Kidney cancer affects more than 50,000 Americans a year – and the incidence is steadily increasing. The FNIH is pleased to announce Quinn Weisman as the first Rancic-O’Neill Fellow, made possible by a partnership between the Dr. Edward T. Rancic Memorial Fund and the Dean R. O’Neill Renal Cell Cancer Fund, in support of research for renal cell carcinoma - or kidney cancer - at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Both Dean R. O’Neill and Dr. Edward Rancic participated in an experimental cancer trial at the NIH.  Their families established these memorial funds to provide support for Dr. Childs’ research which focuses on utilizing the immune system to eradicate cancer.  Coordinated by the Foundation, the families have now joined together to form the Rancic-O’Neill Fellowship.

The Rancic-O’Neill Fellowship provides for a post-baccalaureate researcher in the lab of Dr. Richard Childs at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).  Research conducted in this lab focuses on the development of new treatments for renal cell cancer, a deadly form of cancer whose incidence is increasing in the general population. Weisman and future Rancic-O’Neill research fellows will work with Dr. Childs and his laboratory and clinical research staff to develop novel new forms of immunotherapy for kidney cancer, such as allogeneic stem cell transplants, vaccine therapy and drug treatments. The efforts of Dr. Childs and his colleagues have already led to the discovery that allogeneic stem cell transplants can induce powerful immune effects against kidney cancer that in some cases can lead to sustained regression of metastatic disease. More recently, Dr. Childs’ group has translated laboratory findings from the bench to the bedside, initiating a novel immunotherapy trial that explores the potential of natural killer cell infusions to treat the most advanced form of kidney cancer.

In addition to their partnership with the Rancic Family, the O’Neill Family created the annual Boo! Run for Life 10K run and 2-mile walk in 2006 to raise awareness and funding for renal cell cancer research.  To learn more about the Boo! Run for Life event, which will be held this year on October 16, 2011 in Washington, DC, please visit: www.boorunforlife.com 

The Rancic-O’Neill fellowship, working in partnership with the FNIH and the NHLBI, will provide critical support for kidney cancer research by sponsoring top-notch candidates to the NIH to pursue novel and promising immune-based treatments for kidney cancer. To learn more about the fellowship, funds and the Foundation for the NIH, please visit: www.fnih.org