SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Marylandian -- The ROS1ders, a global group of patients and caregivers living with ROS1+ cancer, announced the recipients of the 2024 ROS1+ Cancer Innovation Award. Funds for the awards were raised through individual contributions to The ROS1ders by patients and supporters. Each award carries a one-year, $75,000 seed grant to fund high-risk, high-reward research projects in ROS1+ cancer.

The recipients of the 2024 ROS1+ Cancer Innovation Awards are:

1. Monte Winslow,  PhD, Dmitri A. Petrov, PhD and Joel Neal, MD, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine – Towards precision medicine for oncogenic ROS1 fusion driven lung cancer
   This project will create models of each known ROS1 fusion variant and investigate how they influence cancer development and treatment responses.
   
   
2. Jaime Schneider, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital – Identifying Metabolic Vulnerabilities in ROS1+ Lung Cancer
   This project aims to shed light on metabolic pathways that may contribute to acquired resistance to treatments for ROS1+ cancer, with the goal of identifying new targets for treatments that may prevent or treat resistance mechanisms.

"The ROS1+ cancer community is grateful to be the first generation whose lives are extended by years thanks to biomarker testing and targeted therapy," said Janet Freeman-Daily, co-founder and president of The ROS1ders. "However, the currently approved drugs don't work well for everyone. Our patient-driven organization aims to encourage more researchers to study our disease, develop effective treatments, and share their results through open science best practices."

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About The ROS1ders

The ROS1ders is the largest global group of patients and family members living with ROS1+ cancer.  It seeks to improve outcomes for all ROS1+ cancers through community, education, and research. Membership in their private Facebook group exceeds 2000 people from over 50 countries.  The nonprofit is internationally recognized in the oncology and patient advocacy communities as experts in their disease. Its resources include a medically-vetted website and collaborations with international ROS1+ clinicians, researchers and industry.  Please visit theros1ders.org to learn more.

About ROS1+ Cancer

• ROS1+ cancer is relatively rare, occurring in just 1-2% of non-small cell lung cancer. The incidence is thought to be similar in other types of cancer.
• Biomarker testing for ROS1 fusions is recommended in guidelines for non-small cell lung cancer, but few other cancers, yet.
• Patients typically have adenocarcinoma NSCLC, a younger age than the average NSCLC patient, and no smoking history (a smoking history should not exclude patients from biomarker testing or targeted therapies).
• Oral targeted therapies are the recommended first-line treatment for metastatic ROS1+ NSCLC and have increased the survival of patients by years.  However, these drugs eventually stop working due to acquired resistance. The mechanisms of resistance are not well understood.

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