Roswell Park’s Dr. Subhamoy Dasgupta Earns Prestigious NIH Director’s New Innovator Award

Subhamoy Dasgupta, PhD, established his own research laboratory in 2017 when he came to Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center fresh from a postdoctoral research fellowship in Texas. But already, just three years later, his contributions to the field of cancer research are so significant that they have drawn the attention of the world’s pre-eminent medical research agency — the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Dasgupta, Assistant Professor of Oncology in the Department of Cell Stress Biology at Roswell Park, has received an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award for 2020. These awards, part of the NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program, support exceptionally innovative research from early-career investigators.

“The breadth of innovative science put forth by the 2020 cohort of early career and seasoned investigators is impressive and inspiring," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD in announcing this year’s NIH Director’s Awards. “I am confident that their work will propel biomedical and behavioral research and lead to improvements in human health.”

“Researchers by their very nature are risk-takers, challenging the limits of what is known for the opportunity to open up new doors of discovery,” says Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26). “Western New York is fortunate to be home to researchers like Dr. Dasgupta and the talented team at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, whose work will lead to better treatments for patients here and around the world. This specialized federal award is recognition of and an investment in that promise.”

The award to Dr. Dasgupta includes a five-year, $2.52 million grant from the NIH supporting investigations into one of the most persistent challenges in cancer research — how to limit or prevent the spread of invasive tumors from one organ to other parts of the body.

“This is an incredible honor and opportunity,” Dr. Dasgupta says. “We believe that communication channels back and forth between a cancer cell’s nucleus, which houses tumor DNA, and the mitochondria, the tumor’s energy source, are driving cancer metastasis, and we hope through this grant to identify new vulnerabilities that can be targeted to treat aggressive tumors. I’m excited about being able to advance these ideas at a center as respected and supportive as Roswell Park, and hopeful about the promise for meaningful impact on patients around the world.”

After earning a doctorate in biomedical sciences from the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Dr. Dasgupta completed a fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine. His work, published in such high-impact journals as Nature, Molecular Cell and the Journal of Clinical Investigation, has established that tumor cells use altered metabolic pathways to promote uncontrolled tumor growth and proliferation. His past awards include the NCI Transition Career Development Award, Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Research Award, Department of Defense Idea Development Award and the Endocrine Society’s Outstanding Early Stage Investigator Award.