Stomach Cancer Research Information
Per cancer death, stomach cancer receives the least amount of federal funding of any cancer and there is very little research being conducted on stomach cancer for a variety of reasons, including a lack of funding and a limited number of doctors specializing in stomach cancer. DDF strives to increase the treatment options available for stomach cancer patients by directly funding stomach cancer research.
By offering grants for basic, translational and clinical research in stomach cancer to scientists and clinicians at various career levels, Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer is in the fight against the disease by advancing the field to make progress toward the goal of increasing survival.
Since 2014, Debbie's Dream Foundation has awarded more than $2,000,000 in research grants to help find a cure for stomach cancer. More information on grant opportunities and our past recipients can be found below.
Understanding the Role of H. pylori in Gastric Cancer: Dr. Valerie O’Brien’s Pioneering Research
Since 2014, Debbie’s Dream Foundation has partnered with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to fuel essential research in the battle against stomach cancer. A key project supported by this collaboration is led by Dr. Valerie O’Brien, PhD, whose groundbreaking work is shedding light on the role of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in gastric cancer. H. pylori, a bacterium that infects the stomach lining, is responsible for an estimated 80% of global gastric cancer cases, particularly affecting racial and ethnic minorities and those in low- and middle-income countries.
With the support of a Debbie’s Dream Foundation-AACR Gastric Cancer Research Fellowship, Dr. O’Brien has developed a mouse model to study how H. pylori infection drives cancer development. Her research has already identified potential markers for early detection and new treatment avenues. This work is especially critical as DDF continues to advocate for policy changes, including drafting language for the Senate to mandate H. pylori testing in the U.S. Armed Forces. Our collaboration with AACR is truly "Pioneering Change" in the fight against stomach cancer.
Apply For Research Grant Opportunities
Read Our Impact Report Since 2014
Since 2014, Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer and the American Association for Cancer Research have partnered to award/allocate research grants totaling $1,850,000 in funding to talented, motivated scientists across the country.
2023
We are pleased to announce our AACR-Debbie’s Dream Foundation Innovation and Discovery Grant recipients: Drs. Eunyoung Choi, Brent Allen Hanks, Heather McGee, and Ryan H. Moy. These researchers will focus on identifying important and druggable novel targets and/or biomarkers that are relevant for gastric cancer. We look forward to following their research progress.
2022
In 2022, Debbie’s Dream Foundation announced a $250,000 commitment to research grants. We partnered with
Stupid Strong to provide a $50,000 grant to help fund research at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Read our press release here.
Meet Our 2022 Recipient
Moritz Eissmann, PhD
$200,000 2022 AACR-Debbie’s Dream Foundation Career Development
Award in Gastric Cancer Research
Olivia Newton-John
Cancer Research Institute
Funded Project: Identification of therapeutic
vulnerabilities that promote clonal fitness and
metastatic spread of gastric cancer cells in vivo
2021
In 2021, Debbie's Dream Foundation partnered with American Association for Cancer
Research to announce a $200,000 research grant for stomach cancer.
Read our press release here.
Meet Our Research Grant Recipients
Get to know the wonderful researchers who have benefitted from our research grants!
2019
In 2019, Debbie's Dream Foundation awarded $150,000 in research grants as follows:
Youn-Sang Jung, PhD
$50,000 Young Research Fellowship Grant
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
CRAD, a cytoskeletal tumor suppressor, in diffuse-type gastric cancer
Ankur Nagaraja, MD, PhD
$50,000 Young Research Fellowship Grant
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Replication stress as a therapeutic vulnerability in gastric cancer
Katsumi Yamaguchi, PhD
$50,000 Young Research Fellowship Grant
Johns Hopkins University-School of Medicine
The role of LINE-1 retrotransposition in gastric cancer
2018
In 2018, Debbie's Dream Foundation awarded $200,000 in research grants as follows:
Richard Hodge, PhD
$50,000 Young Research Fellowship Grant
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Aberrant RHOA function and signaling in driving diffuse gastric cancer
Valerie O'Brien, PhD
$50,000 Young Research Fellowship Grant
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Assessing Helicobacter pylori contributions to stomach cancer progression
Ashleigh Poh, PhD
$50,000 Young Research Fellowship Grant
Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute
Co-targeting HCK as a combination therapy to treat gastric cancer
Spencer Willet, PhD
$50,000 Young Research Fellowship Grant
Washington University in St. Louis
The role of the Hippo pathway in gastric tumorigenesis
2017
In 2017, Debbie's Dream Foundation awarded $300,000 in research grants as follows:
Eunyoung Choi, PhD
$200,000 Career Development Award
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
A novel metaplastic organoid system for studying gastric carcinogenesis
Karolina Kaczor-Urbanowicz, PhD, DMD
$50,000 Young Research Fellowship Grant
University of California, Los Angeles
Salivary H. pylori exRNAs as biomarkers for gastric cancer detection
Haisheng Zhang, PhD
$50,000 Young Research Fellowship Grant
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
RHOA alterations in the development of diffuse gastric cancer
2016
In 2016, Debbie's Dream Foundation awarded $200,000 in research grants as follows:
Elise S. Demitrack, PhD
$150,000 Career Development Research Grant Award
The Regents of the University of Michigan
Mechanisms of Wnt activation in FAP gastric polyps and gastric cancer
Holly A. Martinson, PhD
$50,000 Young Fellowship Research Grant Award
University of Alaska Anchorage
Discovering biomarkers for early detection and treatment of gastric cancer
2016 DoD $50 Million Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program
Debbie's Dream Foundation successfully advocated to maintain stomach cancer's inclusion in the Department of Defense's Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP). The PRCRP total budget for fiscal year 2016 is $50 million. FY16 PRCRP Program Announcements and General Application instructions can be found below and at this link: http://cdmrpweb-ua.srahosting.com/funding/prcrp.shtml.
2015
In 2015, Debbie's Dream Foundation awarded $100,000 in research grants as follows:
Eirini Pectasides, MD, PhD
$50,000 Young Fellowship Research Grant
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Enhancing the efficacy of ERBB2 inhibition in gastric cancer.
Andrea Zamperone, PhD
$50,000 Young Fellowship Research Grant
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Mechanisms of DNA damage signaling by Helicobacter pylori
2014 Young Fellowship Research Grant
In 2014, Debbie's Dream Foundation awarded $50,000 in research grants as follows:
David Allison
$50,000 Young Fellowship Research Grant
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
To detail the regulatory mechanisms of a key epigenetic factor, the Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2) with the hope to establish EZH2 and related cofactors as emerging targets for chemotherapeutics in gastric cancer