A Celebration of Collaboration - Joining forces with Sanford-Burnham to develop better tests - $60,000 Postdoctoral Grant!!

On May 10, the International Prostate Cancer Foundation awarded Ranjan Perera, Ph.D., scientific director of analytical genomics and bioinformatics at the Sanford-Burnham Lake Nona campus, $60,000 to fund a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Perera’s lab.

“Sanford-Burnham can really make an impact in the field,” said our founder Dr. Vipul Patel, as he acknowledged Dr. Perera's work to identify molecular markers for prostate cancer. With a shared goal to develop better diagnoses and treatments, this postdoc grant is only the first step in a long and mutually beneficial partnership between us here at the International Prostate Cancer Foundation and the great minds at Sanford-Burnham.

In Sanford-Burnham Lake Nona labs, Dr. Perera and his team are currently working on early prognostic markers for prostate cancer. The goal is to be able to diagnose prostate cancer earlier, through a simple blood test instead of an invasive biopsy. “This research is urgently needed as professionals from all aspects of the field have been calling for these molecular markers. Not just for prostate cancer, but other malignant tumors as well,” explained Perera.

As Dr. Patel pointed out during the ceremony, “We at Florida Hospital have operated on thousands of prostate cancer patients with various states of disease. We have a large database and a diverse pool of patient samples while Sanford-Burnham has deep basic medical research expertise.” When clinicians and medical researchers work together new therapies and diagnostic tools can be developed more rapidly.

We encourage you to read more about Dr. Perera’s research here & visit Sanford & Burnham's blog for their full take on the event.

For full coverage and ceremony photos visit the International Prostate Cancer Foundation on Facebook.