Ernst Lengyel, MD, PhD
SGO member Ernst Lengyel, MD, PhD, at the University of Chicago Medicine, is the recipient of a National Cancer Institute (NCI) R35 Outstanding Investigator Award (OIA). This award is given to investigators who have an outstanding record of cancer research productivity and is designed to provide them with the latitude for continued scientific innovation and research through long-term funding support. With this award, Dr. Lengyel will build on his novel findings of how the ovarian cancer microenvironment promotes metastasis via unique metabolic effects.
Some of Dr. Lengyel’s notable research contributions include characterizing a variety of proteases to identify their role during ovarian cancer invasion and metastasis, determining the role of adipocytes in the promotion of metastasis, developing a novel 3D culture system to study ovarian cancer in conditions that are similar to the human tumor microenvironment, and identifying possible agents suitable for the prevention of ovarian cancer.
The NCI Outstanding Investigator Award will provide a seven-year $6.7M grant for Dr. Lengyel’s project entitled, “Metabolic reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment and therapy resistance.”