Featured Stories
Ford Foundation Promotes Rebecca Cokley to Program Director for U.S. Disability Rights
NEW YORK, July 9 -- The Ford Foundation issued the following news on July 8, 2026:
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Ford Foundation Promotes Rebecca Cokley to Program Director for U.S. Disability Rights
The Ford Foundation today announced the appointment of Rebecca Cokley as the inaugural program director of its U.S. Disability Rights (USDR) program. Cokley, who joined the foundation as the first-ever program officer for the USDR portfolio in 2021, has successfully steered the foundation's historic investments in disability rights. She assumed this role in June 2026.
"Through her deep expertise and intentional collaboration
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NEW YORK, July 9 -- The Ford Foundation issued the following news on July 8, 2026:
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Ford Foundation Promotes Rebecca Cokley to Program Director for U.S. Disability Rights
The Ford Foundation today announced the appointment of Rebecca Cokley as the inaugural program director of its U.S. Disability Rights (USDR) program. Cokley, who joined the foundation as the first-ever program officer for the USDR portfolio in 2021, has successfully steered the foundation's historic investments in disability rights. She assumed this role in June 2026.
"Through her deep expertise and intentional collaborationwith the disability field, Rebecca has fundamentally shifted how philanthropy engages with disability rights and justice, ensuring they are recognized as a critical cornerstone of the broader fight against inequality," said Sarita Gupta, vice president of U.S. Programs at the Ford Foundation. "This promotion is a well-deserved recognition of her exceptional leadership and the groundbreaking work she has done to build our U.S. Disability Rights program from the ground up."
Since joining Ford, Cokley has pioneered the foundation's commitment to disability rights, successfully moving more than $100 million directly to disability rights and justice movements. In addition to her program portfolio, she serves as the interim co-chair of Ford's Native American Working Group and is an active member of the Economic Policy Collaborative.
"I am incredibly proud of what we have built alongside our grantee partners and fellow funders who are on the frontlines every day," said Rebecca Cokley, director of the U.S. Disability Rights program at the Ford Foundation. "Establishing this program has been a deeply collaborative effort to ensure the power, dignity, and voices of disabled people are structurally recognized and supported. I am honored to step into this role as we continue to anchor this vital work within the foundation."
Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, Cokley built a distinguished career spanning government, advocacy, and public policy. She was the cofounder and director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress, where she steered a landmark campaign that resulted in an unprecedented 12 presidential candidates developing disability policy platforms during the 2020 election cycle. Her leadership also drove prominent national campaigns to protect the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), SNAP, and Medicaid.
A three-time presidential appointee, Cokley served in key policy roles at the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and oversaw diversity and inclusion efforts for the White House. Additionally, she served as the executive director for the National Council on Disability for four years.
Cokley is a highly sought-after public speaker and writer who has given a TedX talk and spoken at Netroots Nation, New York Comic Con, Yale University, and the Women's March National Conference. Her commentary has been published in The Nation, Rewire, CNN, Refinery 29, and The Washington Post, and she has appeared as a guest on MSNBC and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. A collection she contributed to on "the talk" for the Emancipator won an Edward R. Murrow award in 2023.
Cokley sits on the board of directors for the Rockwood Leadership Institute and the New York Women's Foundation. She also lends her expertise as an Equity Advisory Board member for Sephora and as an advisory board member for Paid Leave for All and Emerge. She holds a bachelor's degree in politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she was honored as a Karl S. Pister Scholar.
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Original text here: https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/news-and-press/news/ford-foundation-promotes-rebecca-cokley-to-program-director-for-u-s-disability-rights/
Health Foundation Responds to the Government's 10 Year Capital Plan
LONDON, England, July 8 -- The Health Foundation issued the following statement on July 7, 2026, by Deputy Director of Policy Tim Gardner:
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The Health Foundation responds to the government's 10 Year Capital Plan
Responding to the government's 10 Year Capital Plan, Tim Gardner, Deputy Director of Policy at the Health Foundation, said:
'Today's announcement is a long-overdue step towards providing the NHS with a clear national strategy to support long-term transformation and prioritise patient care. But, there are no shortcuts to addressing the challenges facing the health service.
'Years
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LONDON, England, July 8 -- The Health Foundation issued the following statement on July 7, 2026, by Deputy Director of Policy Tim Gardner:
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The Health Foundation responds to the government's 10 Year Capital Plan
Responding to the government's 10 Year Capital Plan, Tim Gardner, Deputy Director of Policy at the Health Foundation, said:
'Today's announcement is a long-overdue step towards providing the NHS with a clear national strategy to support long-term transformation and prioritise patient care. But, there are no shortcuts to addressing the challenges facing the health service.
'Yearsof underinvestment in buildings, equipment and technology have contributed to increasing problems in delivering patient care. Hospital buildings are crumbling, with the latest figures showing the backlog maintenance stands at pound sterling15.9 billion, of which pound sterling3.5 billion is considered high risk. Recent investment in IT infrastructure is encouraging, but adoption remains piecemeal. NHS productivity has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels and faces an uphill climb to meet its ambitious 2% annual target.
'Investment in GP premises is welcome. But buildings alone will not deliver the government's ambition to provide more care closer to home. There are still fewer fully qualified GPs per head of population than a decade ago, and general practice receives a smaller share of NHS spending than it did 10 years ago.
'The government must ensure that capital funding is allocated transparently and targeted where need is greatest. That means prioritising safety-critical repairs, modernising digital infrastructure, investing beyond hospitals into primary and community care, including the workforce needed to deliver transformed services, and ensuring every pound delivers better value for patients and the public.'
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Original text here: https://www.health.org.uk/media-office/press-releases/the-health-foundation-responds-to-the-governments-10-year-capital-plan
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Why Are Millionaires Leaving the UK?
DETROIT, Michigan, July 8 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by Mani Basharzad, Institute of Economic Affairs research associate:
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Why Are Millionaires Leaving the UK?
The government is taxing them out.
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Samuel Johnson once wrote that "when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." Today, however, there seems to be one group that is tired of London: millionaires.
In the last week of June 2026, one of the world's most famous antique fairs, the Treasure House Fair, took place in London, attracting collectors and dealers from around the globe.
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DETROIT, Michigan, July 8 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by Mani Basharzad, Institute of Economic Affairs research associate:
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Why Are Millionaires Leaving the UK?
The government is taxing them out.
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Samuel Johnson once wrote that "when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." Today, however, there seems to be one group that is tired of London: millionaires.
In the last week of June 2026, one of the world's most famous antique fairs, the Treasure House Fair, took place in London, attracting collectors and dealers from around the globe.But this year, what attracted attention wasn't only the antiques; it was the drop in foot traffic. At the time, the New York Times reported that "many dealers are facing a significant drop in foot traffic, or can no longer afford to have a showroom at all."
The lack of customers for high-end items hints at the shift--the UK has recently surpassed China as the world leader in millionaire emigration. In 2025, roughly 16,500 millionaires left the country. China ranked second, with fewer than half that number. But Samuel Johnson should take note, because these millionaires aren't tired of life; they're tired of a mission-led government.
When the Labour government came to power in 2024, it had a clear vision of the model of governance it wanted to pursue: mission-led government. Following the advice of Mariana Mazzucato (Professor of Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College, London), the government embraced the idea that the state should become more entrepreneurial, stop viewing public spending as merely an expense, and subsidize key sectors in pursuit of a mission-directed economy.
After nearly two years, one lesson has become clear: nothing is worse for entrepreneurs than an entrepreneurial state.
One simple fact about mission-directed governance is that it requires more money--and that money has to come from somewhere. Since taking office, the government has introduced pound sterling40 billion ($53.4 billion) in tax rises in its first budget and added pound sterling186 billion ($248 billion) to the national debt, which is now close to the UK's annual GDP.
Labour's mistake began from the outset. It assumed that Britain's fundamental problem was simply that the government didn't spend enough. Chancellor Rachel Reeves argued that "the only way to drive economic growth is to invest, invest, invest. There are no shortcuts." But the mission Reeves's government believes in is not necessarily the mission Britain's businesses believe in.
Mariana Mazzucato's mission-driven model has attracted supporters from across the political spectrum--from the nationalist right, which wants to revive American manufacturing, to the left, which wants to achieve net zero or reduce inequality. But the central problem remains: Which mission should we choose?
Mazzucato herself might prioritize net zero, inclusive employment, or reducing inequality. But achieving any mission requires the government to direct economic outcomes. As Friedrich Hayek famously warned, "To be controlled in our economic pursuits means to be controlled in everything." Every government mission requires government direction. Yet governments lack the knowledge to determine which direction an economy should take, as the Labour government's experience already illustrates. If politicians truly knew which industries represented the future, they probably wouldn't be in government. As Deirdre McCloskey has asked social engineers: If you're so smart that you know where the economy should go, why aren't you rich?
The consequence of this mission-led approach has been an ever-growing search for new sources of tax revenue. As one cabinet minister reportedly complained in a leaked WhatsApp message, "Every meeting I have is who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others."
That mindset has helped drive millionaires out of the UK; but it's not confined to Labour alone. In March 2024, the previous Conservative government abolished the long-standing non-domicile tax regime, ending tax exemptions on foreign income and gains. Then came further increases to capital gains tax, inheritance tax, and corporation tax. Someone has to pay for the mission, I suppose.
The outlook also appears increasingly uncertain. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has resigned, and Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Manchester, is widely expected to become the next prime minister after returning to the House of Commons by winning in the Makerfield by-election. Journalist Andrew Neil once remarked that every time Burnham "opens his mouth, he adds to public spending."
Markets no longer appear to trust the government's fiscal direction. UK government bond yields are now the highest in the G7, and the borrowing costs that forced Liz Truss from office after less than two months have become the new normal.
But what the Labour government needs isn't more public spending. It needs a theory of growth. Growth does not require an entrepreneurial state. It requires a government willing to step aside. The UK government wants to be entrepreneurial while also redistributive, to raise taxes while remaining business-friendly. The next likely prime minister tellingly described his ideology as "business-friendly socialism."
Economic growth does not emerge from offices in Whitehall. It emerges from the garages, workshops, and start-ups of entrepreneurs. Growth has microeconomic foundations: businesses take risks because they expect to enjoy the rewards of success, not to see them redistributed elsewhere.
The government does not need to push entrepreneurs, assign them missions, or direct their investments. What Professor Mazzucato and the Labour government fail to appreciate is that the great strength of the free market is precisely that it has no single mission or master plan. Instead, it is guided by millions of individuals pursuing different plans, each tested through competition. Britain should once again embrace individual autonomy in economic life, and reject politicians who believe they know better than everyone else which direction the economy should take.
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Mani Basharzad is a Research Associate at the Institute of Economic Affairs and an Asia Freedom Fellow at the London School of Economics. His work has been published by the New York Post, National Review, The Spectator, and Daily Express.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/why-are-millionaires-leaving-the-uk/
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: What Do They Do With Your Tax Dollars?
DETROIT, Michigan, July 8 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by Douglas Carswell, Mississippi Center for Public Policy president and CEO:
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What Do They Do with Your Tax Dollars?
Why does public spending seem to keep rising, rapidly, no matter who we elect?
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Perhaps it is not so much the party of those we send to Congress or to our state legislature that counts. Perhaps what matters more is that so many of the decisions about how your money is spent are made in the dark.
Setting a budget is complicated. The data might exist. Some of it might even
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DETROIT, Michigan, July 8 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by Douglas Carswell, Mississippi Center for Public Policy president and CEO:
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What Do They Do with Your Tax Dollars?
Why does public spending seem to keep rising, rapidly, no matter who we elect?
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Perhaps it is not so much the party of those we send to Congress or to our state legislature that counts. Perhaps what matters more is that so many of the decisions about how your money is spent are made in the dark.
Setting a budget is complicated. The data might exist. Some of it might evenbe public. But it sits squirreled away on a spreadsheet somewhere, and you would need a CPA to make sense of it. Frankly, most folk do not have the time.
But what if technology could suddenly take all that data and build something that makes it easy to see? Easy to see who gets your tax dollars, and what they do with them once they have them.
This is not a problem peculiar to one state. It is the condition of government almost everywhere in America. We are taxed by authorities we cannot scrutinize, to fund programs we cannot see, run by people who would rather we did not ask.
That is what we set out to change at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, with a tool we built called TaxToolMS.com. It is, as far as we know, the first of its kind in the country. And there is no reason something like it could not exist in all 50 states.
Here is how it works. Type in a few details, and up pops your tax bill: what you pay to your local government, to your state capital, and to Washington, itemized by the agencies and departments that spend it. How much goes to your local schools? To the department of corrections? To the ever-expanding category politicians like to call "economic development"? You can see all of it, line by line. It is free, there is no login, and nothing you type ever leaves your own screen.
But the calculator is only half of it. Alongside it we built a search box for public money--a kind of state-level DOGE. Type in a name, and you can comb through the tens of thousands of vendors, contractors, and recipients who take in taxpayer dollars, and see which of them have quietly enjoyed the largest increases.
Consider what a tool like that might have caught elsewhere. In Minnesota, a scheme known as "Feeding Our Future" siphoned roughly a quarter of a billion dollars in federal funds through charities that were barely feeding anyone. Had ordinary citizens been able to watch that money move in something close to real time, would it really have taken so long for someone to ask the obvious questions?
Run a search, and you can also see how many millions of dollars government spends on lobbyists--to lobby government. Splendid news for the lobbyists. Rather less so for families struggling with rising prices. The whole arrangement is absurd, and it persists largely because so few people can see it.
The scale of what is hidden is hard to overstate. In our state, the legislature openly debates a budget of around $7 billion a year, while more than three times that flows through state agencies annually, almost entirely beyond public view. Multiply that across the country, and you begin to grasp how much public money moves every year with virtually no one watching.
We did not build this to manufacture outrage. We built it to give citizens information that has, for all practical purposes, been the private preserve of the political class. Every figure comes from official data. It cannot know your full circumstances, so it is only ever an estimate.
Sunlight, as the old line has it, is the best disinfectant. Perhaps the surest way--maybe the only way--to stop public spending from rising ruinously, in any state and at every level, is to let the people who pay for it finally see where it goes.
So, find out. It is your money. You ought to know where it goes, and who gets it.
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Douglas Carswell is President and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/what-do-they-do-with-your-tax-dollars/
FFRF: Trump Keeps Cashing in With $1.5 Million Earnings From Bible Licensing
MADISON, Wisconsin, July 8 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:
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FFRF: Trump keeps cashing in with $1.5 million earnings from bible licensing
Newly released financial disclosures show President Donald Trump has earned more than $1.5 million licensing his name to the "God Bless the USA Bible," prompting renewed criticism from The Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Trump's latest financial disclosure, covering calendar year 2025, reports he earned an additional $208,486 from the licensed bible, on top of the $1,306,035 he disclosed earning the previous
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MADISON, Wisconsin, July 8 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:
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FFRF: Trump keeps cashing in with $1.5 million earnings from bible licensing
Newly released financial disclosures show President Donald Trump has earned more than $1.5 million licensing his name to the "God Bless the USA Bible," prompting renewed criticism from The Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Trump's latest financial disclosure, covering calendar year 2025, reports he earned an additional $208,486 from the licensed bible, on top of the $1,306,035 he disclosed earning the previousyear, bringing his total reported earnings from the product to $1,514,521.
The expensive bible packages, which feature the "King James Bible" along with the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Pledge of Allegiance and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," blend scripture, patriotic documents and political branding into a single commercial product.
"As all things are with Trump, this has always been about money," said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "Trump wraps himself in Christianity, wraps the Constitution inside a bible, and is persuading supporters to finance his political brand while enriching himself to the tune of more than $1.5 million. It is a stunning example of political pandering and exploiting religious faith for personal profit."
Trump first promoted the bible during the 2024 Easter season, declaring that "every American needs a bible in their home" while urging supporters to purchase what was advertised as "the only bible endorsed by President Trump." The bible has since spawned multiple $99 premium editions, including "Presidential," "America 250" and "Inauguration Day" versions.
Trump has famously struggled to discuss even the most basic aspects of the bible, declining on multiple occasions to identify a favorite verse or even express a preference between the Old and New Testaments. Yet he has earned more than $1.5 million licensing his name to an overpriced bible manufactured in China.
The bible itself has long drawn criticism not only from constitutional advocates but also from progressive Christian leaders who warn that combining scripture with patriotic documents promotes Christian nationalism by conflating devotion to God with allegiance to a political movement.
"Religion should never be a marketing strategy," Gaylor adds. "Nor should the office of the presidency become a platform for selling religious merchandise. Americans deserve leaders who respect both religion and government enough to keep them separate -- not presidents who see faith as another licensing opportunity."
Trump's bible enterprise demonstrates how easily religious symbolism can be weaponized to enrich politicians while undermining the constitutional principle of state/church separation that protects believers and nonbelievers alike. The Freedom From Religion Foundation continues to oppose the growing effort by Christian nationalists to blur the constitutional separation between religion and government for political and financial gain.
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The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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Original text here: https://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-trump-keeps-cashing-in-with-1-5-million-earnings-from-bible-licensing/
[Category: Religion]
FFRF Blasts Religious Liberty Commission's Sweeping Attack on State/church Separation
MADISON, Wisconsin, July 8 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:
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FFRF blasts Religious Liberty Commission's sweeping attack on state/church separation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has submitted an official public comment strongly opposing the draft report issued by the federal Religious Liberty Commission, warning that its recommendations would undermine one of the Constitution's most fundamental protections against uniting religion and government.
"The commission has turned the idea of religious liberty on its head," says FFRF Co-President
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MADISON, Wisconsin, July 8 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:
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FFRF blasts Religious Liberty Commission's sweeping attack on state/church separation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has submitted an official public comment strongly opposing the draft report issued by the federal Religious Liberty Commission, warning that its recommendations would undermine one of the Constitution's most fundamental protections against uniting religion and government.
"The commission has turned the idea of religious liberty on its head," says FFRF Co-PresidentDan Barker. "Instead of protecting every American's freedom of conscience, it repeatedly treats religious liberty as a license for the government to privilege believers and promote religion. That's not what the First Amendment says, and it's not what our founders intended."
In its extensive comment, FFRF argues that the commission's report is not an objective examination of religious liberty but rather an advocacy document promoting a narrow ideological agenda that mischaracterizes the Establishment Clause while minimizing the constitutional rights of religious minorities and the growing number of nonreligious Americans.
"[The commission's report] rests on a false premise: that the constitutional separation between religion and government is somehow hostile to religion," says FFRF in its formal comment. "The opposite is true. The Establishment Clause protects religious liberty by ensuring that the government neither favors nor disfavors religion. This principle has safeguarded both believers and nonbelievers throughout our nation's history and has helped foster one of the most religiously diverse societies in the world."
FFRF's comment challenges the report's repeated dismissal of longstanding constitutional principles separating church and state. The state/church watchdog notes that the Framers deliberately sought to keep government out of religion, citing James Madison's warnings that government involvement corrupts religion and Thomas Jefferson's famous description of the First Amendment as building a "wall of separation between church and state."
The comment also criticizes the commission for conflating private religious exercise -- which enjoys robust constitutional protection -- with government-sponsored religious activity. While individuals and public officials retain the right to practice their religion, FFRF emphasizes that government entities may not use official authority to promote religion or coerce participation in religious exercises.
Among the commission's recommendations that FFRF opposes are proposals to:
* Encourage the Department of Justice to reinterpret the Establishment Clause in favor of government promotion of religion.
* Create new federal "religious liberty" task forces, hotlines and reporting systems designed to advance preferred religious claims.
* Weaken restrictions on partisan political activity by tax-exempt churches through repeal of the Johnson Amendment.
* Expand government promotion of religion in public institutions.
* Encourage judicial appointments based on a particular ideological vision of religious liberty.
* Create new government awards recognizing a narrow conception of "religious liberty."
FFRF also warns that the commission largely ignores the constitutional rights of atheists, agnostics, humanists, religious minorities and Americans who simply wish to be free from government-sponsored religion.
"Religious liberty belongs equally to every American, including those who practice no religion at all," FFRF writes. "A government that favors Christianity necessarily diminishes the equal citizenship of everyone else."
The organization stresses that genuine religious liberty does not require government support of religion but government restraint.
"Americans remain free to pray or not pray, attend religious services or abstain, preach, evangelize, criticize religion, change beliefs, or reject religion altogether precisely because the Constitution prohibits government from taking sides in matters of faith," the comment states.
FFRF concludes that the commission should substantially revise or withdraw portions of its draft report that seek to redefine the Establishment Clause or privilege particular religious beliefs through governmental action.
"The Religious Liberty Commission is asking the public to comment, and we hope Americans will do exactly that," Barker says. "If you believe the government should not be in the business of promoting religion or privileging one faith over another, now is the time to speak up. Religious liberty belongs to all of us."
The commission has opened its draft report for public comment through Monday, July 12, 2026. Comments may be submitted by email to RLC@usdoj.gov using the subject line: PUBLIC COMMENT - [TOPIC OR CHAPTER NUMBER] - [NAME]
The Department of Justice notes that all comments are public records. Commenters should avoid including personally identifiable information, such as home addresses, in their submissions.
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The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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Original text here: https://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-blasts-religious-liberty-commissions-sweeping-attack-on-state-church-separation/
[Category: Religion]
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Invests Nearly $1.4 Million to Support Physician-Scientists
NEW YORK, July 8 -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation issued the following news release:
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Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation invests nearly $1.4 million to support physician-scientists
Three exceptional young clinicians with novel ideas about cancer treatment have been named the 2026 recipients of the Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award. This award provides physicians who have completed clinical specialty fellowship training with the opportunity to become leaders in translational and clinical research. The awardees are selected through a highly competitive and
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NEW YORK, July 8 -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation issued the following news release:
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Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation invests nearly $1.4 million to support physician-scientists
Three exceptional young clinicians with novel ideas about cancer treatment have been named the 2026 recipients of the Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award. This award provides physicians who have completed clinical specialty fellowship training with the opportunity to become leaders in translational and clinical research. The awardees are selected through a highly competitive andrigorous process by a committee of leading cancer researchers who are themselves physician-scientists.
Physician-scientists are uniquely positioned to translate discoveries in the lab into therapies that improve and prolong the lives of their patients. However, this vital cadre of cancer researchers is dwindling due to financial disincentives that deter physicians from pursuing a research career. Damon Runyon seeks to bolster this pipeline by providing considerably higher funding than most research fellowships--$100,000 in the first year, with increases of $10,000 per year over the next three years ($460,000 total over four years). The Foundation will also retire up to $100,000 of any medical school debt still owed by an award recipient.
Since its launch in 2015, the program has funded 49 new physician-scientists from across a range of disciplines. Their research has not only brought forth insights into how cancer develops and spreads but also led to the development of new therapies, including several in clinical trials. The Physician-Scientist Training Award was established thanks to the generosity of Damon Runyon Board members Leon Cooperman and Michael Gordon.
2026 Physician-Scientists
Lindsey M. Draper, MD [Leon and Toby Cooperman Physician-Scientist], with mentor Kole T. Roybal, PhD, at University of California, San Francisco
More effective immunotherapies are needed to treat advanced ovarian cancer. While most types of ovarian cancer do not respond well to immunotherapy, the presence of immune cells in ovarian tumors correlates with longer patient survival. A subset of these cells, known as tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), specifically recognize tumors. However, ovarian TIL are unable to eradicate cancer due to mechanisms of tumor immune evasion and TIL exhaustion. Dr. Draper proposes genetically reprogramming ovarian TIL to better recognize and kill tumors by introducing gene fusions that may enhance TIL persistence in the harsh tumor environment. These potent genetic enhancements will be delivered by a virus engineered to only infect TIL that target tumors, while ignoring bystander TIL that may recognize viruses, healthy human tissues, or other non-cancer targets, thus offering the potential for a safe and effective novel immunotherapeutic for patients with ovarian cancer and other immunotherapy-resistant malignancies.
Michelle N. Ferreira, MD, with mentors Chi V. Dang, MD, PhD, and Cynthia L. Sears, MD, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Dr. Ferreira seeks to explore dietary, microbial, and metabolic strategies to treat immune-related colitis (ir-colitis), one of the most common autoimmune toxicities resulting from immunotherapy treatment. Ir-colitis results when the patient's immune system becomes overstimulated after immunotherapy and attacks the colon, leading to diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms that can result in discontinuation of potentially life-saving immunotherapy. Although ir-colitis can be treated with steroids and other immunosuppressive agents, it remains unclear whether this immunosuppression may affect treatment. Targeting the gut microbiome through dietary intervention is a promising strategy to treat ir-colitis without interfering with cancer treatment. She plans to use a mouse model of ir-colitis to study whether intermittent fasting can be used to treat ir-colitis while simultaneously improving tumor control. She will investigate the specific metabolic and gut microbial changes that are responsible for fasting's effects on ir-colitis, with the goal of expanding non-immunosuppressive and accessible treatment options for this common immunotherapy toxicity.
Vivian M. Liu, MD [Leon and Toby Cooperman Physician-Scientist], with mentors Stanley C. Lee, PhD, and Soheil Meshinchi, MD, PhD, at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
This project aims to better understand the biology of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a blood cancer that affects white blood cells. The most common form of AML in adults involves a specific mutation in a gene known as NPM1. This mutation occurs in a consistent way and drives the growth of leukemia cells. Dr. Liu is investigating how this NPM1 mutation alters the behavior of leukemia cells and response to drug treatments, with the goal of developing new and more effective treatments for patients with this disease.
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Original text here: https://www.damonrunyon.org/news/damon-runyon-cancer-research-foundation-invests-nearly-14-million-support-physician-0
