UCSF Researchers Receive 2021 ASPIRE Awards for High-Risk, High-Reward Projects

By Erin Hayes | January 13, 2022

Mark Foundation ASPIRE Awards

Three scientific research projects led by UCSF investigators have been selected to receive 2021 ASPIRE Awards by the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research. 

The Mark Foundation's ASPIRE (Accelerating Scientific Platforms and Innovative Research) program enables innovative approaches to solving impactful problems in cancer research. These awards support high-risk, high-reward projects that aim to answer key feasibility and proof-of-concept questions in an accelerated timeframe, typically one year. Projects that successfully demonstrate feasibility may be selected to apply for additional funding in a second phase.


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Hani Goodarzi, PhD

Hani Goodarzi, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biophysics & Biochemistry, UCSF
Leveraging oncRNAs to derive blood-accessible QR codes for human cancers

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Davide Ruggero, PhD

Davide Ruggero, PhD, Professor, Department of Urology, UCSF
The role of estrogen receptor alpha in a novel post-transcriptional program underlying breast cancer

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Lani Wu and Steven Altschuler

Steven Altschuler, PhD, Lani Wu, PhD, and Xiaoxiao Sun, PhD
A platform for identification of druggable targets of cancer persisters to mitigate tumor recurrence


View the full list of 2021 ASPIRE awardees.