The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has named the newest cohort of the Damon Runyon Scholars Program for Advancing Research and Knowledge (SPARK), a one-year cancer research internship for post-baccalaureate scholars. Launched in 2023, the program provides promising young talent with rigorous scientific training and a network of mentors and peers to support their next steps into graduate school and beyond.

About The Study: Compared with enhanced usual care, a direct-to-patient digital health intervention increased rates of lung cancer screening. Future research should assess the reach and effectiveness of digital lung cancer screening interventions across diverse populations and health care settings.

Within the last two decades, multiple stem cell transplants and immunotherapy were added to intensive chemotherapy as the standard of care for high-risk neuroblastoma, drastically improving survival of this childhood cancer. Most survivors, however, suffer from long-term complications of treatments, according to the first study to examine late effects in this population since the new therapies were incorporated. Results were published in Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.

Natural products derived from microorganisms are a promising source of new active ingredients, but are often produced only in very small quantities. A research team from the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) led by Tobias Gulder has now succeeded in establishing a chemo-enzymatic platform for the production of furanolides – a class of natural products with a broad spectrum of activity. This strategy not only allows furanolides to be produced cost-effectively, but also enables structural modifications to be made. The newly generated molecules are capable of effectively combating both bacterial pathogens and cancer cells. The team has now published its findings in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.