In June, the EHE Foundation provided two Fellowship Travel Grants supporting young investigators’ participation in a workshop entitled “YAP/TAZ and TEAD: At the Crossroads of Cancer.” The workshop is hosted annually by the Telluride Science Research Center (TSRC) and this year was co-led by notable EHE researchers and advocates – John Lamar, PhD, Albany Medical Center and Guy Weinberg, MD, University of Illinois (retired).

The 2022 Fellowship Travel Grant recipients were:

• Caleb Seavey, MD, PhD, Cleveland Clinic (US) – Dr. Seavey is a research fellow at the Lerner Research Institute and has been working in Dr. Brian Rubin’s Lab since 2019. Dr. Seavey’s presentation at the TSRC was entitled Loss of CDKN2A in epithelioid hemangioendothelioma enhances tumorigenicity and imparts cellular immortality, thereby facilitating the generation of the first cell lines of this disease.

• Karin Schlegelmilch, PhD, The Francis Crick Institute (UK) – Dr. Schlegelmilch is a senior postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Erik Sahai’s lab. Her presentation entitled Modelling therapy resistance in cancer highlighted her research on the role of YAP signaling in the development of resistance to targeted therapy in melanoma which may shed light on mechanisms relevant for other types of cancer, such as EHE.

Dr. John Lamar, co-leader of the workshop, said “Karin and Caleb made major contributions to the workshop. They both gave outstanding presentations and actively contributed to the discussions. We are so glad they attended and grateful that The EHE Foundation supported these young researchers that helped make our workshop a success.”

The workshop was founded by Guy Weinberg in 2017 and brings together knowledgeable experts in the Hippo-YAP/TAZ and EHE fields to share their research during scientific presentations and talk science during group hikes and other social events. In addition to hosting recognized experts in these fields who have long-standing track records of successful research, Dr. Weinberg also believes in the value of having younger scientists attend the workshop; in his words, “…this advances and assures continued interest in important research relevant to EHE.”

The EHE Foundation has contributed specifically to this approach by funding the attendance of such ‘young faculty’ as Karin and Caleb through fellowship stipends. These efforts promote participation of talented young scientists and nurture the next generation of EHE researchers.