The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announced the recipients of their 2025 Young Investigator Award on April 3, 2025. The award provides early-career researchers at NCCN Member Institutions with $150,000 in funding over 2 years to support research aimed at improving cancer care.
Among the 4 recipients are Kathryn Tringale, MD, MAS, a radiation oncologist at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Moores Cancer Center specializing in leukemia and lymphoma, and Mathew Angelos, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus specializing in leukemia, blood and marrow transplant, and myelodysplastic syndromes.
“I’m honored to receive this award in support of a project developed in collaboration with an incredible multidisciplinary team,” Dr. Tringale told Blood Cancers Today. “As a new faculty member at UCSD and someone in the early stages of my career as a clinician-scientist treating both central nervous system and hematologic malignancies, it’s especially meaningful to have support for an idea that brings together these dual interests.”
Dr. Tringale’s study, titled “Comprehensive Neuroimaging and Molecular Biomarkers of Neurotoxicity Following CAR T-Cell Therapy,” aims to better understand and predict neurotoxicity in patients receiving chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy by using advanced brain imaging, cognitive testing, and blood-based biomarkers.
“CAR T-cell therapy has revolutionized treatment for blood cancers like large B-cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma, significantly improving survival. Unfortunately, it comes with serious side effects—one of the most concerning being ICANS [immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome], a neurologic complication that affects up to 70% of patients,” Dr. Tringale explained. “As CAR-T becomes more widely used, understanding and managing these side effects is more important than ever. Although early studies have linked ICANS to certain inflammatory markers in the blood and brain MRI changes, no large, in-depth prospective studies have been done. This project aims to fill that gap.”
Dr. Angelos’s study shines a different light on CAR T-cell therapy, focusing on the safety and preliminary clinical activity of autologous anti-CD64 CAR T cells in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.
“Early-career researchers bring fresh perspectives to some of the most complex challenges in cancer care,” said Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, chief executive officer of the NCCN and former Young Investigator Award recipient, said in a news release. “Supporting these investigators and their work is critical for advancing cancer treatment and outcomes. This program is an investment in their potential—and in the discoveries that will improve cancer outcomes in the future.”
Read more: Expert Panel Updates NCCN Guidelines on Pediatric ALL with Focus on T-ALL
Reference
NCCN Foundation celebrates 2025 Young Investigator Award recipients shaping the future of cancer research. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. News release. PR Newswire. Published April 3, 2025. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nccn-foundation-celebrates-2025-young-investigator-award-recipients-shaping-the-future-of-cancer-research-302419756.html
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