ICRF is pleased to announce a total of 83 cancer research grants - 28 new grants and 55 continuing grants - valued at $4,954,666 will be supported for the 2022-2023 funding year. The new grants include: one Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program (CLIP) Grant co-funded with Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a third Career Development Award (CDA) for a young, Israeli clinician-scientist, co-funded with Conquer Cancer (The ASCO Foundation), two Brause Family Initiative for Quality of Life Grants, and one Special Initiative in Pediatric Cancer Research Grant.

Additionally, two new Research Professorship Grants, ICRF’s most prestigious grant category, have been awarded and two new Project Grants are being sponsored thanks to a generous bequest from the Estate of Jerry Gross, a long-time ICRF supporter. With the 2022-2023 grants, ICRF’s funding has now reached 2,730 grants totaling more than $87.5 million. 

Commenting on the new grants, ICRF President David Abramson said, "Despite the challenges we faced this year, ICRF will fund 83 research grants, enabling Israel's brilliant scientists to investigate new treatments and cures for a broad scope of cancers. We are determined to alleviate the suffering cancer causes by tapping into the innovation and resourcefulness of our ICRF-funded scientists."

September has been designated an awareness month for many different cancer types, including childhood, blood, ovarian, and prostate cancers. Some of ICRF’s newly-funded investigators are conducting research in these areas. Their projects are detailed below.

Dinorah Friedmann-Morvinski, PhD, of Tel Aviv University, the first recipient of the ICRF Special Initiative in Pediatric Cancer Research Grant, is striving to improve treatment strategies for pediatric high-grade gliomas — very aggressive, universally fatal, pediatric brain tumors. One promising modality is genetically modifying the patient’s T cells (a type of cell in our immune system) to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) that can recognize and bind to molecules expressed on tumor cells and kill them. This modality has induced long-lasting remission in most patients with B cell malignancies (cancers of white blood cells), including pediatric patients. In this project, she aims to extend the potential of CAR T cell therapy to pediatric brain tumors and to overcome some of the major obstacles to the effectiveness of this strategy.

Liran Shlush, MD, PhD, of the Weizmann Institute of Science, who just received his first ICRF Project Grant, is studying acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a devastating disease, especially among the elderly. It is now known that most AML patients have a long latent period before diagnosis, during which pre-leukemic cells accumulate. Dr. Shlush has shown that specific mutations accumulate in pre-leukemic cells of otherwise healthy individuals. Access to the electronic health records of 3.2 million Israelis allowed him to develop algorithms for AML prediction based on routine clinical information. The goal of his research is to establish that these mutations can be used, not only to predict eventual tumor development, but also as targets for therapies that prevent and treat disease.

Osnat Ashur-Fabian, PhD, of Meir Medical Center, also the recipient of an ICRF Project Grant, is studying drug resistance in ovarian carcinoma, a cancer that ranks fifth in incidence in women. In order to improve treatment outcomes, she believes that a deeper understanding of resistance mechanisms is urgently needed. An enzyme called DIO3 was shown to be involved in ovarian cancer growth. Dr. Ashur-Fabian aims to study the potential role played by this enzyme in ovarian cancer treatment resistance, as well as the impact of inhibiting this enzyme as a novel approach for sensitizing cells to drugs.

Ronit Ilouz, PhD, of Bar-Ilan University, recipient of her first ICRF grant for early career scientists, the Research Career Development Award (RCDA), is studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of protein kinases (intracellular enzymes that regulate cell growth and proliferation) and how they are deregulated in prostate cancer. Utilizing cutting-edge imaging techniques to map protein locations in the cell with high-resolution microscopy, she aims to identify the specific location of these proteins within the cells surrounding the tumor and the cellular partners with which they interact. This should lead to novel treatments for prostate cancer using specific kinase inhibitors, without causing unwanted side effects.

A breakthrough discovery by an international team of researchers led by ICRF grantee Ronit Satchi-Fanaro, PhD, of Tel Aviv University, promises to make immunotherapy available to all cancer patients. The results of the study were recently published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer and in several other publications. 

ICRF grant recipient Jacob Hanna, MD, PhD, and his genetics team at the Weizmann Institute of Science were the first to create a synthetic mouse embryo model which could eventually become a source of cells, tissues and organs for transplantation. Recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell, the breaking news also appeared in other outlets.

To commemorate Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, ICRF interviews Professor Shai Israeli, MD, Director of the Hematology–Oncology Department at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, about his prestigious ICRF Professorship Grant, which focuses on both lowering the toxicity of cancer therapy and highly resistant leukemias. 

 As a leader in the field of pediatric cancer, can you tell us about the focus of your new five-year grant?

In the 40 years that I have been a physician, there has been a dramatic revolution in the outcome of childhood leukemia. In 1982, when I finished medical school, only 40 percent of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children, were cured. Today, close to 90 percent are cured. By "cured," I mean cured for life! I always say to parents of a child with leukemia that our goal is that their child will become a grandparent; namely, he or she will live a normal life span with normal functioning. Unfortunately, up to 3 percent of children with leukemia die from chemotherapy, and many develop long-term health problems due to the effects of chemotherapy. One of the areas of our research focuses on lowering the toxicity of therapy. A major problem in treating children with leukemia is that it often spreads to the brain. Thus, every child receives toxic chemotherapy or even irradiation to prevent the spread of leukemia. This therapy sometimes damages the brain. Even slight damage is significant for the future life of a child.

Our second area of research focuses on those leukemias that are difficult to cure, such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I plan to use the generous funding provided by the ICRF Professorship Grant to attack this problem. Despite curing 90 percent of children with ALL, this is clearly not enough for the 10 percent of parents whose child dies from AML. In research that we hope to publish in the journal, Nature Communications, by the end of the year, we identified a new way to treat highly resistant AML. With ICRF’s support, we will take this research forward and aim to discover a more efficient therapy for AML.

Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, is pleased to announce Orit Kaidar-Person, MD, of Sheba Medical Center as the recipient of the 2022 Conquer Cancer - Israel Cancer Research Fund Career Development Award (CDA).

“ICRF is thrilled to enhance its grants program by collaborating with Conquer Cancer once again. Our joint effort enables us to expand our funding opportunities to the brightest and most promising cancer investigators in Israel,” noted Beryl Chernov, ICRF National Executive Director.

Honoree: Richard Edelheit, Retired Partner from RSM US LLP; ICRF Chicago Board of Directors and ICRF International Treasurer

Inspiration Awardee: Lisa Alter Krule, Chicago Director, IsraelNow – Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago

Emcee: Robert S. Johnson, Communications Consultant, former News Anchor, WBBM-TV in Chicago

For more information, or to sponsor or register, click here.

Honoree: In Memoriam - Alan Kalter, former announcer for the "Late Show with David Letterman"

Master of Ceremonies: Richard Kind, Award-Winning Actor of Stage, Screen, and Television

Panel Discussion: "Mitigating Cancer Risks" with Nicole Boxer, MS, Genetics Counselor; Fran Ginsberg, MD, Gynecologist and Reproductive Endocrinologist; Shara Israel, MD, Internist, Stamford Health; Shari Levine, PhD, Clinical Psychologist

Live Auction to support the Project Grant of Gideon Shreiber, PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science, focusing on chronic lymphocytic leukemia .

Leadership Honoree: Rob Densen, Founder and CEO of Tiller, LLC, ICRF International Vice Chair and President Emeritus

Inspiration Honoree: Arnold M. Baskies, MD, Surgical Oncologist, former Chairman, American Cancer Society, ICRF International Vice President

Partnership Honoree: Ambassador Asaf Zamir, Consul General of Israel in New York

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