The Cancer Research Foundation is pleased to announce the 2012 Fletcher Scholars Award.  This year, having received so many compelling applications, the CRF Board decided that for this year only it would grant the Fletcher Scholars Award to two scientists:  Dr. Ernst Lengel and Dr. Kenan Onel.

Dr. Lengyel is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago and focuses his  work on ovarian cancer.  The project he will pursue with his grant is titled "Characterization of the Bi-directional Cross Talk Between Cancer Cells and Carcinoma-associated Fibroblasts" and seeks to shed light on why and how ovarian cancer cells often metaticize in the abdominal cavity so successfully.  Learn more about this project.

Dr. Onel is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Chicago and focuses primarily on childhood leukemias. His project "exploiting Darwin to overcome Drug Resistance in Leukemia"  is focused on explaining why some patients respond to durgs while others are resistent to drugs, even when they have the same type of cancer. Learn more about this project.

The Fletcher Scholars Award was established in 1988  through a endowed memorial gift made by Eugene and Dorothy Fletcher.  Thier bequest stipulated that the income from their gift should be used to support laboaratory research in cancer science.  The Cancer Research Foundation grants the Fletcher Scholars Award every other year to a more senior scientist who is pursuing work with has the possibility of creating a significant impact in cancer research.  Learn more about the Fletcher Scholars Award.

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"Thanks to the hard work, commitment, and compassion of scientists, researchers, and organizations like the Cancer Research Foundation, there is renewed hope for discovering better treatments and eventually a cure for cancer.

I commend all of you for your outstanding contributions to the field of cancer research. For five decades, your commitment to the crusade against cancer has given hope and comfort to people across the nation."