The American Cancer Society is proud to announce one of its most prestigious research awards is awarded to Luke Hoeppner, PhD, at The Hormel Institute. Dr. Hoeppner, Assistant Professor and leader of the Cancer Biology lab, was named as the recipient of an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant awardee and will be receiving $789,000 dollars in the four-year grant focusing on a deadly form of lung cancer.

“I am driven to research small cell lung cancer because it is a particularly aggressive disease and difficult to treat,” said Dr. Hoeppner. “My uncle was diagnosed with advanced stage small cell
lung cancer and very little could be done for him through existing therapies before he unfortunately passed away. I am extremely thankful for this American Cancer Society funding because it allows me to pursue a new lung cancer research direction that otherwise would not be possible.”

Dr. Hoeppner’s research grant will investigate dopamine signaling to inhibit small cell lung cancer progression and drug resistance which may translate to new approach to treatment and
more effective treatment options. Small cell lung is the most aggressive subtype of lung cancer, with only 7% of patients surviving over five years. Dr. Hoeppner’s team previously showed that
several genes in the dopamine pathway promote drug resistance in lung cancer.

“We are excited to see the progress Dr. Hoeppner and his team will make through this research, as together we partner to save more lives from lung cancer. We are grateful for our
collaboration with The Hormel Institute, The Hormel Foundation and Hormel Corporation to help make this work possible,” says Keely Couillard, Director, Corporate Relations at the American Cancer Society.