The Masonic Cancer Center annually sponsors the Brainstorm and Translational Breast Cancer Awards to help researchers develop novel research ideas that focus on a problem in cancer. These awards provide the seed money a researcher may need to conduct a pilot study. The results of the pilot study often become the basis for obtaining larger grants from external sources, such as the National Cancer Institute, to continue the research on a bigger scale.

The Masonic Cancer Center combines unrestricted smaller donations to make these awards possible. The awards illustrate how smaller donations can become substantial funds for research, and why every donation, no matter the amount, is important and appreciated by the Masonic Cancer Center and its researchers.

The following teams received a $25,000 Brainstorm Award in 2006 to research these specific projects:

• Kevin Mayo, Ph.D., and Peter Dahlberg, M.D., Ph.D., "Disruption of cap-dependent translation in cancer cells using elF4G topomimetics"
• Ameeta Kelekar, Ph.D., and Kylie Walters, Ph.D., "Role of phosphorylation in regulating function and localization of the Bcl-2 family protein, Noxa"
• Pamala Jacobson, Pharm.D., and William Oetting, Ph.D., "Pharmacogenetics of the immunosuppressant, mycophenolate mofetil, in cancer patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation"
• Reuben Harris, Ph.D., and David Largaespada, Ph.D., "Uncontrolled L1 retrotranspotion and carcinogenesis"
• Robert Fecik, Ph.D., and Rory Remmel, Ph.D., "Estrogenic regulators for the chemoprevention of prostate cancer"
• John Ohlfest, Ph.D., and Wei Chen M.D., Ph.D., "Immunotherapy for targeted killing of brain tumor stem cells"

In addition, $25,000 Translational Breast Cancer Awards were given to these researchers:

• Jeffrey Simon, Ph.D., and Carol Lange, Ph.D., "Role of EZH2 Histone Methyltransverase in Breast Cancer"
• Susanta Hui, Ph.D., "Feasibility study of novel 41Ca marker to assess bone loss for breast cancer patients treated with aromatase inhibitor"
• Shunan Li, Ph.D., "Translational control of breast cancer genesis"