07/02/2025
Hope Funds for Cancer Research Launches Partnership with The Jane Coffin Childs Fund for Medical Research
For Immediate Release
NEWPORT, RI -- July 2, 2025 -- Hope Funds for Cancer Research announces the launch of a collaboration with The Jane Coffin Childs Fund for Medical Research (Jane Coffin Childs Fund) to provide funding support for outstanding postdoctoral Fellows in biomedical research. This unique initiative will expand the number of Fellows awarded by each organization, at a time when federal funding cuts are diminishing resources for the scientific workforce.
After a rigorous joint review process, Dr. David Klawon, in the Laboratory of Tyler Jacks, Ph.D. at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Hope Funds for Cancer Research-Jane Coffin Childs Fund Fellowship. This three-year investment will serve to advance cancer research while further supporting the workforce pipeline. Dr. Klawon is fascinated with the role that our immune system plays in resolving or mediating different diseases. His current research focuses on immune responses in lung cancer and seeks to understand the mechanisms used to furnish tumors with cancer-fighting or tumor-promoting immune cells.
“When visionary organizations come together, the impact is exponential,” said Dr. Anita Pepper, Executive Director of the Jane Coffin Childs Fund. “This partnership exemplifies the power of collaborative philanthropy—amplifying bold ideas, accelerating scientific discovery, and empowering the next generation of leaders to transform cancer research.”
Hope Funds for Cancer Research was established in 2006 to encourage investigation of innovative treatment and detection for the most difficult-to-treat cancers. The organization supports research for highly innovative projects that challenge traditional paradigms associated with understanding the causes, mechanisms, progression, disease markers, or risk factors of the most understudied and difficult-to-treat cancers. Hope Funds emphasizes a creative approach to research and awards grants to young scientists based on the following criteria: project innovation and originality; the significance and direct relevance of the research proposal; the project's approach and conceptual framework; the researcher's qualifications and those of his or her mentors; and the quality of the researcher's overall working environment.
Since 2008, Hope Funds has funded research projects by 61 fellows deemed to have the highest probability of success, as determined by rigorous scientific and economic analysis.
“Hope Funds is enthusiastic to partner with an organization of the Jane Coffin Childs Fund’s stature and to support the work of Dr. David Klawon, an exceptional candidate whose work reflects our commitment to promoting scientific innovation,” said Professor Bryan R.G. Williams, Chair, Hope Funds Board of Trustees.
The Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research was established by the Childs Family in 1937 to honor the memory of Jane Coffin Childs. Inspired by the founding purpose to support research into the causes and treatment of cancer, the Fund’s mission has broadened to support fundamental scientific research that advances our understanding of the causes, treatments, and cures for human disease. This year, the Board of Scientific Advisors selected twenty-nine new fellows from the largest applicant pool in the fund’s history based on their doctoral research accomplishments, innovative research plans, and their chosen scientific mentors.
More information about the funds and the fellows they support can be found on their websites: https://www.hope-funds.org/ and https://www.jccfund.org/.
Contact Information: John A. Wells, Trustee, info@hope-funds.org, or Anita Pepper, Ph.D., Executive Director, jccfund@yale.edu.
Hope Funds for Cancer Research is an independent and unaffiliated non-profit organization
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