D’Angelo Receives American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant

Newswise — La Jolla, Calif., December 1, 2017 – Maximiliano D’Angelo, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP), has received a four-year, $792,000 Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society.

The American Cancer Society awards Research Scholar Grants for promising research projects that may lead to the elimination of cancer as a major health problem. Recipients must be in the first six years of an independent research career or faculty appointment.

“Max is a well-deserving recipient of this prestigious award, says Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., president of SBP. “He is an outstanding scientist making significant discoveries that may help shape the future of cancer therapies. ”

D’Angelo, who has been at SBP since 2014, will use the grant to study how alterations in nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) contribute to the malignant transformation of blood cells and cancer.

NPCs play an important role in exchanging molecules between the cell nucleus and cytoplasm, as well as in the organization and regulation of cell processes. Alterations in certain proteins that comprise NPCs have been detected in cancer, especially in several types of leukemia. D’Angelo and his lab will focus on a particular nuclear pore complex component that is a critical regulator of cell differentiation.

“I’m very grateful to the American Cancer Society for supporting this research,” says D’Angelo. “There is a tremendous need to understand the pathways leading from NPC defects to cancer—insights that may lead to better treatments and potentially cures.”

#####

About SBP

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) is an independent nonprofit medical research organization that conducts world-class, collaborative, biological research and translates its discoveries for the benefit of patients. SBP focuses its research on cancer, immunity, neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders and rare children’s diseases. The Institute invests in talent, technology and partnerships to accelerate the translation of laboratory discoveries that will have the greatest impact on patients. Recognized for its world-class NCI-designated Cancer Center and the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, SBP employs about 1,100 scientists and staff in San Diego (La Jolla), Calif., and Orlando (Lake Nona), Fla. For more information, visit us at SBPdiscovery.org or on Facebook at facebook.com/SBPdiscovery and on Twitter @SBPdiscovery.