Dr. Niv Papo was awarded the Young Investigator Award by the Prostate Cancer Foundation recently. The molecular biologist flew to Washington DC to accept the prize at the end of October during the 20th Annual PCF Scientific Retreat.
Dr. Niv Papo (center) receives the Young Investigator Award in late October from Jonathan W. Simons, MD Prostate Cancer Foundation President and CEO (left) and Howard R. Soule, PhD, Executive Vice President, Chief Science Officer, Prostate Cancer Foundation (right). (Courtesy)
"This is a great honor for a young researcher such as myself,” Papo says, “The award will open many new scientific opportunities for my research group on the way to accomplishing our main goal, which is to promote the development of the next generation of prostate cancer therapeutics, including molecular imaging agents and targeted drug delivery agents. Specifically, this contribution will enable us to develop new, multifunctional proteins with a wide variety of biomedical applications for prostate cancer, ranging from imaging to therapy.”
“Since the main goal of my research is to translate our findings into clinical, and subsequently advanced, medical treatment, we envision that it will significantly improve prostate cancer patient outcomes. This generous contribution will help make our vision a reality,” he adds.
“As everyone is no doubt well aware, high-quality research of the type conducted in my research group involves considerable expense. This sponsorship specifically provides for hiring the professional researchers and purchasing the instruments, reagents and supplies required. The PCF contribution is not only a generous award but is also an 'advertising' opportunity that will promote our prostate cancer research. Without such support we would not be able to reach our goals," Papo declares.
Papo is a member of the Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Department of Biotechnology Engineering and a member of the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN).
Papo is also a recipient of a European Research Council (ERC) grant last month, Europe’s most prestigious scientific grant.
In the past year and a half, six foundations have awarded his group funding.
