Columbia Cancer Researchers Receive 2026 Lotus Awards for Innovative Ovarian Cancer Research
Two researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) have been named recipients of the 2026 Lotus Award, a competitive funding program from The Pershing Square Foundation that supports innovative ovarian cancer research. The 2026 cohort includes eight investigators from leading institutions across the country whose innovative projects aim to advance new approaches for understanding, preventing, and treating ovarian cancer.
The HICCC awardees are Swarnali Acharyya, PhD, and Tal Danino, PhD, whose projects explore novel strategies to prevent ovarian cancer progression and improve treatment effectiveness. The Lotus Award, formerly known as the Ovarian Cancer Challenge Grant, provides the awardees with $750,000 over three years to support these promising projects.
Investigating the Brain's Role in Ovarian Cancer Metastasis
Acharyya's project will examine how ovarian tumors may activate stress-response pathways in the brain that subsequently promote cancer spread. Her team will focus on corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), a key regulator of the body's stress response, and investigate whether existing drugs in clinical testing for depression that can cross the blood-brain barrier and inhibit this pathway could be repurposed to reduce metastasis and prevent recurrence.
The research builds on emerging evidence that communication between tumors and the nervous system can influence cancer progression, opening a new frontier in understanding how ovarian cancer spreads and identifying opportunities for intervention.
"This award will allow us to explore a bold and largely unexplored area of ovarian cancer research: the tumor–brain connection," says Acharyya, a member of the Tumor Biology and Microenvironment (TBM) research program at the HICCC. "Because ovarian cancer does not usually metastasize to the brain, the brain is rarely studied in this disease. We hope this work will open a new research direction and identify strategies to prevent relapse in ovarian cancer.”
Engineering Bacteria to Deliver Cancer Therapy
Danino's project seeks to develop engineered probiotic bacteria that can selectively colonize ovarian tumors and deliver therapeutic molecules directly within the tumor microenvironment. His team will optimize the bacteria for safety and tumor targeting while engineering them to activate anti-tumor immune responses where they are needed most.
The approach builds on Danino's pioneering work in synthetic biology and microbial therapeutics and could provide a highly targeted way to treat ovarian cancer while minimizing damage to healthy tissues.
"The Lotus Award will accelerate the development of engineered probiotic therapies as a new class of living medicines for ovarian cancer,” says Danino, who is also a member of the TBM program. “These bacteria can naturally colonize small tumors, locally deliver therapeutics, and stimulate the immune system directly within the tumor environment, with the goal of creating safer and more effective treatments for a broader range of patients."
