Susanna Fletcher Greer, Chief Scientific Officer at the V Foundation, shared an update from the V Foundation, on LinkedIn, adding:
“This morning was one of those moments that reminds me why I love my job.
At Capital Epicurean Conversations for a Cure, I had the privilege of sharing the stage with two extraordinary V Foundation-funded scientists, Dr. Jamie Spangler and Dr. Srinivasan Yegnasubramanian.
Their research couldn’t be more different. Jamie is engineering proteins to help our immune systems fight cancer more effectively. Vasan is uncovering how changes in the way our DNA is regulated can drive cancer and potentially reveal new opportunities for earlier detection and better treatments.
What they share is something inspiring: curiosity, courage, and an unwavering belief that we can do better for patients.
Jamie shared that receiving her the V Foundation grant wasn’t just about the funding, it was about knowing that someone believed in her and her ideas. Since then, her lab has grown from four people to more than 30, and her team has secured 67 additional research grants.
Think about the science, the discoveries, and the careers that early investment helped make possible!
That’s what it means to fund people, not just projects.
We don’t always know where the next breakthrough will come from. But I do know this: when we invest in brilliant scientists and give them the freedom to pursue bold ideas, extraordinary things happen.
Thank you, Jamie and Vasan, for inspiring all of us this morning. And thank you to everyone who supports the V Foundation and makes this work possible.
This is how we fuel breakthroughs. This is how we get closer to Victory Over Cancer.”
Quoting the V Foundation:
“Conversations for a Cure at Capital Epicurean brought together V Foundation Chief Scientific Officer Susanna Fletcher Greer and two of our grantees, Jamie Spangler and Srinivasan Yegnasubramanian.
Here are four takeaways:
- We believe in researchers first. The V Foundation invests early, before the biggest funders do, and world-class scientific leadership guides every funding decision.
- Validation fuels discovery.
‘The fact someone else believed made me even more motivated,’
Dr. Spangler shared. Since her V Foundation grant, her lab has grown from 4 people to more than 30 and has earned 67 additional research grants.
- Engineering better medicines. Dr. Spangler’s lab redesigns proteins from nature to help the immune system target cancer more effectively.
- Reading cancer’s instruction manual. Dr. Yegnasubramanian’s lab studies how cancer hacks the epigenetic ‘bookmarks’ that tell cells which DNA instructions to read. The goal is to find cancer earlier and match the right treatment to the right patient at the right time.
This is Victory Over Cancer.
Thank you to Novacure and Guardant Health for sponsoring this event!”
This also can be interesting:
The Tumor Microenvironment and Immune Escape: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications
