Project Cure CRC Awards New Grants to Advance Colorectal Cancer Care

The Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s $100 million initiative, Project Cure CRC, is accelerating innovation in colorectal cancer (CRC) research with the announcement of 3 new transformative grants.¹ To date, the program has reviewed more than 500 proposals and invested nearly $13 million to support 32 groundbreaking studies, several of which have already produced published findings in leading scientific journals.

As the largest nonprofit dedicated to ending CRC, the Alliance continues to prioritize Project Cure CRC to drive the discovery of next-generation treatments and improve outcomes for patients worldwide.

“The discoveries emerging from Project Cure CRC represent the most exciting advances we’ve seen in colorectal cancer research in decades,” said John Marshall, MD, chief medical consultant, Colorectal Cancer Alliance, and director, Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers at Georgetown University, in a statement. “By strategically investing in bold ideas and brilliant scientists, we’re accelerating the pace of progress toward treatments that patients urgently need.”

Launched in late 2023, Project Cure CRC reflects the Alliance’s mission to end CRC.² Earlier this year, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s Project Cure CRC initiative opened a new request for proposals (RFP) with tens of millions of dollars available to researchers worldwide. The RFP includes opportunities for early-career and senior investigator awards, pilot awards, team science awards, and strategic awards, with special emphasis on fast-tracking preclinical and clinical research, exploring driver mutations, and leveraging the tumor microenvironment to enhance immunotherapy.

Today, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s Project Cure CRC announced new grants supporting 3 research projects at La Jolla Institute for Immunology, Virginia Tech, and the University of Arizona.¹ These studies target some of the most challenging aspects of CRC, from metastasis to therapeutic resistance:

• Miguel Reina-Campos, PhD, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, is pioneering tissue-resident memory-reactivation immunotherapy to combat metastatic disease ($210,000)
• DaeYong Lee, PhD, Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, is designing bispecific conjugates to enhance immunotherapy effectiveness ($100,000)
• Kelvin Pond, PhD, University of Arizona, is dissecting PI3K and MAPK dynamics in patient-derived organoids to accelerate drug development ($188,000)

Project Cure CRC–funded researchers are already making measurable contributions to the scientific community through publications that advance understanding of CRC biology and treatment:

• Ekaterina Dadachova, PhD, University of Saskatchewan, developed an innovative actinium-armed antibody that targets CCR8+ regulatory T cells, showing synergistic effects with immunotherapy to promote tumor rejection
• Lee is exploring novel immunotherapy strategies to enhance precision and efficacy in CRC care
• Lisa Mielke, PhD, Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and La Trobe University, has identified key nervous system components that influence gastrointestinal tumor growth, opening new pathways for therapeutic intervention

“Colorectal cancer is the leading cancer killer among men under 50 and is predicted to be the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among people aged 20 to 49 by 2030, yet it remains less known and less funded than other less deadly cancers,” said Michael Sapienza, CEO of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, in a statement. “Without research there is no progress, so we are prioritizing Project Cure CRC to end this disease.”

By funding innovative studies, supporting early- and senior-career investigators, and prioritizing high-impact projects, the initiative is accelerating discoveries that could lead to new therapies and improved outcomes.

References

1. Project Cure CRC funding fuels innovative findings in cancer research. News release. Colorectal Cancer Alliance. November 12, 2025. Accessed November 12, 2025. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FsoLZ2v1BqJWO8EH5USkvhKt2F0RuAZC/edit

2. Project Cure CRC will prioritize proposals that seek to transform research into a curable science. News release. Colorectal Cancer Alliance. February 27, 2024. Accessed November 12, 2025. https://colorectalcancer.org/article/alliance-announces-request-proposals-it-launches-largest-ever-crc-research-investment