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For people affected by lung cancer, research is a source of hope: finding cancer earlier, developing more effective treatments, and helping people live better with the disease.
LUNGevity’s latest round of research funding supports scientists working to create a future with better options for everyone affected by lung cancer.
Turning Discovery Into Better Care
LUNGevity focuses on supporting translational research – a critically underfunded part of the research pipeline – which allows us to move discoveries from the laboratory to patient care. In addition to speeding innovations to patients, these ten grants strategically address questions that patients care about:
Can we:
- Detect lung cancer sooner?
- Predict which treatment will work best?
- Prevent or overcome treatment resistance?
- Make care more precise, durable, and accessible?
LUNGevity’s 2026 Translational Research awards are organized across three strategic areas: expanding the lung cancer research workforce, developing new ways to treat RET-positive cancers, and testing a new approach for overcoming drug resistance in EGFR-positive lung cancer.
Building the Lung Cancer Research Workforce
These seven awards reflect more than $1 million invested in addressing urgent research questions while supporting the future leaders in the field. Projects span early detection, immunotherapy resistance, predictive biomarkers, immune-based treatments, and care for veterans.
Researchers and projects:
- Elio Adib, MD, Mass General Brigham
Evolutionary Single-Nucleus Profiling of Multifocal Lung Adenocarcinoma to Guide Treatment Strategies
In partnership with American Society for Radiation Oncology - Tatiana Delgado Cruz, MD, Weill Cornell Medicine
Utilizing the tumor-draining lymph node as a third source of adoptive cell therapy - Chris Frangieh, PhD, Columbia University Medical Center
Relief of tonic cGAS-STING signaling in NSCLC
In partnership with Lung Cancer Initiative - Brendan Heiden, MD, MBA, MPHS, Washington University in St. Louis
Real-world outcomes of screening-detected NSCLC in a national cohort - Surbhi Singhal, MD, University of California, Davis
Proteomic determinants of immunotherapy sensitivity in refractory NSCLC - No Joon Song, PhD, The Ohio State University
NK cell-macrophage crosstalk remodels macrophage states in lung cancer - Nehemias Guevara Rodriguez, MD, Saint Louis University
Quantifying radiographic response in veterans receiving immunotherapy
Developing New Ways to Treat RET-Positive Cancers
Two RETpositive/LUNGevity awards totaling $300K+ focus on a central challenge in targeted therapy: treated cancer cells often learn to survive, adapt, and eventually grow again. Both projects test distinct combination approaches using treatments already used in cancer care to accelerate progress in developing lasting treatment strategies.
Researchers and projects:
- Tejas Patil, MD, University of Colorado Denver
Targeting cell cycling vulnerabilities in RET-fusion positive NSCLC
In partnership with RETpositive - Jie Wu, PhD, University of Oklahoma
Enhancing RET-targeted cancer therapy with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)
In partnership with RETpositive
Testing a New Strategy for EGFR-Positive Lung Cancer
The $600K+ research award from Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research and LUNGevity supports an early-phase clinical trial for stage IV EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer. The study addresses drug-tolerant persister cells, which can survive targeted therapy and contribute to resistance. The researchers aim to test a rational combination of two FDA-approved treatments. If successful, this approach could help patients remain on an effective treatment longer and provide an efficient way to improve care.
Researcher and project:
- Bobak Parang, MD, PhD, The Ohio State University
Targeting FER to eradicate drug-tolerant persister cells in EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer
In partnership with Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research
What This Investment Means for Patients
Research saves lives. Each expert-chosen project can answer important questions, reveal a new path, or move a promising approach closer to helping patients. By investing across workforce development and biomarker-driven treatment research, LUNGevity is strengthening the path from discovery to improved care.
For patients and families, this means scientists can pursue important questions, study drug resistance, work toward better tests, and develop more personalized treatments that reach more people.
To date, LUNGevity has invested more than $55 million in lung cancer research over the past two decades including investing $2M earlier this year in research to support the early detection of lung cancer. This latest $2 million commitment continues to be grounded in the unmet needs of patients, scientific rigor, and the belief that, together, we can create a world where no one dies from lung cancer.
Learn more about LUNGevity Research: