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The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the world’s leading non-profit funder of melanoma research, announced its largest annual global investment of $18.4 million to advance the next generation of breakthroughs in melanoma detection and treatment.
This year’s portfolio supports 30 discovery-stage research grants, alongside advancing the RARE Melanoma Research Consortium and the Melanoma Biorepository – critical infrastructure designed to unlock insights into the most complex and underserved forms of the disease. These investments span leading academic and medical institutions across the United States and 5 countries, reinforcing MRA’s role as a global convener accelerating progress across the field.
Melanoma remains the deadliest form of skin cancer, with more than 234,000 new cases expected in 2026, of which 112,000 will be invasive melanoma. Despite meaningful advances in early detection and treatments, incidence continues to rise underscoring the urgent need for sustained investment in innovative research.
MRA rigorously reviews grants for their ultimate potential to move the field forward through accountable, collaborative efforts in five high priority strategic areas:
MRA works with the best and brightest minds around the world who are singularly focused on improving outcomes and saving more lives.
The MRA Young Investigator Awards empower the next generation of early career researchers. In addition to funding bold new ideas, MRA's Young Investigator Award program is also a training ground for researchers through the interaction with a senior melanoma investigator serving as a mentor as they prepare for the future of their science careers.
Investigating IL-18BP blockade as a therapeutic strategy in melanoma
Dale Bottoms and John Ciesielka – MRA Young Investigator Award
David Schoenfeld, MD, PhD, Yale University
Pathology assessment of response for immunotherapy-treated melanoma
Denise and Michael Kellen – MRA Young Investigator Award
Julie Deutsch, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Defining drivers of response and resistance in neoadjuvant immunotherapy
Lee and Debbi Alpert – MRA Young Investigator Award
Moshe Sade-Feldman, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital
Castalagin prebiotic as a novel therapeutic modality for melanoma
Ellen and Gary Davis – MRA Young Investigator Award
Arielle Elkrief, MD, University of Montreal
DP1 receptor signaling in aging-associated immune dysfunction in melanoma
MRA Young Investigator Award
Jian Zheng, MD, PhD, University of Louisville Research Foundation
Dissecting circadian immunodynamics in melanoma
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) London– MRA Young Investigator Award
Daniel Kirschenbaum, PhD, German Cancer Research Center
Anti-evolutionary rotational MAPKi therapy to forestall resistance
The Black Family – MRA Young Investigator Award
Zhentao Yang, PhD, The Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles
Engineer chemically induced stem-like T cells against melanoma
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Young Investigator Award
Chen Yao, PhD, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Mechanisms of acral melanoma progression and metastasis
The Black Family – MRA Young Investigator Award
Dekker Deacon, MD, PhD, The University of Utah
Mapping and characterizing cellular niches in melanoma metastasis
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) London – MRA Young Investigator Award
Panagiotis Karras, PhD , Free University of Brussels
Harnessing the lymph node as a discovery platform to target melanoma
MRA Young Investigator Award
Jessalyn Ubellacker, PhD, President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Characterizing aneuploidy as a driver and vulnerability in melanoma
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Young Investigator Award
Jason Sheltzer, PhD, The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
The MRA Pilot Awards provide early support for conceptually novel, exploratory, high risk and high impact projects with the potential to change the face of melanoma research and treatments.
Blocking extracellular HSP70 with decoy antibodies to treat melanoma
MRA Pilot Award
Natalia Freund, PhD, Tel Aviv University
Enhancing CD8+ T cell responses to melanoma brain metastases
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Pilot Award
Arlene Sharpe, MD, PhD, President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard Medical School
Deconstructing an IL33-dependent lymphatic niche in melanoma-draining lymph
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Pilot Award
Amanda Lund, PhD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine
Chromosome Y loss in melanoma
MRA Pilot Award
Todd Ridky, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Mechanism-guided biomarkers & therapies in NRAS-mutant melanoma
MRA Pilot Award
Hee Won Yang, PhD, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Spatial and AI-powered insights into melanocytic malignant transformation
MRA Pilot Award
Paul Harms, MD, PhD, The Regents of the University of Michigan
The MRA Team Science Awards utilize a multidisciplinary team science approach to foster collaborative research projects with the potential of rapid advancement to the clinic. This award also requires the inclusion of a Young Investigator to participate on the research team and interact with a melanoma mentor.
Accelerating in vivo TCR therapy for uveal melanoma targeting SLC45A2
The Uveal Melanoma Task Force– MRA Team Science-Academic Industry Partnership Award
Cassian Yee, MD, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Oncochromosomes and TERT as foundational drivers in acral melanoma
The Black Family – MRA Team Science Award
Boris Bastian, MD, The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco
Targeting metabolism in therapy resistant and metastatic uveal melanoma
The Uveal Melanoma Task Force– MRA Team Science Award
Andrew Aplin, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University
Development of a covalent CARM1 inhibitor for immunotherapy of melanoma
MRA Team Science Award
Kai Wucherpfennig, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Harnessing anti-tumor CD4+ TIL to improve melanoma immunotherapy response
Mary Jo and Brian Rogers – MRA Team Science Award
Kellie Smith, PhD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Tumor-selective RAF inhibitors for RAS- and BRAF dimer–driven melanomas
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Team Science Award
Poulikos Poulikakos, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
AI prediction and analysis of chromosomal instability in melanoma relapse
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Team Science Award
Benjamin Izar, MD, PhD, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Melanoma phenotypic heterogeneity driving resistance to immune therapies
MRA Team Science Award collaboratively funded by Yale University and the VIB Center for Cancer Biology
Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD, Yale University
Defining shared non-canonical tumor antigens for anti-melanoma vaccines
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) – MRA Team Science Award collaboratively funded by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc.
Patrick Ott, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Investigating the origins of acral melanoma
Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) London – MRA Team Science Award
Richard White, MD, PhD, University of Oxford
Targeting the melanoma metabolic microenvironment to boost T-cell therapy
Denise and Michael Kellen – MRA Team Science Award collaboratively funded by Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Taha Merghoub, PhD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) is the largest private, non-profit funder of melanoma research worldwide. Founded in 2007 by Debra and Leon Black, MRA’s mission is to end suffering and death due to melanoma by advancing the most promising science and research. MRA-funded investigators have been at the forefront of every major melanoma breakthrough, helping to drive the approval of more than 19 new therapeutic approaches. Through strategic investments across prevention, diagnosis, treatment, metastasis, and survivorship, MRA is transforming outcomes for patients worldwide. Thanks to the generosity of MRA’s founders, 100% of all public donations support innovative melanoma research — without any overhead or administrative costs. MRA is recognized as one of the most fiscally efficient nonprofits in the country.
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