New Travel Funds for VA Staff

June 16, 2026

Rivero-Zambrano Receives Crowley Statistical Award

Dr. Luisa Rivero-Zambrano, a medical oncology resident at the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología (INCan), Mexico, was recently selected to receive the 2026 John Crowley, PhD Award, an annual honor designed to encourage statistical excellence in clinical trials. The award provides a 1-week visit to the SWOG Statistics and Data Management Center in Seattle, as well as travel to 2 SWOG group meetings.

"Receiving the John Crowley, PhD Award is both an honor and an invaluable opportunity for growth," said Dr. Rivero-Zambrano. "I am truly excited to learn directly from those who are shaping the future of cancer clinical research and to apply those lessons to meaningful research questions that can ultimately improve patient care. I am incredibly grateful and eager to contribute, learn, and continue developing as a researcher while building the skills and collaborations that will continue shaping my career."

The Crowley program committee was enthusiastic about Rivero-Zambrano's research concept, Beyond Binary Biomarkers: Modeling Treatment Effect Heterogeneity Across KRAS Variant Subtypes in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer. They look forward to hosting her in Seattle to help her further her work via in-person collaborations.

The John Crowley, PhD Award program will reopen its application in early 2027. Check back at thehopefoundation.org for this and other funding opportunities.

Grant Awards Announced from Coltman and Impact Programs

Curtis Pettaway, MD and Niki Zacharias Millward, PhD, both of MD Anderson Cancer Center, have won the 2026 Impact Award for their proposal aimed at improving outcomes for metastatic penile squamous cell carcinoma. While current treatments for this diagnosis offer early responses, long-term success is rare, and newer approaches come with significant side effects. Drs. Pettaway and Zacharias Millward seek to identify a treatment strategy that maintains strong anti-cancer effects while reducing toxicity, ultimately informing future clinical trials and improved care for patients with advanced disease.

Jeremy Harris, MD, of UC Irvine has been awarded the 2026 Dr. Charles A. Coltman, Jr., Fellowship to lead S2505, a soft-tissue sarcoma trial.

This study will test whether an accelerated approach to radiation treatment controls the cancer as effectively as the standard, longer schedule. It will produce the first high-quality evidence on condensed radiation treatment for soft-tissue sarcomas and has the potential to establish a faster, more accessible standard of care.