Dr. Dennis Jones is Named NCI Cancer Moonshot Scholar

ASIP Member, Dr. Dennis Jones, Named NCI Cancer Moonshot Scholar

October 31, 2024 - Dennis Jones, PhD, assistant professor of pathology & laboratory medicine at Boston University has received the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Cancer Moonshot Scholar Award. Jones was one of 11 researchers nationally who will collectively receive more than $6 million in the first year of their research.

The award was developed to help the White House Cancer Moonshot Initiative achieve the goal of inspiring and supporting world-class scientists from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups in the biomedical sciences. It aims to advance cancer science while also diversifying the pool of early-stage investigators and approaches to research funded by the NCI.

Jones, who was awarded $2.3 million in NCI funding for five years, focuses on understanding how tumors impact the functionality of blood vessels, which are essential for cancer-fighting immune cells, such as T cells, to infiltrate tumors. His previous research found that losartan, a medication commonly used to treat high blood pressure, helped open blood vessels in breast tumors, allowing more T cells to reach and potentially attack the cancer cells. As a result of this award, he will explore how losartan affects blood vessels and T cell entry into tumors. Additionally, he will use experimental models of breast cancer to measure tumor growth after combining losartan with immunotherapy, a treatment that helps the body’s immune system fight cancer cells.

Dr. Jones earned his bachelor’s in biology at Morehouse College and went on to earn his PhD in immunobiology from Yale University. After completing his doctoral work in 2012, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in radiation oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA). Dr. Jones has been an ASIP member since 2018 and has served the Society in several ways including as the Inaugural Early Career Representative to the FASEB Board, as Co-leader of the ASIP Breast Cancer Scientific Interest Group, and on several committees. In addition to receiving numerous prestigious awards during his career thus far, Dr. Jones received an ASIP Junior Faculty Travel Award and the ASIP Fred Sanfilippo Visiting Lectureship Award in 2022.

Read the full press release from Boston University.