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Donor-Supported Research

A personal experience often is the catalyst for private gifts that will allow cancer scientists to do everything from prove the value of an untested idea to harvest tissue samples that will be stored and used for years in research studies.

Philanthropic giving often kick-starts the contributions of exceptional, early-career scientists and advances early ideas that are too “risky” to earn support from governmental sources.

Some donors attach very specific uses to the dollars while others give with the only restriction that cancer center put the funds where they will have the biggest impact. Vanderbilt-Ingram holds true to our donors’ wishes, and uses outside peer review to help prioritize the projects based on scientific merit.

In 2005, Jim and Janet Ayers gave $10 million to help Vanderbilt University scientists find early markers for colorectal cancer that could improve diagnosis and potentially save lives.

That gift established the Ayers Institute and has yielded an impressive return: identification of protein “signatures” of the genetic mutations that drive the nation’s second leading cancer killer after lung cancer.

 

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When Waddell Walker Hancock founded the A.B. Hancock Jr. Memorial Laboratory for Cancer Research 40 years ago at Vanderbilt, she was determined that the right combination of imagination, perseverance and scientific talent could win the fight against cancer.

Hancock Lab researchers have earned many national honors and 13 patents for their studies of the role of the COX-2 enzyme in the progression of cancer and as a target for prevention and early detection.

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The T.J. Martell Foundation became an important partner with the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in 1993, when the Martell Foundation established the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories. These “laboratories without walls” were created in honor of Frances Preston, the late music industry icon and former president of the Martell Foundation's board and served as an important cornerstone in the creation of the then-new Vanderbilt Cancer Center.

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The generous support from the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation has played a pivotal role in Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center's ability to impact cancer discovery for nearly two decades.

Due to a long-term investment in basic and translational cancer science, support from the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation has enabled Vanderbilt to emerge as an international leader in the early detection of cancer and precision cancer medicine—matching the right therapy to the right patient at the right time.

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Amy Baker was a media executive, entrepreneur, and advocate, whose famously open arms (and open door) made her home a nexus point connecting thought-leaders from across the worlds of media, politics and philanthropy. She was a dedicated supporter of breast cancer research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, along with her family.

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Other Ways To Give

If you wish to make a general gift to support the Ambassadors' mission, please choose one of these options:

Meet the VICC Ambassadors

Visit each Ambassador’s page to learn more about why they have joined VICC Ambassadors and how you can support their individual goals in the fight against cancer.

EB Jackson

Ashley Larcinese

Sydney Ball

Grant Blevins

Stephania Byrne
View All

Fundraising to support discovery grants at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. 

By personally supporting and raising funds for grants through the Victory Over Cancer fund, the Ambassadors spark the beginning of new major research initiatives.

Advocating for Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. 

Through their personal and professional networks, the Ambassadors spread the word about how Vanderbilt-Ingram is leading the way in cancer treatment and research and work to identify and recruit new Ambassadors.

Participating in the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center community. 

The VICC Ambassadors support the services provided at Vanderbilt-Ingram as active members of the community through attending meetings and events, hearing from Vanderbilt-Ingram leaders and partnering with Medical Center Development staff.

To inquire about joining the VICC Ambassadors, email viccambassadors@vumc.org.

Search at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

RESEARCH THEMES

The Translational Research and Interventional Oncology program is dedicated to translating our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis and tumor progression into novel therapeutic strategies for patients with cancer. 

Developing early phase clinical trials for therapies directed at genetic changes in tumors and for novel immunotherapeutic combinations

Investigating why some tumors become resistant to immunotherapies and genetically targeted therapies and developing new strategies to prevent and overcome resistance

Applying and enhancing innovative immunotherapeutic strategies and cellular therapies for cancer

RESEARCH THEMES

The Breast Cancer Program has expertise in and leads clinical trials related to:


-Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) as a strategy to abrogate antiestrogen resistance in HR+ breast cancer
-FGFR pathway as a strategy to abrogate CDK4/6 inhibition and antiestrogen resistance in HR+ breast cancer
-RSK2 as a regulator and therapeutic target for HR+ breast cancer
-CDK4/6 inhibitors, anti-tumor immunity and the pro-inflammatory secretome


-Refinement of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) molecular subtypes: Implications for neoadjuvant chemotherapy selection
-JAK2 amplification as a prognostic and predictive biomarker in TNBC
-Strategies to improve outcomes for TNBC patients integrating subtype-specific genomic and immune-based discoveries


-Targeting antigen presentation to improve immunotherapy responses in breast cancer
-Mutant spliceosomes as a predictor for immune checkpoint blockade therapies


-Image integration to breast cancer biology and clinical trials
-Evaluating non-invasive imaging technologies to predict anti-cancer drug action and treatment response


-Targeting the DNA damage response and resistance in breast cancer


-Identifying mechanisms of tumor dormancy in the bone marrow


-Breast cancer in blacks: impact on genomics, healthcare use and lifestyle on outcomes (BRIGHT)
-Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS): Relationship between obesity and breast cancer
-Optimization of care delivery in breast cancer, focusing on novel methods for dissemination of new data and cutting-edge technologies, as well as implementation of recent guidelines and approved therapies for breast cancer


-Electronic health record (EHR) decision support for genetic testing to inform clinical management, including eligibility and enrollment on clinical trials
-Molecular tumor board to evaluate CLIA-grade reports for actionability and make recommendations based on current knowledge and available clinical trials
-Structural Biology Precision Medicine Working Group


-Ongoing basic and translational discoveries provide a steady pipeline for novel interventional trials with innovative approaches.
-Systematic liquid biopsy using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and tissue repository protocol for all stages and types of breast cancer
-Extensive scientific collaborations with multiple national and international institutions, as well as consortia and pharma


- Unique genomic alterations that lead to inflammatory phenotypes
- New models of inflammatory Breast Cancer

RESEARCH THEMES

The Signal Transduction and Chemical Biology Research Program is organized into four groups with common research interests:

Identifying how changes in key cell cycle proteins help tumor cells escape the typical response of cell death and lead to uncontrollable growth

Finding and developing compounds that inhibit key drivers of cancer formation

Combining ‘big data’ experimental approaches to understand the changes in signaling networks that drive cancer formation

Determining how cancer-initiating stem cells continuously renew and seed distant sites to promote metastasis, and understanding the role of these cells in resistance to chemotherapies

RESEARCH THEMES

With the goal of understanding how complex interactions between tumor cells and their host contribute to cancer, the Host-Tumor Interactions program focuses on three specific research themes:

Uncovering basic immune regulatory mechanisms in anti-tumor immunity and how inflammation can be exploited to eliminate cancer or can trigger and promote tumors

Establishing single cell biology and modeling approaches to assess the composition and roles of the heterogeneous cell populations in tumor progression or therapeutic responses.

Integrating and developing molecular imaging technologies to understand and monitor how tumors evolve in a changing microenvironment

RESEARCH THEMES

Members of the Genome Maintenance Program have expertise across all of the major processes involved in the faithful maintenance and expression of the genetic material:

How environmental agents and the products of natural cellular metabolism cause mutations and lead to cancer

How the epigenome contributes to genome integrity and expression and how it goes awry in cancer

How DNA damage response pathways are activated and how they function to maintain genome integrity and suppress cancer

How DNA damage is repaired and how defects in these processes lead to cancer

How control of gene expression is central to normal cellular homeostasis and cancer mechanisms

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NCI Designated Cancer Center
NCCN National Comprehensive Cancer Network
NCI National Clinical Trials Network