AGA – Gastric Cancer Foundation Ben Feinstein Memorial Research Scholar Award in Gastric Cancer
AGA–Gastric Cancer Foundation Ben Feinstein Memorial Research Scholar Awards in Gastric Cancer provide young researchers with $90,000 per year for three years. Research data will be used to understand and ultimately prevent or develop a cure for the disease.
Jose Saenz, MD, Ph.D.
An Interview with Dr. Saenz:
How did you become interested in gastric cancer research?
It was a perfect way for me to marry my background in microbiology and explore new avenues in cancer research. Infection with the gastric bacterium Helicobacter pylori is the greatest risk factor for developing gastric cancer. I am fascinated by the ability of a bacterium to live for decades in an inhospitable environment like the stomach, all the while changing the gastric landscape to survive and lead to cancer in the process.
How will the AGA-GCF Research Scholar Award in Gastric Cancer help your research over the next three years?
If we can begin to understand how Helicobacter pylori genetically adapts to different regions of the stomach, this may clue us to which bacterial genes are important for survival in these regions, and we can begin to target these genes therapeutically. We can also use these bacterial genes as biomarkers so that we can identify people infected with bacterial strains that harbor these genes. Then we will be able to detect patients with an increased risk based on the bacterial profiles.
How does this AGA-GCF support help young scientists in the gastric cancer field?
I trust my research will help other scientists learn more about the microbial-host interactions that dictate the development of gastric cancer. The hope is that this research will inspire other scientists in the field to look at the interactions early in infection as being crucial events that might create a micro-environment that can progress to cancer.
What is your hope for your current research?
Ultimately, I would like to see my research lend insight into better understanding how Helicobacter pylori adapt to the stomach environment. We need to fundamentally explore these early interactions if we want to be able to identify high-risk patients and improve gastric cancer mortality, which is unacceptably high in the United States—and worldwide.
Mohamad El-Zaatari, Ph.D.
“This grant has enabled me to pursue research and show substantial results so I can seek larger grants to continue these important studies. With grants like this one, the Foundation has the ability to develop an army of investigators to pursue research on this scarcely funded cancer.” 2016
About the Foundation’s Research Program
From the beginning, Foundation leaders recognized the need to inspire talented young scientists to focus on gastric cancer instead of being drawn to other cancer research fields that are more heavily endowed. As a result, the Foundation established an approach to continuously and strategically invest in promising young investigators. Research Scholar Awards allow these scientists to conduct initial gastric cancer studies that enable them to prove merit and garner major research grants. These efforts are strengthened by Gastric Cancer Foundation’s ongoing investment in the Gastric Cancer Registry and genomic sequencing where the Foundation is accelerating progress in the research field.
In 2013, Gastric Cancer Foundation made a major financial commitment to ensure continuous funding for young investigators who are researching the fundamental pathobiology of gastric (stomach) cancer. In partnership with the American Gastroenterological Association Research Foundation, a $2.25 million endowment was jointly established to fund a perpetual research award program.
Research Scholars receive 3-year grants totaling $270,000 to fund ground-breaking, innovative research. Research initiated with this early funding enables them to seek major grants at the end of three years to continue their pioneering work. Researchers interested in applying for the award can visit www.gastro.org/foundation.
The award is named in memory of Ben Feinstein, son of Wayne and Leslee Feinstein, who lost his two-year battle with gastric cancer at the age of 20.
Accelerating Progress in the Research Field
Ongoing research by talented young investigators is making critical inroads to understanding the disease better and improving patient treatments while working to prevent or develop a cure for stomach cancer.