The 24-year-old medical student and doctoral candidate at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) does research in the Department of "Pediatric Glioma Research" (head of David Jones). He has been honored for his research work on molecular characterization of childhood brain tumors.
Gliomas are the most common form of childhood brain tumors. Deng's research provides insights into the mechanisms underlying glioma formation: on the one hand, finding biomarkers that help to classify existing tumor entities which makes it easier to predict disease progression in patients. In addition, his research showed key tumor-promoting mutations that might be an approach for new, personalized therapies.
"I am honored to receive this award and would like to thank particularly my mentors David Jones and Professor Stefan Pfister," says the laureate. "I am excited of being able to contribute to the knowledge in pediatric neuro-oncology and hope that someday my research results may benefit the patients."
As the world's largest specialist organization in the field of cancer research, the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) awards the "Scholar-in-Training Award" to particularly promising junior scientists at its annual meeting.
