2025 team-designated support

Each project that Cycle for Survival funds advances progress toward new and more effective ways to diagnose, treat, and cure people with rare cancers. These MSK researchers were chosen by teams to receive funding in the areas specified below from the $36 million raised during Cycle for Survival’s 2025 season.

David Abramson, MD 
Chief of the Ophthalmic Oncology Service in the Department of Surgery 
Retinoblastoma

Nadeem Abu-Rustum, MD 
Chief of the Gynecology Service; Founder’s Chair 
Gynecologic Cancer

Prasad Adusumilli, MD 
Deputy Chief of the Thoracic Service; Vice Chair for Translational Research in the Department of Surgery; Co-Director of the Mesothelioma Program; Min H. & Yu-Fan C. Kao Chair in Thoracic Cancer 
Mesothelioma

Carol Aghajanian, MD 
Chief of the Gynecologic Medical Oncology Service; Avon Chair in Gynecologic Oncology Research 
Gynecologic Cancer

Hikmat Al-Ahmadie, MD 
Pathology

Cristina Antonescu, MD 
Leiomyosarcoma, Liposarcoma

Viswatej (Vishu) Avutu, MD 
CIC-DUX4, Phase 2 Clinical Trial for Osteosarcoma and Ewing Sarcoma

Fiyinfolu Balogun, MD, PhD 
Health Equity in Pancreatic Cancer

Lisa Bodei, MD, PhD 
Director of Targeted Radionuclide Therapy 
Theranostics

Jaap-Jan Boelens, MD, PhD 
Chief of the Pediatric Transplant and Cellular Therapy Service; Richard J. O’Reilly Chair in Honor of Kevin Zoltan Merszei 
Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant

Andrea Cercek, MD 
Head of the Colorectal Cancer Section; Co-Director of the Center for Young Onset Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer; The Ford Family Chair

Debyani Chakravarty, PhD 
Health Equity in Pancreatic Cancer

Nai-Kong Cheung, MD, PhD 
Enid A. Haupt Chair of Pediatric Oncology 
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Support

Dennis Chi, MD 
Deputy Chief of the Gynecology Service; Head of Ovarian Cancer Surgery in the Department of Surgery; Ronald O. Perelman Chair in Gynecologic Surgery 
Gynecologic Cancer

Daniel Coit, MD 
Merkel Cell Carcinoma

Louise Catherine Connell, MB BCh BAO, BMedSc 
Gastrointestinal Cancer

Sandra D’Angelo, MD 
Synovial Cell Sarcoma

Ira Dunkel, MD 
Pediatric Cancer

Darren Feldman, MD 
Head of the Germ Cell Cancer Section 
Germ Cell Tumors

Christopher Forlenza, MD 
Pediatric Cancer

Sergio Giralt, MD 
Deputy Head of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies; Chief Medical Officer of MSK Direct; Melvin Berlin Family Chair in Multiple Myeloma 
Blood Cancer

Julia Glade Bender, MD 
Vice Chair for Clinical Research 
Pediatric Cancer

Mrinal Gounder, MD 
Physician Ambassador to India and Asia 
CIC-DUX4 Sarcoma

Rachel Grisham, MD 
Head of the Ovarian Cancer Section; Director of Gynecologic Medical Oncology at MSK Westchester 
Gynecologic Cancer

James Harding, MD 
Cholangiocarcinoma

John Healey, MD 
Stephen McDermott Chair in Surgery 
Sarcoma

Alan Ho, MD, PhD 
Chief, Head and Neck Oncology Service 
Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma

Christine Iacobuzio-Donahue, MD, PhD 
Director of the Center for Pancreatic Research; David M. Rubenstein Chair 
Pancreatic Cancer

Yelena Janjigian, MD 
Chief of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service 
Gastrointestinal Cancers, Pancreatic Cancer, Esophageal Cancer

William Jarnagin, MD 
Chief of the Hepatobiliary Service; Leslie H. Blumgart Chair in Surgery 
Cholangiocarcinoma, Gastrointestinal Cancer, Hepatobiliary Cancer

Matthias Karajannis, MD, MS 
Chief of the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Service 
Pediatric Cancer

T. Peter Kingham, MD 
Director of the Global Cancer Research and Training Program 
Cholangiocarcinoma, Hepatobiliary Cancer

Christopher Klebanoff, MD 
Member Investigator in the Center for Cell Engineering 
Sarcoma Immunotherapy Research

Andrew Kung, MD, PhD 
Chair of the Department of Pediatrics; Lila Acheson Wallace Chair for Pediatric Research 
Pediatric Cancer, MSK Kids Investigator Initiated Clinical Trials, Rhabdomyosarcoma

Brian Kushner, MD 
Neuroblastoma

Michael La Quaglia, MD 
Joseph H. Burchenal Chair in Pediatrics 
Pediatric Cancer

Ross Levine, MD 
Chief Scientific Officer; Senior Vice President, Memorial Hospital, Translational Research; Edward P. Evans Endowed Chair for MDS 
Blood Cancer

Vicky Makker, MD 
Section Head of the Endometrial Cancer Program; Director of the Hematology-Medical Oncology Fellowship Training Program 
Gynecologic Cancer

Ingo Mellinghoff, MD 
Chair of the Department of Neurology; Evnin Family Chair in Neuro-Oncology 
Brain Cancer, Glioblastoma

Paul Meyers, MD 
Robbins Family Chair in Pediatrics 
Pediatric Sarcoma

Daniela Molena, MD 
Director of the Esophageal Surgery Program 
Esophageal Cancer, Gastrointestinal Cancer

Carol Morris, MD, MS 
Chief of the Orthopaedic Surgery Service; Jack Byrne Chair for Adolescent and Young Adult Cancers 
Sarcoma

Luc Morris, MD, MSc 
Director of the Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery Fellowship Program; Head of the Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Immunogenomics 
ENT Research

Sujana Movva, MD 
Sarcoma

Garrett Nash, MD, MPH 
Vice President of Quality and Safety 
Gastrointestinal Cancer

Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH 
Chief of the Clinical Genetics Service; Vice Chair of Academic Affairs in the Department of Medicine; Robert and Kate Niehaus Chair in Inherited Cancer Genomics 
Gynecologic Cancer

Eileen O’Reilly, MD 
Chair of the Human Research Protection Program and Institutional Review Board; Co-Director of Medical Initiatives at the David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research; Head of the Hepatopancreaticobiliary and Neuroendocrine Cancers Section; Winthrop Rockefeller Chair of Medical Oncology 
Gastrointestinal Cancers, Pancreatic Cancer

Michael Ortiz, MD 
Pediatric Cancer

Juan Osorio, MD 
Ovarian Cancer

Luis F. Parada, PhD 
Director of the Brain Tumor Center; Albert C. Foster Chair 
Glioblastoma, Medulloblastoma

Philip Paty, MD 
Talcott Chair for Clinical Excellence 
Gastrointestinal Cancers

Michael Postow, MD 
Chief of the Melanoma Service; Co-Director of the Melanoma Disease Management Team 
Melanoma

Daniel Prince, MD, MPH 
Pediatric Bone Sarcoma Surgery

Nitya Raj, MD 
Vice Chair of Quality Assurance in the Department of Medicine; Medical Site Director of the Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion 
Adrenal Cancer

Devika Rao, MD 
Gastrointestinal Cancer

Raajit Rampal, MD, PhD 
Director of the Center for Hematologic Malignancies; Director of the Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Program 
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Multiple Myeloma

Damon Reed, MD 
Chief of the Pediatric Sarcoma Service; Head of the Pediatric Solid Tumors Division 
Pediatric Sarcoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma

Gregory Riely, MD, PhD 
Vice Chair of Clinical Research in the Department of Medicine; Ning Zhao and Ge Li Endowed Chair in Lung Cancer Research 
Thymoma

Jonathan Rosenberg, MD 
Chief of the Genitourinary Oncology Service in the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology; Enno W. Ercklentz, Jr. Chair 
Urologic Cancer

Sameer Farouk Sait, MBBS 
Gastrointestinal Cancer

Adam Schmitt, MD 
Radiology

Jatin Shah, MD 
Elliot W. Strong Chair in Head and Neck Oncology 
Throat Cancer

Sohrab Shah, PhD 
Chief of Computational Oncology in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Nicholls-Biondi Chair 
Ovarian Cancer

Neerav Shukla, MD 
Chief of the Pediatric Translational Medicine Service; Bristol-Myers Squibb/James D. Robinson III Junior Faculty Chair 
Pediatric Cancer

Samuel Singer, MD 
Chief of the Gastric and Mixed Tumor Service; Vincent Astor Chair of Clinical Research 
Sarcoma

David Solit, MD 
Director of the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology; Geoffrey Beene Chair 
Center for Molecular Oncology, MSK-IMPACT®

Vivian Strong, MD 
Iris Cantor Chair in Honor of Dr. Sidney Winawer 
Esophageal Cancer

Viviane Tabar, MD 
Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery; Theresa Feng Chair in Neurosurgery 
DIPG, Pediatric Cancer

William Tap, MD 
Chief of the Sarcoma Medical Oncology Service 
Sarcoma

Kathryn Taylor, PhD 
Pediatric Cancer

Rohit Thummalapalli, MD 
Gastrointestinal Cancer

Saad Usmani, MD, MBA 
Chief of the Myeloma Service 
Multiple Myeloma

Britta Weigelt, PhD 
Director of the Gynecology Disease Management Team Research Laboratory 
Gynecologic Cancer, Peritoneal Ovarian Cancer

Leonard Wexler, MD 
Rhabdomyosarcoma

Wenbin Xiao, MD, PhD 
AML Pediatric Leukemia

Etay Ziv, MD, PhD 
Neuroendocrine Tumors

See the full 2025 annual funding report
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