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ATA announces grants with help from Bite Me Cancer and ThyCa
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The American Thyroid Association is teaming up with Bite Me Cancer, a thyroid cancer patient support group, to deliver a newly awarded grant in medullary thyroid cancer research.
The American Thyroid Association (ATA) has also announced three grants as a part of a continued partnership with the Thyroid Cancer Survivors Association, Inc. (ThyCa).
ThyCa has provided funds in support of the ATA’s research program totaling $3.6 million, and since the program’s inception in 2003, ThyCa’s support has enabled 47 research grants in the areas of thyroid cancer and medullary thyroid cancer, according to a press release from the ATA.
The ATA announces three renewable grants annually and provides institutions with support in organizing volunteer research committees and other administrative tasks, the press release said.
The 2014 ATA research grants will be awarded to:
- Tatiana de Lourdes Fonseca, PhD, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
- Leo Kim, MD, PhD, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts
- Peter Taylor MB, ChB, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
- W. Edward Visser, MD, Erasmus University Medical Center, Netherlands
The 2014 ATA ThyCa Grants will be awarded to:
- Elizabeth Grubbs, MD, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
- Jason Prescott, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
- Brian Untch, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Bite Me Cancer is an organization founded by Nikki Ferraro, a woman who was diagnosed with sporadic medullary thyroid cancer as a teen.
“From the beginning of Bite Me Cancer, I knew that I wanted to raise research funds for thyroid cancer and hoped to be able to fund a grant actually for medullary thyroid cancer,” Ferraro told Endocrine Today. “I know how important research is because when I was diagnosed in April 2010, there wasn’t any FDA-approved drug or chemo for medullary thyroid cancer. My only option was ongoing surgery,” she said.
“Since that time, two drugs have been approved; but some people have challenges or don’t find success on those drugs. Being able to have Bite Me Cancer raise enough money to actually fund a 2-year grant is amazing to me — and to have the research focused on medullary is even more exciting! In partnering with ATA, we know that the grant review process is thorough and that some of the researchers stay involved with thyroid cancer beyond the 2-year grant period. Thyroid cancer needs all the attention and funds it can get,” Ferraro said.
The 2014 ATA Bite Me Cancer Grant will be awarded to:
- Ramona Dadu, MD, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
For more information, see the announcement from the ATA.