You’re Funding Promising New Ideas!

A scientist in full protective gear works in a sterile laboratory, using a pipette to transfer liquid into a cell culture flask inside a biosafety cabinet as part of cancer research funded by the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation.

How Roswell Park's Scientific Advisory Committee Puts Your Donations to the Best Use

Every breakthrough starts as an idea and for those ideas to grow into the next innovative treatment option, they need seed funding. That’s where Roswell Park’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) with support from generous donors like you, comes in.

Spearheaded by Mukund Seshadri, DDS, PhD, and Kirsten Moysich, PhD, the committee awards community donations to the most promising research initiatives at Roswell Park. Over the last 10 years, the committee has green-lit promising new ideas about how to treat difficult-to-cure cancers and find less invasive treatment options. Your donations are making it possible to move transformative research forward that otherwise wouldn’t have gotten off the ground!

Recent Research Projects Made Possible by Donations

Here’s the latest funded research studies from the Fall 2025 SAC process, fueled 100% by your generosity.

“The Role of KMT2D in Bladder Cancer Biology and Treatment Response” by Qiang Li, MD, PhD

As chemo-immunotherapy has become the standard first-line treatment for advanced bladder cancer, it is critical to understand how the loss of a gene called KMT2D, which normally keeps cell growth under control, impacts bladder cancer biology and treatment responses to chemo-immunotherapy. This project will define how KMT2D loss alters the epigenetic and transcriptional landscape, promotes subtype heterogeneity and modulates response to chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

A man wearing glasses, a dark suit, a white dress shirt, and a patterned tie, smiling at the camera against a plain, light-colored background.

“Using Exercise to Improve Immunotherapy Responses in Lung Cancer” by AJ Robert McGray, PhD, and Andrew Ray, PT, PhD

Using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) improves survival rates for lung cancer patients, but results don’t last. Exercise is a low-risk intervention that regulates systemic metabolism, reduces tumor hypoxia, improves perfusion and reshapes the tumor microenvironment (TME). It has been shown to improve immunotherapy responses in multiple cancers and to slow progression in preclinical studies of lung cancer. This study will further explore the role of exercise in improving the effects of FR-B T cell therapy in lung cancer.

A person with a shaved head wearing a white lab coat stands in a bright corridor. The lab coat has a Roswell Park logo and reads "Dr. AJ Robert McCoy, Department of Immunology." Large windows are in the background.
A man in a white lab coat stands smiling in a physical therapy clinic, surrounded by exercise machines and colorful resistance bands.

“Developing a Novel Weight-Loss Intervention to Help Treat Kidney Cancer Patients” by Eric Kauffman, MD

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and obesity are intrinsically linked. Obesity is a risk factor for the onset of RCC and can be an indicator of mortality and RCC itself affects a patient’s metabolism, dysregulating lipids, fatty acids and insulin. That said, lower body weight and higher levels of peripheral memory T cell lymphocytes are each associated with tumor regression in early-stage RCC cases, suggesting roles for both weight loss and adaptive immunity in RCC growth suppression. This study will look at the impact of calorie energy reduction and intermittent fasting on weight loss and RCC progression in patients with small renal masses who are on active surveillance. The research team hypothesizes that both interventions will cause significant weight loss, reduce inflammation and better prevent RCC progression.

A man in a gray suit, lavender shirt, and purple patterned tie smiles while standing in a bright, modern indoor setting with large windows in the background.

How the Scientific Advisory Committee Works

Here’s how SAC, fueled by donations, works.

  1. SAC opens opportunity for grant submissions
  2. Roswell Park researchers submit research proposals, each one looking to investigate a new idea that will address novel ways to diagnose, treat or prevent cancer.
  3. An objective committee of their peers convenes to review and grade applications.
  4. After a thorough, competitive and rigorous process, SAC announces grant recipients.

Why New Ideas Matter

We have made incredible progress in developing and implementing new therapies for common cancers, but there are still complex, aggressive cancers and rare tumors for which little progress has been made. That’s why your support of novel research matters so much.

Each grant is funded 100% by donations. Over the course of a decade (from 2013–2023), you’ve fueled more than 238 SAC grants and helped us award more the $16 million to researchers!

Learn more about your impact