The Lung Cancer Research Foundation, a New York-based non-profit, has chosen this year’s annual grant recipients. This time around, the organization will be giving 11 carefully selected researchers US$1.65 million for their continued contributions in the field.
At the forefront of the pack is Lu Wang, an assistant professor from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. In addition to being one of the Leading Edge Grant Program funding recipients, Wang has received the Joan H. Schiller, MD Award for Scientific Merit. The organization’s Scientific Advisory Board presents it to those it views as being excellent overall.
Wang has received this accolade for his project titled Therapeutic Targeting of ASXL3 Protein Stability in Small Cell Lung Cancer. He and a group of researchers from Northwestern and China published a study in Nature on this complicated topic in 2022.
Joan Schiller is the founder of Free to Breathe — an organization that merged with the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) in 2017. She is widely regarded as a leading lung cancer expert. Schiller has made over 200 lung cancer and oncology research contributions to top-ranking peer-reviewed publications.
In the foundation’s leading edge category, Wang is joined by Timothy Martin, an anti-lung tumour immunity researcher from the University of Virginia; lung cancer therapy scholar Patricia Pereira from the Washington University School of Medicine; and John Presner, a medical doctor from the University of Michigan.
Presner has been studying microproteins as novel disease targets in squamous cell lung cancer. Squamous cell lung cancer is a specific type of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that occurs in the central area of the lung near the primary airways (left and right bronchus). It is among the most prevalent types of the disease.
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LCRF prioritizes prevention & screening
The remainder of the awarded grants were divided into three categories: Research on Prevention and Early Detection in Lung Cancer, Research on Overcoming Resistance in Lung Cancer and a Minority Career Development.
David Adler, a doctor from the University of Rochester, was awarded for his work with boosting lung cancer screening uptake among emergency department patients. This topic brings a groundbreaking study on technology developed by Breath Diagnostics to mind.
Additionally, in the prevention and detection category, Crispin Hiley from University College London procured a grant for studies on determinants of immune age and immune surveillance for early detection of the disease.
“Honoured to be in such impressive company as the sole Brit in this year’s cohort,” he said. “Very grateful to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation for this award supporting our research into immune ageing and lung cancer risk.”
Adler and Hiley were also joined by Nicholas Juul and Hilary Robbins: two scholars that have been contributing valuable research on “identifying biomarkers of precancerous copy number alteration in normal alveolar epithelium” and assessing lung cancer risk among non-smokers.
“We are thrilled to receive funding from the Lung Cancer Research Foundation to develop lung cancer risk assessment tools for people who never smoked,” stated Robbins. “We’ll be working intensively on this project over the next 2 years. Thank you LCRF!”
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Non-profit values overcoming treatment resistance
For treatment resistance investigation, Ximeng Liu was awarded for her work in understanding response and resistance to firmonertinib: a drug used to treat NSCLC patients with a specific type of mutation. China’s Shanghai Allist Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd (SHA: 688578) manufactures this drug.
Furthermore, Ohio State University’s Dongsung Kim was recognized for his investigations into lung cancers that are resistant to KRAS protein inhibitors. This protein is a driving force behind the progression of many non-small cell lung cancers.
Lastly, Yale University’s Nelson LaMarche is the sole recipient of the Minority Career Development Award. He has obtained it for defining clinically targetable drivers of pathogenic myeloid cell development for NSCLC immunotherapy.
Congratulations to 🌟🎊Dr. Ximeng Liu for been selected for support from the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (@lcrf_org ) for her project: “Deciphering response and resistance mechanisms to firmonertinib in #NSCLC patients with #EGFR #PACC mutations.” 🔬💡
Our journey has been… pic.twitter.com/QLES1ebo3o— Xiuning Le MD PhD (@LeXiuning) December 6, 2025
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