The Mucinous Ovarian Cancer Coalition (MOCC) is pleased to announce our Rhonda's Award recipient for 2025, Dr. Anil K. Sood of the MD Anderson Cancer Center. His
proposal, Mapping the Molecular Landscape of mucinous ovarian cancer:
Unveiling Tumor-Stroma Dynamics, will explore how the crosstalk between tumor and stroma compartments drives
the aggressive behavior of mucinous ovarian cancer.
For the first time since our
September 2020 launch, MOCC has chosen a two-year grant proposal. Rhonda’s
Award will span 2025 and 2026.
MOCC Physician Advisory Committee member Dr. Katherine Kurnit,
stated that this proposal is “critical for laying the groundwork for future
research. This type of in-depth characterization will hopefully provide insight
into the biology of these tumors that other investigators can also apply in
future projects. And provide ideas for new ways to treat these tumors
clinically.”
Rhonda’s Award 2025
Research Team
Principal Investigator: Anil K. Sood, MD
Team: Elaine Stur, PhD
Investigator Biographies
Anil K. Sood, MD
Anil K. Sood, MD is a Professor and Vice Chair for Translational Research in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology & Reproductive Medicine. He is Co-Director of the Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNA and Director of the Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program.
Dr. Sood is an American Cancer Society Professor and elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Inventors. His research has focused on developing new therapies aimed at the tumor microenvironment and understanding mechanisms underlying ovarian cancer growth and metastasis.
Elaine Stur, PhD
Elaine Stur, PhD is a research scientist. Her work has been dedicated to exploring the tumor microenvironment of ovarian cancer with a focus on cancer associated fibroblasts and the cross communication within the immune microenvironment, using technologies as single cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics.
Help Advance Research on Mucinous Ovarian Cancer
Rhonda’s Award, named in memory of our
late co-founder, is one of very few grants available to fund
research for mucinous ovarian cancer. Researchers can apply for amounts of up
to $50,000. We invite you to join the fight and help us continue this award by
making a gift of any amount today.
