Credit: Penn Medicine
PHILADELPHIA – Brian C. Capell, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Dermatology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, a core faculty member of the Penn Epigenetics Institute, and a member of the Abramson Cancer Center, has been awarded a prestigious Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award for 2018. The award comes with a $450,000 unrestricted research grant over three years. Capell will use the funds to continue his research into epigenetic targets in the skin, specifically in hopes of developing effective therapies for squamous cell carcinoma – a common form of cancer that most often develops in the skin. Capell is one of just six researchers in the United States to receive the award this year.
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation selects the Clinical Investigator Award winners at its spring 2018 Clinical Investigator Award Committee review. The recipients are outstanding early career physician-scientists conducting patient-oriented cancer research at major research centers under the mentorship of the nation's leading scientists and clinicians.
The Clinical Investigator Award program is specifically intended to help address the shortage of physicians capable of translating scientific discovery into new breakthroughs for cancer patients. Capell's research examines epigenetic markers in the skin to understand their function and to see how they differ in healthy, sun-damaged, and cancerous skin. The long-term goal is to clearly define the role of these markers and to understand how they change as skin is further damage, then to ultimately use that knowledge to identify targets for topical skin cancer treatments.
"We are thrilled to continue to fund high-quality, patient-focused research like the work proposed by Dr. Capell," said Yung S. Lie, PhD, Deputy Director and Chief Scientific Officer at Damon Runyon. "This award will help him continue to develop his cancer research program, which has the potential to make an impact in a cutting edge area of the cancer field."
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has committed nearly $63 million to support the careers of 99 physician-scientists across the United States since 2000, including three researchers at Penn.
###
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $7.8 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top medical schools in the United States for more than 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $405 million awarded in the 2017 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center — which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report — Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Medicine Princeton Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital — the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, a leading provider of highly skilled and compassionate behavioral healthcare.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2017, Penn Medicine provided more than $500 million to benefit our community.
Media Contact
John Infanti
[email protected]
215-301-5221
@PennMedNews
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/
