Lung Cancer Research Awards

Funded by A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation

A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation Research Program

Lung cancer claims more lives each year than breast, prostate, and colon cancers combined, yet lung cancer research receives disproportionately less funding per cancer death than other types of cancer. Most of the proposals submitted to the NIH and scored as ‘excellent’ do not get funded due to lack of funding. This means that private funding for research focused on lung cancer is vital to saving lives.

A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation (ABOH) raises funds to support translational research and drive new treatments that save lives! ABOH also works to raise awareness about lung cancer and screening for earlier detection. The primary focus of the ABOH Research Program is to support early-career investigators and retain promising young researchers in the field through competitive $150,000 awards.

Thank you to our local ABOH Research Committee and our National Advisory Committee for their time and dedication to advancing lung cancer research. 

Named Research Awards: ABOH offers major donors the chance to “name” an ABOH national research award. “Named Research Awards” enable donors to fund part or all of a research award in their name or in memory or honor of a loved one. To learn more, email Executive Director, Nancy Torrison at . The minimum contribution to apply for a named grant is gifts totaling $50,000 in one year.

Lung Cancer Research Facts

  • Approximately 60% of new cases are nonsmokers, either never-smokers or former smokers, many of whom quit decades ago. One in five women and one in twelve men diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked.
  • Approximately 130,000 Americans die annually from lung cancer, including more than 2,000 Minnesotans. More than 200,000 people are diagnosed with lung and bronchus cancer in the U.S. each year; 74% are diagnosed in stage 3 or 4. Screening for lung cancer is imperative to changing these stats.
  • Lung cancer kills nearly twice as many women as breast cancer. In recent years, the National Cancer Institute estimated that our government spent over $14,000 per breast cancer death for research, and $1,700 per lung cancer death.
  • Lack of funding drives talented young researchers away from lung cancer, despite their interest and commitment.
  • Per cancer death and its burden on society, lung cancer receives fewer research dollars than other common cancers.

Past Awards

2022 A Breath of Hope Research Award Recipient:
DR. JAIME SCHNEIDER of Massachusetts General Hospital received the 2022 Peg’s Fight for Life Research Award of $150,000.

2021 A Breath of Hope Research Award Recipient:
DR. KIPP WEISKOPF from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts received the Peg Fisher-Jullie Fight for Life Award of $150,000.

2020 A Breath of Hope Fellow:
DR. ESRA AKBAY of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center received the Katherine Bensen Hope Award of $150,000.

2018 A Breath of Hope Fellow:
DR. STEFANI SPRANGER, (MIT), received a $150,000 A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation research award.

2017 Women & Lung Cancer Research Award Recipients:
DRS. LAURA STABILE AND TIMOTHY BURNS, (University of Pittsburgh), received the Tona Vives Women and Lung Cancer Award of $150,000.

2016 A Breath of Hope Fellow:
DR. JUN-CHIEH (JAMES) TSAY, (NYU), received the Larry Benjamin Early Detection Award of $150,000.

2014 A Breath of Hope Fellow:
DR. KAMESH BIKKAVILLI
University of Illinois.
Award of $150,000.

2014 A Breath of Hope Fellow:
DR. MANISH PATEL
University of Minnesota
Award of $150,000.