Special Projects Committee

Since its establishment in 1968, the Special Projects Committee has distinguished itself by donating over $14 million dollars to support research projects at the Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI). Most of these projects are in their earliest stages when it may be difficult to obtain funding from conventional sources.

Special Projects Committee
By sponsoring such new and innovative research, the Committee has helped to launch the investigations of brilliant young scientists. It has provided an opportunity for established investigators to explore leading-edge ideas, and has helped MSK stay in the forefront of cancer research. Some of the many research projects the Special Projects Committee has supported include mouse models of human brain tumors, studies of the functioning of the immune system, and comparisons of various approaches in imaging in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In 2002, the Committee also made a significant two-year commitment to support MSK's then-newly established Genomics Core Laboratory, which has since become a vital part of the Center's research infrastructure. 
 
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Special Projects Committee! To celebrate this momentous occasion, we will be hosting an event at the Rainbow Room on Tuesday, October 2, 2018. We will honor Dr. Joan Massagué, Director of the Sloan Kettering Institute, who has been instrumental in the success of Special Projects. Marie Josée-Kravis will be an Honorary Chair for the event. Event Chairs are Allison Aston, Ingrid Edelman, and Kimberly Kravis.
 
The Special Projects Committee Co-Chairs are Samuel L. Goldworm and Eugenie Niven Goodman.
 
For more information about Special Projects or the Special Projects Annual Dinner, please contact The Society Office at 212-639-7972.

 

PREVIOUSLY FUNDED RESEARCH

2017

Zhirong Bao, PhD
Computational Platforms for Integrated Tissue Biology

Mary Baylies, PhD
Identifying Novel Drugs that Inhibit RMS Metastasis

Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis, PhD
Construction of an Organ from Single Cells: A Paradigm for Deconstruction in Cancer

Ming Li, PhD
Dysregulation of the Nutrient-Sensing Pathway in Cancer

Dana Pe’er, PhD
Characterizing Tumor Heterogeneity and Dysregulation in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

 

2016

Daniel A. Heller, PhD
Tumor – Specific PI3K Inhibition via Targeted Delivery in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Morgan Huse, PhD
Mechanical Regulation of Tumor Cell Killing by Cytotoxic T Cells

Dirk Remus, PhD
Maintenance of Genome Integrity during Chromosome Replication

Joseph Sun, PhD
A Forward Genetic Approach to Identify Novel Tumor Specific Factors that Influence Anti Tumor Innate Immunity

Jennifer Zallen, PhD
Mechanical Force as an Essential Signal that Influences Cell Behavior and Human Disease

 

2015

Frederic Geissman, MD, PhD
Role of Tissue Macrophages in Shaping the Clonal Evolution of Cancer

Danwei Huangfu, PhD
Modeling Pancreatic Cancer through Gene Editing in Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Michael Overholtzer, PhD
Cell Death Induction by Nanoparticles as an Anti-Cancer Strategy

Luis F Parada, PhD
Genetically Engineered Mouse Models of Glioblastoma: Insight into Features of Tumor Development That Can Be Used to Devise and Assess Novel Therapies

Andrea Ventura, MD, PhD
In Vivo Cancer Modeling by Somatic Genome Editing

 

2014

Robert Benezra, PhD
An Approach to Combating Drug Resistance in Cancer

Joao Xavier, PhD
Using Metabolites to Disrupt Pro-Tumoral Effects of Macrophages

Iestyn Whitehouse, PhD
The Interplay between DNA Replication and Chromatin

Hans-Guido Wendel, MD
Targeting Oncogene Production is a New Approach in Cancer Therapy

Alexander Joyner, PhD
Macrophages/microglia as Potential Targets for Therapy in Sonic Hedgehog Medulloblastoma

 

2013

Jayanta Chaudhuri, PhD
Class switch recombination, a model system to delineate the molecular basis of immunodeficiency syndromes and B cell malignancies

Cole Haynes, PhD
Novel strategies to disrupt cancer cell metabolism and energetics

Yueming Li, PhD
Crosstalk between HIF1A, Γ-secretase and notch in breast cancer cells

John Petrini, PhD
A mutation associated with premature aging and cancer

Marilyn Resh, PhD
HHATS OFF: Targeting hedgehog acyltransferase (HHAT) in hedgehog driven cancers

 

2012

Kim Kitai, PhD
Targeting metastatic evolution using zebrafish models of cancer

Michael Kharas, PhD
Oncogenic epigenetic signature in aged induced pluripotent stem cells

Richard Mark White, MD, PhD
Targeting MSI2 in myeloid leukemia stem cells

 

2011

Danwei Huangfu, PhD
Investigating the Role of Reprogramming in Pancreatic Cancer Development

Philipp Neithammer, PhD
Spatial and Moleuclar Mechanisms of Wound Detection in Tissues

David A. Scheinberg, MD, PhD
A New Generation of Smart Drugs

 

2010

Jan Grimm, MD, PhD
PSMA Activity as a Biomarker for Prostate Cancer

Christine Mayr, MD, PhD
Influence of the environment on tumor formation

Larry Norton, MD
The Characterization and Eradication of Seeding Cells in Breast Cancer

 

2009

Michael H. Overholtzer, PhD
A New Form of Tumor Cell Death

Andrea Ventura, MD, PhD
MicroRNA's in Cancer and Development

Lestyn Whitehouse, PhD
The Function of ATP Dependant Chromatin Remodeling Enzymes

Mark G. Frattini, MD, PhD
Preclinical Study to Block Chromosome Duplication in Cancer Cells

 

2008

Ming Li, PhD
Control of Mammary Tumor Development via the Alleviation of Transforming Growth Factor-beta-mediated Immune Suppression

Franziska Michor, PhD
Evolutionary Dynamics of Driver and Passenger Mutations

M. Bryan Tsou, PhD
Regulation of Centrosome Biogenesis

 

2007

Hans-Guido Wendel, MD
Genome-wide RNAi screen to identify novel cancer genes

Robert Klein, PhD
Finding the prostate cancer gene on chromosome 8q24

Jayanta Chaudhuri, PhD
Mechanism and Regulation of Immunogobulin Gene Diversification

 

2006

Johanna A. Joyce, PhD
The Special Projects Committee Laboratory in the Zuckerman Research Center

 

2005

Luca Categni, PhD
Systematic Analysis of Alternative Splicing in Tumor progression

Xuejun Jiang, PhD
Autophagic Cell Death in Breast Cancer Development and Treatment

Johanna A. Joyce, PhD
Using Genetic Mouse Models to Understand the Role of Cathepsins in Cancer