Funded Research
Advancing the Best Science to Transform Pancreatic Cancer into a Curable Disease
Pancreatic cancer represents only 3% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States each year, yet it is the third-leading cause of cancer related deaths and is poised to become the second by 2030. Thanks to Lustgarten’s role as a driving force in every major advancement in pancreatic cancer research, the five-year survival rate for all stages combined has reached an unprecedented high of 13%. But that is not enough, this rate significantly lags behind all other major cancers. That’s why we continue to pursue what matters most: changing, extending, and saving patients’ lives through our relentless focus on funding the boldest, most innovative studies. We are committed to ushering in a new era in pancreatic cancer research, accelerating progress and improving survival so everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer can experience more hope for the future, more time with their loved ones, and less fear.
LABS Program
A Translational Convergence Program to Develop Targeted Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer Patients at Johns Hopkins
- Elizabeth Jaffee, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 05/01/24
- Projected End Date: 04/30/29
- Grant Amount: $5,000,000.00
The Lustgarten Foundation Dedicated Laboratory for Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection and Cancer Genetics at Johns Hopkins
- Bert Vogelstein, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 01/01/24
- Projected End Date: 12/31/28
- Grant Amount: $5,000,000.00
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute-Lustgarten Foundation Dedicated Laboratory: Enabling Precision Detection and Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer
- Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA - Start Date: 10/01/23
- Projected End Date: 09/30/28
- Grant Amount: $4,999,917.00
Investigating Pancreatic Cancer Evolution and Immunology
- Tyler Jacks, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT
Cambridge, MA - Start Date: 08/01/23
- Projected End Date: 07/31/28
- Grant Amount: $5,000,000.00
The Dedicated Lustgarten Laboratory at CSHL
- David Tuveson, MD, PhD
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor, NY - Start Date: 01/01/23
- Projected End Date: 12/31/27
- Grant Amount: $5,000,000.00
Decoding New Targets for Pancreatic Cancer Therapeutics
- Reuben Shaw, PhD
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
La Jolla, CA - Start Date: 08/01/21
- Projected End Date: 07/31/26
- Grant Amount: $5,000,000.00
Clinical Research
Establishing a Multi-Institutional Consortium (PASS-02) for Translational Clinical Trials in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer
- Mari Nakazawa, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 08/1/25
- Projected End Date: 12/31/26
- Grant Amount: $166,740.00
A Window-of-Opportunity Trial Using Neoadjuvant Hepatic Artery Chemotherapy for Patients With Localized Pancreas Cancer
- Pete Allen, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 12/1/23
- Projected End Date: 11/30/26
- Grant Amount: $1,368,231.00
Combinatorial myeloid activation as immuotherapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer
- Gregory Beatty, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Philadelphia, PA - Start Date: 07/1/25
- Projected End Date: 06/30/27
- Grant Amount: $2,000,000.00
A pilot study comparing neoadjuvant and adjuvant GVAX vs a mutated KRAS peptide vaccine given with anti-PD-1 and anti-CD137 agonist for the treatment of surgically resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma
- Eric Christenson, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 10/1/24
- Projected End Date: 09/30/27
- Grant Amount: $1,507,497.00
Pancreatic Cancer Collective Research Team—New Therapies Challenge Molecularly Targeted Radionuclide Therapy via the Integrin avß6 (RT6153)
- Julie Sutcliffe, Ph.D
The Regents of the University of California, on Behalf of its Davis Campus
Davis, CA - Start Date: 07/01/24
- Projected End Date: 12/31/25
NC410 and FOLFIRINOX in Combination with Anti-PD-1 with and without Anti-CTLA-4 for Treatment Naive Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
- Dung Le, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 06/01/25
- Projected End Date: 5/30/28
- Grant Amount: $1,865,864.00
Targeting myeloperoxidase to enhance chemotherapy response in pancreatic adenocarcinoma
- Brian Boone, MD
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV - Start Date: 08/01/24
- Projected End Date: 07/31/28
- Grant Amount: $1,904,606.00
A pilot study comparing neoadjuvant and adjuvant GVAX vs a mutated KRAS peptide vaccine given with anti-PD-1 and anti-CD137 agonist for the treatment of surgically resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma
- Eric Christenson, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 09/01/24
- Projected End Date: 08/31/27
- Grant Amount: $1,507,497.00
Syk-Targeted Therapy with Fostamatinib: A Promising Avenue to Enhance Chemotherapy Response in Pancreatic Cancer
- Andrew Lowy, MD
Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego
San Diego, CA - Start Date: 07/01/24
- Projected End Date: 06/30/27
- Grant Amount: $1,277,531.00
Investigating the molecular bases of pancreatic cancer disparities in underserved minority communities and increasing clinical trial recruitment employing linguistic intervention.
- Fiyinfolu Balogun, MD, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK)
New York, NY - Start Date: 07/01/24
- Projected End Date: 06/30/27
- Grant Amount: $450,000.00
Syk-Targeted Therapy with Fostamatinib: A Promising Avenue to Enhance Chemotherapy Response in Pancreatic Cancer
- Andrew Lowy, MD
The Regents of the University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA - Start Date: 07/01/24
- Projected End Date: 06/30/27
- Grant Amount: $1,277,531.00
Development of the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research Clinico-Genomic Data Portal Powered by the AACR Project GENIE Infrastructure
- Shawn Sweeney, PhD
American Association for Cancer Research
Philadelphia, PA - Start Date: 06/01/22
- Projected End Date: 05/31/27
- Grant Amount: $3,269,532.00
A Window-of-Opportunity Trial Using Neoadjuvant Hepatic Artery Chemotherapy for Patients With Localized Pancreas Cancer
- Peter Allen, MD
Duke University School of Medicine
Durham, NC - Start Date: 12/01/23
- Projected End Date: 11/30/26
- Grant Amount: $1,368,231.00
IMPACT Diversity: Integrated Multi-level Plan to Address Clinical Trial Diversity
- Rebecca Snyder, MD
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX - Start Date: 12/01/23
- Projected End Date: 11/30/26
- Grant Amount: $449,990.28
Navigated Pancreatic Cancer Multidisciplinary Care to Address Cultural and Language Barriers to Clinical Trial Enrollment among Mandarin and Spanish Speaking Patients with Pancreatic Cancer
- Karyn Goodman, MD, MS
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, NY - Start Date: 11/01/23
- Projected End Date: 10/31/26
- Grant Amount: $450,000.00
Targeting the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment of Pancreatic Cancer with a Neoadjuvant Platform Clinical Trial
- Lei Zheng, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 06/01/21
- Projected End Date: 05/31/26
- Grant Amount: $1,694,315.00
Testing and Understanding Anti-CTLA4 Plus PARP Inhibitor Maintenance Therapy in Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Who Have Achieved Stable Disease on FOLFIRINOX.
- Kim Reiss Binder, MD
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA - Start Date: 04/01/24
- Projected End Date: 04/01/26
- Grant Amount: $1,999,998.99
Evaluation of the Mechanism and Efficacy of IL-15 superagonist-based neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer
- Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
New York, NY - Start Date: 03/01/23
- Projected End Date: 02/28/26
- Grant Amount: $1,977,282.00
PROmoting CLinicAl TrIal EngageMent for Pancreatic Cancer App Study (PROCLAIM Study)
- Jen Jen Yeh, MD
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC - Start Date: 01/02/23
- Projected End Date: 01/01/26
- Grant Amount: $450,000.00
A Phase II Study Of FOLFIRINOX Combined With The GSK-3 ß Inhibitor 9-ING-41 and The TGF-ß Inhibitor Losartan In Patients With Untreated Metastatic Adenocarcinoma.
- Colin Weekes, MD, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General)
Boston, MA - Start Date: 11/01/21
- Projected End Date: 10/31/24
- Grant Amount: $1,500,000.00
Focused Research Grants
Mechanisms of innervation in pancreatic cancer
- Ronald Parchem, Ph.D.
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX - Start Date: 06/1/25
- Projected End Date: 05/31/26
- Grant Amount: $109,959.00
Unravelling the role of P2Y6+ macrophages in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma liver metastasis.
- Massimiliano Mazzone, PhD
Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, VIB)
Gent - Start Date: 10/1/25
- Projected End Date: 09/30/26
- Grant Amount: $110,000.00
Artificial Intelligence-Augmented Early Detection and Prevention of Pancreatic Cancer
- Marcia Canto, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 11/1/24
- Projected End Date: 12/31/25
- Grant Amount: $496,343.00
Mapping stromal evolution and immune suppression in the first racially diverse human pancreatic cancer spatial genome atlas
- Howard Crawford, PhD
Henry Ford Health System
Detroit, MI - Start Date: 04/1/25
- Projected End Date: 03/31/27
- Grant Amount: $445,666.00
Testing and Understanding Anti-CTLA4 Plus PARP Inhibitor Maintenance Therapy in Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Who Have Achieved Stable Disease on FOLFIRINOX
- Kim Reiss Binder, MD
Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA - Start Date: 04/1/25
- Projected End Date: 03/31/27
- Grant Amount: $1,999,998.99
A Pilot Study of Neoadjuvant mFOLFIRINOX and ELI-002 7P with or without Anti-PD-1 Checkpoint Blockade in Borderline and Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
- Kevin Soares, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY - Start Date: 02/15/25
- Projected End Date: 02/14/29
- Grant Amount: $1,926,454.00
Organoid Personalized Therapeutics Phase 4 Project-OPT4
- David Tuveson, MD, PhD
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor, NY - Start Date: 09/01/23
- Projected End Date: 08/31/26
- Grant Amount: $2,841,093.00
FELIX 2.0. The Integration of AI into the Early Detection and Management of Pancreatic Cancer with Novel AI Algorithms and Advanced Data Analysis
- Elliott Fishman, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 04/01/23
- Projected End Date: 03/31/26
- Grant Amount: $3,280,638.00
Felix Civitas
- Alan Yuille, PhD
Johns Hopkins University JHURA
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 04/01/23
- Projected End Date: 03/31/26
- Grant Amount: $1,922,421.00
3D Analysis of Human Pancreatic Tissue to Improve Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer
- Laura Wood, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 09/01/22
- Projected End Date: 08/31/25
- Grant Amount: $2,397,114.00
Identifying high-risk pancreatic cancer genes using Long Read Sequencing
- Alison Klein, PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 09/01/22
- Projected End Date: 08/31/25
- Grant Amount: $3,649,780.00
Targeting the desmoplastic stroma and induced tumor vulnerabilities in PDA
- Claus Jørgensen, BSc, PhD
University of Manchester
Manchester, Does Not Apply - Start Date: 09/01/22
- Projected End Date: 08/31/25
- Grant Amount: $1,146,711.43
Local and systemic metabolic dysfunction in pancreatic cancer – Bench to bedside
- James Johnson, PhD
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia - Start Date: 11/01/21
- Projected End Date: 10/31/24
- Grant Amount: $1,199,715.00
Mechanisms and therapeutics for genome catastrophes that drive genome evolution in PDAC
- David Pellman, MD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA - Start Date: 11/01/21
- Projected End Date: 10/31/24
- Grant Amount: $1,200,000.00
Career Development Program
Targeting oncogenic metabolic adaptations to overcome therapy resistance in pancreatic cancer
- Vincent Bernard Pagan
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX - Start Date: 07/01/25
- Projected End Date: 6/30/28
- Grant Amount: $330,000.00
Interrogating vulnerabilities of a KRAS inhibitor-resistant cell state in pancreatic cancer
- Anupriya Singhal
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK)
New York, NY - Start Date: 07/01/25
- Projected End Date: 6/30/28
- Grant Amount: $330,000.00
Targeting Metabolic Adaptations to Autophagy Inhibition in PDAC
- Christina Towers, PhD
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
La Jolla, CA - Start Date: 07/01/24
- Projected End Date: 6/30/27
- Grant Amount: $300,000.00
Expanding immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer by targeting myeloperoxidase
- Tracy Liu, PhD
West Virginia University School of Medicine
Morgantown, WV - Start Date: 07/01/24
- Projected End Date: 6/30/27
- Grant Amount: $300,000.00
3D Morphological Analysis of Human Pancreatic Cancer Liver Metastases
- Ashley Kiemen, PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 07/01/23
- Projected End Date: 06/30/26
- Grant Amount: $300,000.00
Metastasis-Initiating Cells in Pancreatic Cancer
- Christina Ferrer, PhD
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 07/01/23
- Projected End Date: 06/30/26
- Grant Amount: $300,000.00
Innovation & Collaboration
Targeting HMGA1 Tumor-Stromal Networks in Pancreatic Carcinogenesis
- Linda Resar, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD - Start Date: 07/01/24
- Projected End Date: 06/30/25
- Grant Amount: $110,000.00
Establishing choline transport as selective vulnerability of pancreatic cancers
- Kacper Rogala, DPhil
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
Redwood City, CA - Start Date: 09/01/23
- Projected End Date: 08/31/24
- Grant Amount: $110,000.00
Partnerships
Targeting the PGE2-IL-1b axis for PDAC diagnosis and immune prevention
- Renato Ostuni, PhD
Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele
Milan, Italy - Start Date: 07/01/24
- Projected End Date: 06/30/27
- Grant Amount: $300,000.00
A Circulating Epigenetic Signature for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer
- Ajay Goel, PhD
Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope
Duarte, CA - Start Date: 07/01/23
- Projected End Date: 06/30/26
- Grant Amount: $300,000.00