PILOT AWARDS

MRA Pilot Awards test potentially transformative ideas that do not have extensive preliminary data but articulate a clear hypothesis and translational goals. Resources for such “high-risk, high-reward” projects are important to establish proof-of-concept, which may then leverage additional funding through more traditional avenues.


A Strategy to Identify the Basis of Melanoma and Parkinson’s Comorbidity

The Michael J. Fox Foundation — MRA Pilot Award
Deanna L. Benson, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Investigating ARID2 as a Suppressor of Melanoma Metastasis

MRA Pilot Award for Women in Melanoma Research
Emily Bernstein, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Combined Intrathecal Immunotherapeutic Strategies for Melanoma LMD

MRA Pilot Award
Sherise Ferguson, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson
Cancer Center

Novel Mouse Models of Uveal Melanoma

MRA Pilot Award
Florian Karreth, PhD, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research
Institute, Inc

The Role of APC Mutations in Melanoma Brain Metastasis

Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma — MRA Pilot Award
James Robinson, PhD, The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Alpha-Synuclein’s Role in Melanoma Formation and Metastasis

The Michael J. Fox Foundation — MRA Pilot Award
Vivek Unni, MD, PhD, Oregon Health & Science University

Maria Wei, MD, PhD — speaks at the 2022 Melanoma Exchange Patient Forum

Maria Wei, MD, PhD—University of California, San Francisco—speaks at the 2022 Melanoma Exchange Patient Forum