Past Award Recipients of the Christine and Helen Landgraf Memorial Fund

The ACRF raises funds for the Christine and Helen Landgraf Memorial Fund that has given annual research grants since 1973 and has supported innovative work in cancer treatment, diagnosis, and palliative care for 50 years. The Landgraf Award was created by John and Helen Landgraf to honor their daughter, Christine, who died of Hodgkin’s disease at the age of 27.

• 2023 Elysia Alvarez, M.D., M.P.H. – Dr Alvarez is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist and is the co-leader of the Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Comprehensive Sarcoma Clinic and has expertise in adolescent and young adults with solid tumors. Dr Alvarez’ research focuses on imroving care for this age group and identifying and overcoming barriers to accessing treatment.
• 2022 Mamta Parikh, M.D., Ph.D – Mamta Parikh received her medical degree from UC Davis School of Medicine and her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Boston University as well as a master’s in organic chemistry from UC Irvine. Parikh’s clinical research is focused on improving outcomes in bladder, kidney and prostate cancer by investigating new agents in clinical trials. Parikh and her collaborators are evaluating novel treatments aimed at improving the efficacy of immunotherapy by determining how the drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) interacts with peptides that target key immune-related pathways.
• 2021 Janai Carr-Ascher, M.D., Ph.D. – Research into soft tissue sarcomas
• 2020 Julie Dang, M.P.H., Ph.D.
• 2019: Mili Arora, M.D. – Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California (UC) Davis School of Medicine at the Comprehensive Cancer Center and also serves as the Associate Program Director for the Fellowship Program in the Division of Hematology & Oncology. Her principal research and clinical interests focus on breast cancer, and she has a specific interest in triple negative breast cancer. She has been on the faculty at UC Davis since 2015.
• 2018: Dr. Edward Kim – The Landgraf Award will provide support for Dr. Kim’s research on pancreatic cancer. His laboratory research is focused in 2 primary areas: 1) investigation and development of novel rational combinations of drugs for pancreatic cancer, and 2) development of patient-derived models of pancreatic cancer (including patient-derived xenografts and patient-derived organoids) to enhance pre-clinical evaluation of promising new therapeutics for pancreatic cancer. The Landgraf award will support use of these model systems to test a promising combination of drugs that attacks pancreatic cancer cells by depriving them of important nutrients.
• 2017: Dr. Elizabeth David – The Landgraf Award will help fund critical research in late stage lung cancer patients who decide not to get treatment and how they progress compared with patients who seek treatment including survivorship and quality of life.
• 2016: Dr. Megan E. Daly – The Landgraf Award is providing support for Dr. Daly research; A clinical trial that will enroll patients with metastic non-small cell lung cancer with primary or secondary resistance to immunotherapy, with the hypothesis that the immunomodulatory effects of SAR will futher increase the efficacy of checkpoint inhibition immunotherapy and will generate a systemic disease response in a subset of patients failing to respond to immunotherapy alone.
• 2015: Dr. Jonathan Riess – Dr. Riess and colleagues will study a unique drug called the YAP/TAZ signaling pathways in non-small cell lung cancer.
• 2014: Dr. Thomas Semrad
• 2012: Dr. Robert Canter – Dr. Canter’s research focuses on sarcoma cancer stem cells as a mechanism of resistance to standard anti-proliferative anti-cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He is studying combination therapy in pre-clinical models of soft tissue sarcoma using traditional anti-proliferative therapies to debulk the non-cancer stem cells in conjunction with immunotherapy to target the cancer stem cell population. His goal is to translate these studies to early phase clinical trials for canine and human patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma.
• 2011: Arta Monjazeb, M.D., Ph.D Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology – The goal of Dr. Monjazeb’s research is to use radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy to restore balance in the immune system and restore the body’s innate ability to fight cancer. Monjazeb’s research focuses on combining radiotherapy with immunotherapies that activate the cancer fighting cells of the immune system and immunotherapies that reverse the immune suppression caused by the cancer itself. This combination of therapies can essentially act as a vaccine, not only erradicating the local tumor which is treated by these therapies but also harnessing the immune system to hunt and kill cancer cells that have spread throughout the body.
• 2010: Elisa Tong, M.D., M.A. – Research seeks to translate the public health concern about secondhand smoke health effects into a clinically relevant and novel intervention to promote cessation.
• 2009: Steve Martinez, M.D. – Assessing Response to Breast Cancer Chemotherapy.
• 2008: Chon-Xian Pan, M.D., Ph.D.
• 2007: Primo Lara Jr. M.D. – Preclinical studies in renal cancer
• 2005: Paul Gumerlock, Ph.D.
• 2004: Lesley Butler, Ph.D. – Ongoing research into genetic variation in prostate cancer in African Americans
• 2004: Paul Gumerlock, Ph.D. – Examining responses to some of the novel molecular-targeted new anticancer drugs, as well as combinations with radiation therapy
• 2003: Pauline Mysliwiec, M.D., M.P.H. – Look at effective utilization of screening for colorectal cancer among average-risk Americans
• 2003: Angela Davies, M.D. – Integration of molecularly targeted therapies into the treatment of non-small lung cancer (NSCLC)
• 2002: Olulanu Helen Aina, D.V.M., M.S. – Peptide microarray for cancer cell surface receptors
• 2001: Helen L. Chew, M.D. – Venous thrombo-embolism in California cancer patients
• 2001: Michael Wilkes, M.D., Ph.D. – Self-reflection, communication and medical error
• 2000: Richard J. Bold, M.D. – Identification and treatment of genetic abnormalities that control cell growth and death especially focused on pancreatic cancer
• 2000: John F. Linder, L.C.S.W. – Effects of life-threatening illness on patients and families especially in the area of hospice care and palliative care
• 1999: Primo Lara Jr. M.D. – Development and monitoring of clinical trials involving cancer patients to determine a wide variety of successful cancer treatments
• 1998: Earl Sawai, Ph.D. – Identification ofgenetic control mechanisms in order to understand intracellular signaling pathways in metastasis in cancer patients
• 1997: Joseph M. Tuscano, M.D. – Identification of genes in white blood cells involved in malignancy transformation of cells to improve therapeutic treatment of cancers
• 1996: Joy Melnikow, M.D. – Improvement in the delivery of cancer preventative services for women including mammograms and Pap smears
• 1995: Regina Gandour-Edwards, M.D. – Identification of tissue markers in human cancers to predict how tumors respond to cancer treatrnents
• 1994: Carol M. Richman, M.D. – Improvement of bone marrow transplantation in the treatment of cancer
• 1993: Mary D. Rippon, M.D., Lois O’Grady, M.D., Karen K. Linfors, M.D., Lydia P. Howell, M.D. – Establishment of North Breast Cancer Registry, a resource for physicians to assist in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer
• 1992: Derick Hon-Man Lauo M.D., Ph.D. – Identification of early cancerous cell changes in lung cancer victims
• 1991: Kristina Detner, Ph.D. – Study in the genetic and molecular events that control the development of leukemias
• 1990: Norman Levy, M.D. – Improvement in the diagnosis and treatment of leukemias and lymphomas utilizing immunotherapy
• 1989: Gary V. Dahl, M.D. – Improvement in response and survival of children with leukemia through new therapies
• 1988: Paul Gumerlock, Ph.D. – Improvement of recovery of prostate cancer patients using biotherapies and prediction of tumor behaviors
• 1987: Sydney A. Scudder, M.D. – Study of how cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s disease patients
• 1986: Charles F. Abildgaard, M.D. – Improvement in the treatment of children’s cancers involving a multidisciplinary team of specialists
• 1985: Lisa Russell, M.D. – Study of tumor differences in cancer patients to determine better diagnostic methods and treatments
• 1984: Ronald Chuang, Ph.D. – Study of various anti-cancer drugs in improving the treatment of lymphomas and leukemia
• 1983: Steven Hinrichs, M.D. – Study of tumor biology to aid in the development of new therapies in the treatment of cancer
• 1982: Eric Kawaoka, M.D. -Study of tumors in children with leukemia in order to improve treatment
• I98I: Frederick J. Meyers, M.D. – Research on the cell origins of Hodgkins’s disease
• 1980: Kent L. Erikson, Ph.D. – Relationship between high-fat diets and increased risks for the development of certain cancers
• 1979: Elizabeth Hodgkins, D.V.M. – Study of canines with melanomas and the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments
• 1978: H. Jeftey Lawrence, M.D, – Detection of early signs of relapse in recovering leukemia patients
• 1977: Michael Worley, D.V.M. – Study of leukemia in humans and felines
• 1975: Floyd Wilson, D.V.M., Ph.D. – Improved techniques in therapies in treating malignant disease
• 1974: Christopher R. Peter, Ph.D. – Research in immunology relating to leukemia and lymphoma
• 1973: Geoffrey Coates, M.D., Ph.D. – Nuclear medicine and its application in the detection and treatment of cancer