Mark Foundation Honors Innovative Scientists with 2025 Emerging Leader Awards for Cancer Research
On January 15, 2025, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research proudly announced the recipients of the 2025 Emerging Leader Awards, recognizing five remarkable early-career scientists who are poised to make significant advancements in cancer research. This award aims to empower these talented individuals by providing a total of $3.75 million in funding to pursue innovative and high-risk projects, which have the potential to transform cancer treatment.
Ryan Schoenfeld, PhD, the CEO of The Mark Foundation, stated, "At The Mark Foundation, we believe that investing in the next generation of scientists is essential to unlocking fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and new energy in the field of cancer research." The recipients have been selected for their bold and transformative approaches to cancer treatment across various tumor types, promising to bring groundbreaking projects to life through the Emerging Leader Award program.
This year’s awardees include:
1. Liron Bar-Peled, PhD, from Mass General Cancer Center - Bar-Peled is focused on developing a new class of drugs known as "molecular staples." These drugs aim to disrupt oncogenic fusion proteins, which can lead to various forms of cancer by facilitating the abnormal joining of two genes.
2. Kai Kessenbrock, PhD, University of California, Irvine - Kessenbrock’s research centers on targeting the breast microenvironment in individuals with BRCA1 mutations. His hypothesis posits that these inherited mutations may cause changes within the breast tissue, particularly within the immune system, and thus could influence breast cancer initiation.
3. Ansuman Satpathy, MD, PhD, Stanford University - Satpathy is engineering synthetic transcription factors to modulate gene expression and enhance T cell activity against cancer. His innovative approaches aim to create more effective immunotherapies by developing engineered T cell states with improved anti-cancer capabilities.
4. Mara Sherman, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center - Sherman’s research focuses on understanding the co-evolution of tumor and stromal cells by uncovering how cancer-associated fibroblast cells drive tumor growth and resistance to therapy, particularly in pancreatic cancers. She seeks to identify novel treatment strategies based on these insights.
5. Daniel Wahl, MD, PhD, University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center - Wahl’s work aims to define and interrupt the metabolic activity driven by the tumor microenvironment in brain cancer. His research will explore how glioblastoma cells extract nutrients from nearby non-cancerous cells, a mechanism that fuels tumor growth and resistance to treatments, with the goal of formulating improved therapeutic strategies.
With each recipient of the Emerging Leader Award receiving $750,000, allocated over three years, this award is pivotal for the early-career scientists it supports. Since its inception in 2018, the ELA program has distributed over $37 million in funding, signifying The Mark Foundation's commitment to nourishing the next generation of cancer research leaders.
For further details regarding the Emerging Leader Award program, including profiles of the 2025 recipients and information on the 2026 application process, interested parties can visit themarkfoundation.org and follow The Mark Foundation on social media platforms such as X and LinkedIn.
The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research is a charitable body based in New York City that collaborates with scientists globally to accelerate groundbreaking cancer research and revolutionize cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. To date, the organization has committed over $250 million in grants, substantially impacting over 100 academic institutions in 16 countries across various research initiatives.
Ryan Schoenfeld, PhD, the CEO of The Mark Foundation, stated, "At The Mark Foundation, we believe that investing in the next generation of scientists is essential to unlocking fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and new energy in the field of cancer research." The recipients have been selected for their bold and transformative approaches to cancer treatment across various tumor types, promising to bring groundbreaking projects to life through the Emerging Leader Award program.
This year’s awardees include:
1. Liron Bar-Peled, PhD, from Mass General Cancer Center - Bar-Peled is focused on developing a new class of drugs known as "molecular staples." These drugs aim to disrupt oncogenic fusion proteins, which can lead to various forms of cancer by facilitating the abnormal joining of two genes.
2. Kai Kessenbrock, PhD, University of California, Irvine - Kessenbrock’s research centers on targeting the breast microenvironment in individuals with BRCA1 mutations. His hypothesis posits that these inherited mutations may cause changes within the breast tissue, particularly within the immune system, and thus could influence breast cancer initiation.
3. Ansuman Satpathy, MD, PhD, Stanford University - Satpathy is engineering synthetic transcription factors to modulate gene expression and enhance T cell activity against cancer. His innovative approaches aim to create more effective immunotherapies by developing engineered T cell states with improved anti-cancer capabilities.
4. Mara Sherman, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center - Sherman’s research focuses on understanding the co-evolution of tumor and stromal cells by uncovering how cancer-associated fibroblast cells drive tumor growth and resistance to therapy, particularly in pancreatic cancers. She seeks to identify novel treatment strategies based on these insights.
5. Daniel Wahl, MD, PhD, University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center - Wahl’s work aims to define and interrupt the metabolic activity driven by the tumor microenvironment in brain cancer. His research will explore how glioblastoma cells extract nutrients from nearby non-cancerous cells, a mechanism that fuels tumor growth and resistance to treatments, with the goal of formulating improved therapeutic strategies.
With each recipient of the Emerging Leader Award receiving $750,000, allocated over three years, this award is pivotal for the early-career scientists it supports. Since its inception in 2018, the ELA program has distributed over $37 million in funding, signifying The Mark Foundation's commitment to nourishing the next generation of cancer research leaders.
For further details regarding the Emerging Leader Award program, including profiles of the 2025 recipients and information on the 2026 application process, interested parties can visit themarkfoundation.org and follow The Mark Foundation on social media platforms such as X and LinkedIn.
The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research is a charitable body based in New York City that collaborates with scientists globally to accelerate groundbreaking cancer research and revolutionize cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. To date, the organization has committed over $250 million in grants, substantially impacting over 100 academic institutions in 16 countries across various research initiatives.
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