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Jie Deng, MD, PhD, a resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology at UCLA Health and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, is among the recipients of a Young Investigator Award given by Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation.

Deng earned the honor under the mentorship of Anusha Kalbasi, MD, a UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher and an assistant professor in residence in the Department of Radiation Oncology, and co-mentorship of Dörthe Schaue, PhD, a JCCC researcher and an associate professor in the Radiation Oncology.

Conquer Cancer, a nonprofit created by ASCO (the American Society of Clinical Oncology), announced Tuesday it is distributing $12 million in grants to promising cancer researchers. The awards will be given in conjunction with ASCO’s 2022 Annual Meeting, to be held June 3-7 in Chicago. Here’s the full list of recipients.

Deng received her bachelor’s in chemistry from the University of Florida and earned her combined MD/PhD degrees from Dartmouth Medical School. At UCLA she was selected to participate in the American Board of Radiology Holman Research Pathway, a specialized training mechanism designed for physician scientists. Under this Pathway, she has continued her post-doctoral training in tumor immunotherapy, under the mentorship of Kalbasi and Schaue, investigating a novel therapeutic approach with intratumoral immunotherapy to reprogram radiation-associated myeloid cells in sarcoma.

“I am honored to receive this recognition and thrilled to receive this support from the Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award for the development of improved therapeutic options for patients with sarcoma by combining radiation therapy with immunotherapy,” she said. “By focusing my research at the intersection of radiation biology and tumor immunology, I look forward to leveraging my training to understand how myeloid cells can be advantageously reprogrammed to generate an immune response against sarcoma.

“I am grateful for the support of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, including receiving a prior Fellowship Award, which was instrumental in generating tremendous momentum in the early development of this project to show the potential of this therapeutic approach. I would also like to thank the Department of Radiation Oncology and my mentors, Dr. Anusha Kalbasi and Dr. Dorthe Schaue, for their guidance.”