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The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the world’s leading non-profit funder of melanoma research, announced its $9.3 million investment to drive cutting-edge melanoma research worldwide. This new funding supports 30 high-impact research projects at leading academic and medical institutions in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, remains a public health threat. This year, over 100,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with melanoma and one person, every hour of every day will die from melanoma. Amid widespread reductions in cancer research nationally, MRA is proud to fuel new investments that accelerate discoveries and improve patient outcomes.
“MRA stands at the forefront of the breakthroughs that have redefined melanoma research and care,” said MRA’s Chief Executive Officer Marc Hurlbert, PhD. “When MRA was founded in 2007, melanoma research was limited, and treatment options were few. Today, patients with advanced melanoma have access to 17 FDA-approved treatments. This progress is saving lives and transforming how cancer is treated overall. We remain grateful to our supporters who made another groundbreaking year of research investments possible.”
“Melanoma research has made astounding progress, but we are on the cusp of so much more.” said MRA Chief Science Officer Joan Levy, PhD. “Nearly half of patients with advanced melanoma do not respond to current treatments, so it is incumbent upon us to keep driving research forward. We are extremely pleased with the portfolio of projects that MRA is supporting in this year’s grant cycle as they are addressing critically needed research areas for the melanoma field.”
MRA rigorously reviews grants for their ultimate potential to move the field forward through accountable, collaborative efforts in five high priority strategic areas:
MRA works with the best and brightest minds around the world who are singularly focused on improving outcomes and saving more lives.
The MRA Young Investigator Awards empower the next generation of early career researchers. In addition to funding bold new ideas, MRA's Young Investigator Award program is also a training ground for researchers through the interaction with a senior melanoma investigator serving as a mentor as they prepare for the future of their science careers.
Identifying and targeting immunotherapy tolerance mechanisms in melanoma
The Danny Fund – MRA Young Investigator Award
Claudia Capparelli, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University
Harnessing nutrition to enhance melanoma-specific T cells
Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen Foundation – MRA Young Investigator Award
Nicholas Collins, PhD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Targeting VISTA on neutrophils to manage immunotherapy adverse events
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Young Investigator Award
Daniel Hirschhorn, PhD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Modeling primary GNAQ/BAP1-driven uveal melanoma in zebrafish
The Black Family – MRA Young Investigator Award
Colin Kenny, PhD, The University of Iowa
Rewiring exhausted T cell-derived chemokines to improve anti-tumor immunity
MRA Young Investigator Award in Memory of Chad Johnson
Kelly Kersten, PhD, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Epigenetic regulation of IL-7 to enhance cell therapies for melanoma
MRA Young Investigator Award
Goran Micevic, MD, PhD, Yale University
New specific therapeutic approaches to target NF1-null melanoma
The Black Family – MRA Young Investigator Award
Sandra Misale, PhD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Deciphering T cell determinants of resistance to neoadjuvant immunotherapy
MRA Young Investigator Award in Memory of Jeff Weber
Giacomo Oliveira, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Neoadjuvant research platform to personalize therapy for melanoma patients
MIA – MRA Young Investigator Award
Ines Silva, MD, PhD, Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA)
Innovative metalloimmunotherapy for advanced melanoma and metastasis
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) Michael Milken – MRA Young Investigator Award
Kevin Sun, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Nanoparticle reprogramming of antigen presentation for acral melanoma
The Black Family – MRA Young Investigator Award
Joel Sunshine, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
The MRA Pilot Awards provide early support for conceptually novel, exploratory, high risk and high impact projects with the potential to change the face of melanoma research and treatments.
Upregulating phospho-ERK as a new therapeutic approach
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Pilot Award
Drew Adams, PhD, Case Western Reserve University - School of Medicine
Characterizing dormant uveal melanoma cells from clinical biopsies
The Black Family – MRA Pilot Award
Rizwan Haq, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Development of a drug repurposing pipeline for rare melanoma
Derrick Queen – MRA Pilot Award
John Lamar, PhD, Albany Medical College
Point-of-care high-frequency quantitative ultrasound assessment of melanoma
L'Oreal Dermatological Beauty Division – MRA Pilot Award
Jonathan Mamou, PhD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Galectin-targeted immunotherapy: transforming melanoma treatment
MRA Pilot Award
Laia Querol Cano, PhD, Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc)
Enabling precision drug delivery by targeting cancer metabolism
The Teicher Family Grant in Memory of Phillip Teicher – MRA Pilot Award
Xiaoyang Wu, PhD, The University of Chicago
MRA Established Investigator Awards support senior investigators with an established record of scientific productivity and accomplishment and who are past the initial five years of their first academic faculty appointment.
Epigenetic control of melanoma inflammatory CAFs
Merryl and James Tisch in honor of Debra Black – MRA Established Investigator Award
Emily Bernstein, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Interrupting melanoma Leptomeningeal metastasis
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Established Investigator Award
Adrienne Boire, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK)
Clinical utility of mitochondrial genetics in ICI efficacy prediction
MRA Established Investigator Award
Tomas Kirchhoff, PhD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine
Targeting SIRT5 in uveal melanoma
The Black Family – MRA Established Investigator Award
David Lombard, MD, PhD, Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami
Epigenetic editing to improve melanoma TIL therapy
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Established Investigator Award
Kunal Rai, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
mIF biomarker assay to predict response to anti-PD-1 mono vs. combo therapy
MRA Established Investigator Award
Janis Taube, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
The aging brain microenvironment promotes brain metastases
Brandon Barniea – MRA Established Investigator Award
Ashani Weeraratna, PhD, Johns Hopkins University JHURA
The axes of acral melanoma - anatomic position and driver oncogenes
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) London – MRA Established Investigator Award
Richard White, MD, PhD, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Oxford
Treating melanoma brain metastasis using bispecific CAR Gamma Delta T cells
MRA Established Investigator Award
Xiaowei Xu, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Targeting myeloid cells of the tumor microenvironment
MRA Established Investigator Award
Jennifer Yunyan Zhang, PhD, Duke University School of Medicine
MRA partners with Industry to seek and fund proposals in scientific areas of interest that align with both MRA and industry priorities. Partnerships can be established across MRA’s grant award mechanisms.
PREMIER project in melanoma
MRA Established Investigator – Academic Industry Partnership Award in honor of Norm and Sunny Brownstein – Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Sapna Patel, MD, University of Colorado Denver, AMC and DC
The MRA Team Science Awards utilize a multidisciplinary team science approach to foster collaborative research projects with the potential of rapid advancement to the clinic. This award also requires the inclusion of a Young Investigator to participate on the research team and interact with a melanoma mentor.
Early spread and immune responses in pediatric Spitz tumors
St. Baldrick’s Foundation – MRA Team Science Award
Boris Bastian, MD, PhD, The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco
Stress-induced immune dysregulation as a driver of immunotherapy resistance
Amanda and Jonathan Eilian – MRA Team Science Award
Christian Blank, MD, PhD, Stichting Het Nederlands Kanker Instituut - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek ziekenhuis (The Netherlands Cancer Institute - NKI)
The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) is the largest private, non-profit funder of melanoma research worldwide. Founded in 2007 by Debra and Leon Black, MRA’s mission is to end suffering and death due to melanoma by advancing the most promising science and research. MRA-funded investigators have been at the forefront of every major melanoma breakthrough, helping to drive the approval of more than 17 new therapeutic approaches. Through strategic investments across prevention, diagnosis, treatment, metastasis, and survivorship, MRA is transforming outcomes for patients worldwide. Thanks to the generosity of MRA’s founders, 100% of all public donations support innovative melanoma research — without any overhead or administrative costs. MRA is recognized as one of the most fiscally efficient nonprofits in the country.
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