristol Myers Squibb in honor of the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Catherine Marshall, MD Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Baltimore, MD Clonal hematopoiesis on outcomes in men with advanced prostate cancer Funded by Bristol Myers Squibb in honor of the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Marcela Maus, M.D., Ph.D. Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center Boston, MA Design and pre-clinical evaluation of CAR T cells for myeloma Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Jasmine McDonald, Ph.D. Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center New York, NY The Tumor Microenvironment and Lymphatic Remodeling in Pregnancy Associated Breast Cancer Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Michelle Mendoza, Ph.D. Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT Differential Regulation of Tumor Invasion by RSK Family Isoforms Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Akinyemi Ojesina, M.D., Ph.D. University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center Birmingham, AL Metatranscriptomic Biomarkers for Predicting Tumor Recurrence Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund
- Jihan Osborne, Ph.D. Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center Dallas, TX Understanding the role of the developmental transcription factors during cancer stem cell formation Funded by the KAAB Memorial Foundation and the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Justin Perry, Ph.D., MA Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY Hypoxia conditioning of phagocytes programs the pro-tumorigenic breast cancer microenvironment Funded through the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund by the Marks Family in honor of Lisa Curtis
- Sorbarikor Piawah, MD UCSF/Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center San Francisco, CA Exploring the Role of Diet, Lifestyle, and the Gut Microbiome in Young Onset Colorectal Cancer among Latino Populations Funded by Bristol Myers Squibb in honor of the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Avery Posey, Jr., Ph.D. Abramson Cancer Center Philadelphia, PA Dual CAR-T and CAR-NK cell therapy for multiple myeloma Funded by Bristol Myers Squibb in honor of the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Miguel Rivera, M.D. Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center Charleston, MA Function of the protein kinase VRK1 in Ewing Sarcoma Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund
- Charles Rogers, Ph.D., MPH, MS, CHES Huntsman Cancer Institute Salt Lake City, UT iBeat CRC: A Community-based Intervention to Increase Early-onset Colorectal Cancer Awareness using a Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Approach Funded through the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund by the Ayodele family in memory of Ade Ayodele
- Melody Smith, MD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY Donor CD19 Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cells as a Strategy to Prevent Relapse Following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Funded by Bristol Myers Squibb in honor of the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- David Soto-Pantoja, Ph.D. Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC Metabolic & Immune Endpoints as Biomarkers of Immune Checkpoint Therapy Response Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Marcia Tan, Ph.D. The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center Chicago, IL Addressing tobacco use in adults outside of primary care: Developing a tobacco cessation curriculum for community health workers Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Stefani Thomas, Ph.D. Masonic Cancer Center Minneapolis, MN Proteome-level mechanisms of PARP inhibitor sensitivity in BRCA1/2-mutated high-grade serous ovarian cancer Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Christina Ferrer, PhD University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center Baltimore, MD Investigating Purine Salvage Dependencies in CDKN2A-deleted Pancreatic Metastases Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Anthony Law, MD, PhD Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University Atlanta, GA Early detection of Laryngeal Cancer using Machine Learning Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Elizabeth Wasmuth, PhD Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio San Antonio, TX Uncovering Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Oncogenic Hormone Receptor Signaling (Abeloff V Scholar) Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Christina Termini, PhD Fred Hutch / University of Washington / Seattle Children’s Cancer Consortium Seattle, WA Targeting the leukemia heparan sulfome to overcome chemotherapy resistance Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
- Guilherme Nader, PhD Abramson Cancer Center
Philadelphia, PA Probing the role of nuclear mechanical confinement in the crosstalk between cancer cells and macrophages Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund - Melissa Reeves, PhD Huntsman Cancer Institute
Salt Lake City, UT Spatial regulation of suppressive macrophages by Cx3cl1 and consequences for anti-tumor immunity Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
Stuart Scott Fund Designated Grant Recipients
- Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, Ph.D. USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Los Angeles, CA Optimizing Enrollment of Blacks living in Los Angeles County in Clinical Cancer Trials: Engaging African Americans and African Nationals Funded in collaboration with ESPN
- Jeffrey Clarke, M.D. Duke University Durham, NC Identification of Genetic Determinates for Disparities in African American Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Funded in partnership with the Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina, utilizing Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Fund matching funds
- Edward Kim, M.D. Levine Cancer Institute/Carolinas Health Care Charlotte, NC Dynamic functional assessment of the host (vs tumor) immune system in patients with non-small cell lung cancer utilizing a novel blood-based immunokinetic platform Funded in partnership with the Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina, utilizing Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Fund matching funds, and the Richard Jones Fund for lung cancer.
- Nita Lee, M.D., MPH University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center Chicago, IL EMPOWERED U: Community-Engaged Action to Enhance Diversity and Inclusion in Cancer Clinical Trials Funded in collaboration with ESPN
- Chad Pecot, M.D. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC Targeting the Immune Microenvironment to Treat Squamous Cancers Funded in partnership with the Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina, utilizing Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Fund matching funds
- Qingy Wei, M.D., Ph.D. Duke Cancer Institute Durham, NC Characterization of functional variants of GWAS-identified CRL-related Gene DCAF4 for racial disparity in lung cancer Funded in partnership with the Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina, utilizing Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Fund matching funds and the Richard Jones Fund for lung cancer.
- Jared Weiss, M.D. UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Chapel Hill, NC Targeting G2 Ganglioside in Small Cell Lung Cancer Funded in partnership with the Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina, utilizing Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Fund matching funds
Stuart Scott Fund “Thrivership” Grant Recipients
- Saro Armenian, DO, MPH City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Duarte, CA Clonal hematopoiesis and its impact on outcomes after autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation Funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
