The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance is dedicated to playing a catalytic role in accelerating cures for cancer by enabling the pursuit of the most innovative and advanced cancer research and by facilitating collaborations between science and business.
The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize provides early-stage funding opportunities to New York scientists with innovative ideas in cancer research. The program surrounding the Prize is a catalyst in bridging the gap between the academic scientific community and the business community.
ASHLEY LAUGHNEY, PHD
JUAN PABLO MAIANTI, PHD
SAM BAKHOUM, MD, PHD
SANTOSHA VARDHANA, MD, PHD
TERESA DAVOLI, PHD
(The Pershing Square Foundation, Business Wire) — The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance today announced the five winners of the 2024 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research, awarded annually to cancer research scientists and physician-scientists based in the greater New York City area. The Prize, totaling $3.75 million, empowers investigators early in their independent careers to pursue their most exciting research projects at a critical stage when traditional funding is lacking. Recipients receive $250,000 per year for three years.
Over the past eleven years, the Alliance has awarded over $43 million to 71 scientists at 13 institutions in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. With this funding, the recipients will contribute to the greater New York City area’s growing biomedical research hub. In addition to funding, the Alliance provides Prize winners with opportunities to present their work to scientific and business audiences to encourage collaboration and help bridge the gap between academia and industry.
“We are honored to partner with the five outstanding recipients of this year’s Pershing Square Sohn Prize,” said Bill Ackman, Co-Trustee of The Pershing Square Foundation and CEO of Pershing Square. “The Prize emboldens scientists to think unconventionally and explore their innovative ideas as they work to better understand, diagnose, and treat cancer.”
On Thursday, May 18th the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance held its 2023 Prize Dinner and Tenth Anniversary celebration at Manhatta in New York, awarding its 2023 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research to seven early-career pioneers in cancer research in the greater New York City area. It was a beautiful celebration welcoming our new cohort to the supportive and lively community that has grown over the past ten years.
The evening featured special guest speakers, George Yancopoulos, MD, PhD, Co-Founder, President, and CSO of Regeneron, and Deborah Birx, MD, Senior Fellow at the George W. Bush Institute and former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, who spoke candidly on a panel about their work and the future of innovation and technology.
The Pershing Square Sohn Prize was created in 2013 to empower young scientists to take risks, explore bold ideas, and pursue their most pioneering research. Since 2013, the Prize has funded 66 early career investigators at 13 institutions across the greater New York City area and has built a community of researchers and mentors that learn from one another.
Bill Ackman, Co-Founder. The Pershing Square Foundation