Counter Part of $25M Grant to Explore Origins of Cancer
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Christopher Counter (at right), PhD, associate director of Basic Research, DCI, chats with Scott Soderling, PhD, then chair of the Department of Cell Biology at a 2020 reception celebrating the establishment of the Duke/Leica Center of Excellence in Microscopy.
A Duke Cancer Institute researcher is a member of a group receiving the prestigious Cancer Grand Challenges Grant, providing $25 million over five years to investigate the origins of cancer.
The nine-member, international research team includes Christopher Counter, PhD, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology and associate director of Basic Research in the Duke Cancer Institute. The research collaboration, called PROMINENT, focuses on how normal cells harbor mutations, and what triggers these mutations to become malignant or remain benign.
Counter’s role in the research group will build on his current work in mice and other laboratory models to determine the effects of environmental, metabolic, inflammatory, and genetic stresses that cause dormant mutations to become cancerous.
“There have been major advances in treatments for cancer patients over the last few decades, many of which Duke and the Duke Cancer Institute have been at the forefront of,” Counter said. “What this grant will allow us to do is to now determine how cancer first originates, with the ultimate goal of identifying ways of preventing this terrible disease before it even gets out of the starting gate.”
Counter’s research exemplifies the mission of a new program at Duke Cancer Institute, Cancer Risk, Detection, and Interception. The program focuses on cancer epidemiology, exposures, genetics, novel biomarker identification, and risk assessment strategies to promote early intervention and avoid cancer progression.
Meira Epplein, PhD, co-leader of the Cancer Risk, Detection, and Interception Research Program at DCI.
“We are thrilled that Chris Counter is an integral member of this major initiative to better understand early tumor development, which is truly on the cutting edge of cancer interception, seeking to prevent cancer just prior to its initiation,” said Meira Epplein, PhD, co-leader of the program. Cancer Grand Challenges grants are awarded by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the US. The joint effort supports a global community of world-class research teams that work together, think differently, and take on cancer’s toughest challenges.
The PROMINENT Team
The PROMINENT study is led by principal investigators Allan Balmain (University of California, San Francisco), Paul Brennan (WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer, France) and Nuria Lopez-Bigas (Institute for Research in Biomedicine Barcelona, Spain), along with six co-investigators, including Counter, and 2 patient advocates.
We are pleased to announce that David Tuveson, MD, PhD, will join Duke Health as executive director of the Duke Cancer Institute (DCI), effective October 31, 2026.Dr. Tuveson, a preeminent cancer biologist, is currently the Roy J. Zuckerberg Professor of Cancer Research and director of the National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He is also the chief scientist for the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.Dr. Tuveson is known for developing the first mouse and organoid models of pancreatic cancer and identifying subtypes of cancer-associated fibroblasts. Since developing the first mouse model of pancreatic cancer in 2002, discoveries by his lab team have revealed the molecular drivers of this disease and have led to promising new treatment options. Their approaches include designing new organoid model systems of disease and developing new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for rapid evaluation in preclinical and clinical settings.In honor of his groundbreaking research, Dr. Tuveson was awarded the Rita Allen Foundation Scholar Award, the Luminary Award from the Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers, the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Lustgarten Foundation, and the Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence. In 2022, he was on Clarivate’s list of the most cited researchers. Dr. Tuveson was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), was elected to the AACR Board of Directors in 2018, and he served as AACR president from 2021 to 2022.As executive director, Dr. Tuveson will lead the DCI, one of the nation's premier cancer centers and a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. For more than 50 years, the DCI has been at the forefront of cancer research and care, bringing together more than 400 researchers and physicians to advance discoveries and treatments that improve the lives of patients across North Carolina and beyond.We want to again express our profound gratitude to Michael Kastan, MD, PhD, DCI’s inaugural executive director and William and Jane Shingleton Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology. Dr. Kastan’s visionary leadership during his 13 years at the helm of DCI helped transform the institute into a national model for cancer programs while expanding research, multidisciplinary care, and community impact.Following Dr. Kastan's service, Erik Sulman, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, assumed leadership of the DCI as interim executive director. We are grateful for Dr. Sulman's steady leadership in guiding DCI through this transition and maintaining momentum across its missions.We are also grateful to the search committee, led by Kathleen Ann Cooney, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine and George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Medicine, whose thoughtful work helped identify an exceptional leader through a national search.We are excited to begin this next chapter for DCI under Dr. Tuveson’s extraordinary research innovation and leadership. Please join us in welcoming him to the Duke Health community.
We are pleased to announce that David Tuveson, MD, PhD, will join Duke Health as executive director of the Duke Cancer Institute (DCI), effective October 31, 2026.Dr. Tuveson, a preeminent cancer biologist, is currently the Roy J. Zuckerberg Professor of Cancer Research and director of the National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He is also the chief scientist for the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.Dr. Tuveson is known for developing the first mouse and organoid models of pancreatic cancer and identifying subtypes of cancer-associated fibroblasts. Since developing the first mouse model of pancreatic cancer in 2002, discoveries by his lab team have revealed the molecular drivers of this disease and have led to promising new treatment options. Their approaches include designing new organoid model systems of disease and developing new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for rapid evaluation in preclinical and clinical settings.In honor of his groundbreaking research, Dr. Tuveson was awarded the Rita Allen Foundation Scholar Award, the Luminary Award from the Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers, the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Lustgarten Foundation, and the Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence. In 2022, he was on Clarivate’s list of the most cited researchers. Dr. Tuveson was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), was elected to the AACR Board of Directors in 2018, and he served as AACR president from 2021 to 2022.As executive director, Dr. Tuveson will lead the DCI, one of the nation's premier cancer centers and a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. For more than 50 years, the DCI has been at the forefront of cancer research and care, bringing together more than 400 researchers and physicians to advance discoveries and treatments that improve the lives of patients across North Carolina and beyond.We want to again express our profound gratitude to Michael Kastan, MD, PhD, DCI’s inaugural executive director and William and Jane Shingleton Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology. Dr. Kastan’s visionary leadership during his 13 years at the helm of DCI helped transform the institute into a national model for cancer programs while expanding research, multidisciplinary care, and community impact.Following Dr. Kastan's service, Erik Sulman, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, assumed leadership of the DCI as interim executive director. We are grateful for Dr. Sulman's steady leadership in guiding DCI through this transition and maintaining momentum across its missions.We are also grateful to the search committee, led by Kathleen Ann Cooney, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine and George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Medicine, whose thoughtful work helped identify an exceptional leader through a national search.We are excited to begin this next chapter for DCI under Dr. Tuveson’s extraordinary research innovation and leadership. Please join us in welcoming him to the Duke Health community.
