VISION 2.0: A NEW CHAPTER IN HOPE AND PROGRESS

OUR VISION

Our vision is a world in which cancer research is led by inclusive, diverse, and forward-thinking scientific communities committed to achieving breakthrough impact. At Impact Cancer Foundation 2.0, we strive to redefine the future of cancer innovation by building an equitable research environment where women not only contribute but lead at every level. We imagine a global network where scientific excellence and social equity go hand in hand, a space where collaboration across disciplines, backgrounds, and geographies unlocks new possibilities for prevention and cure. ICF 2.0 represents a renewed commitment to bridging legacy with innovation, fostering a new era of collaboration that places diversity, access, and excellence at the center of cancer research. In doing so, we aim to transform not only scientific outcomes but also the very structures that shape who gets to make discoveries and who benefits from them.

OUR MISSION

At Impact Cancer Foundation 2.0, our mission is to accelerate transformative progress in cancer research by empowering the next generation of scientific leaders, particularly women, through targeted funding, mentorship, and opportunity. We are committed to advancing pioneering research that has the potential to change lives, while addressing the long-standing inequities that continue to limit access, visibility, and leadership for women in science. We believe that science thrives when diverse voices are supported and heard. By investing in high-impact projects and providing a robust support system for doctoral candidates and early-career researchers, we aim to create a sustainable ecosystem of innovation that drives measurable progress in cancer prevention, treatment, and care, while ensuring that no promising idea or potential leader is left behind.

RESEARCH PROGRAMS

Focusing on getting funding to key cancer research programs

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

Creating a women's fellowship program for MD/ PhD Post Doc

2 NEW INITIATIVES

We have identified two outstanding researchers whose work we are proud to support, and we are pleased to introduce them.

ELISA ORICCHIO, PhD

EElisa Oricchio is an internationally recognized cancer biologist whose work has significantly advanced the understanding of cancer genomics, tumor suppressor mechanisms, and the functional organization of the genome in three-dimensional space. Currently Associate Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Director of the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), she leads a research program at the interface of basic discovery and translational medicine, with a focus on hematologic malignancies such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Her laboratory combines high-resolution genomic mapping, genome editing, advanced imaging, and computational modeling to uncover how genetic alterations reshape chromatin architecture and reprogram gene expression to drive cancer development. This integrative approach has yielded new therapeutic targets and strategies, directly influencing translational cancer research in Switzerland and internationally.

One of Oricchio’s landmark contributions is the discovery of the tumor-suppressive role of the soluble receptor EphA7 in follicular lymphoma. Her work demonstrated that approximately 70 percent of patients with this disease lack EphA7 expression and that restoring its function in preclinical models triggers apoptosis in tumor cells. This finding revealed a completely new mechanism for targeting lymphoma and opened the door to therapeutic development aimed at restoring or mimicking EphA7 activity. The impact of this work was recognized with prestigious honors including the Lorini Foundation Award and the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists.

At EPFL, Oricchio has expanded her research to investigate the role of 3D genome organization in cancer. Her group has shown how mutations in chromatin-modifying enzymes, notably recurrent EZH2 mutations, alter long-range chromatin interactions and gene regulation, ultimately driving oncogenesis. By integrating Hi-C and other chromosome conformation capture technologies with CRISPR-mediated functional screens, her lab has been able to pinpoint critical genomic hubs that serve as regulatory nodes in tumor cells. These studies not only advance the basic understanding of genome topology but also identify vulnerabilities that can be exploited therapeutically.

Her research has also made key contributions to the field of tumor immunology. In 2020, Oricchio’s team uncovered a mechanism by which the protease cathepsin S enables tumor immune evasion in non-Hodgkin lymphoma by altering antigen presentation pathways. The group developed an innovative antibody–peptide conjugate inhibitor of cathepsin S that restored antigen presentation, enhanced CD8+ T-cell recognition, and promoted tumor rejection in preclinical models. This work exemplifies her lab’s translational philosophy: to move from mechanistic insight to therapeutic strategy. It is now being further developed with support from EPFL’s translational innovation programs.

Oricchio’s broader scientific agenda includes high-throughput functional screening to identify genes that serve as either biomarkers or direct therapeutic targets, the creation of patient-derived tumor models for drug testing, and the systematic study of how genetic and epigenetic changes intersect with the tumor microenvironment to influence therapeutic response. She has been an advocate for integrating large-scale genomic data with functional assays to prioritize the most clinically relevant targets for precision oncology.

In addition to her scientific achievements, Oricchio has played an important role in shaping cancer research policy and fostering collaborative networks. She is a board member of the European Association for Cancer Research and has served on the executive committee of the Swiss National Initiative on Personalized Health and Related Technologies. At ISREC and the Swiss Cancer Center Léman, she has been instrumental in building cross-institutional platforms that connect basic researchers, clinicians, and industry partners, thereby accelerating the translation of discoveries into patient benefit.

Her research has been recognized through numerous awards, including the Prix Leenaards for Translational Research and, most recently, the 2024 Pezcoller Foundation–EACR Translational Cancer Researcher Award, which honors excellence in bringing basic scientific discoveries toward clinical application. These honors reflect not only her specific scientific contributions but also her broader impact on the field through mentorship, leadership, and advocacy for translational cancer science.

Through her leadership at EPFL and ISREC, Oricchio continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in cancer research. Her ability to integrate experimental and computational methods, to bridge the gap between genomics and therapy, and to focus on patient-relevant outcomes has made her a leading figure in European oncology. Her work is characterized by a consistent emphasis on understanding cancer at the molecular and structural level and by a commitment to transforming that understanding into new therapies that can be tested in clinical settings.

Today, Elisa Oricchio stands at the forefront of translational oncology, directing innovative research programs that connect the architecture of the cancer genome to its vulnerabilities. Her contributions—from the discovery of EphA7’s tumor-suppressive role to the targeting of immune-evasion pathways—have reshaped the understanding of lymphoma biology and continue to inspire new therapeutic strategies. By combining scientific rigor with a collaborative, translational mindset, she has established herself as one of Europe’s most influential cancer researchers, advancing both knowledge and the prospect of more effective, personalized treatments for patients.

CATHRIN BRISKEN, MD, PhD

Cathrin Brisken, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Life Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and one of the world’s leading experts on the hormonal regulation of breast development and carcinogenesis. Her work has transformed the understanding of how reproductive hormones shape breast biology across the lifespan and how their dysregulation contributes to the development, progression, and recurrence of breast cancer. Internationally respected for her pioneering approaches, she has made lasting contributions to both fundamental breast biology and translational cancer research.

Dr. Brisken earned both her medical degree and her PhD in Biophysics from the Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany. Early in her career, she trained with Nobel laureate–level scientists and honed her expertise in cancer biology during her postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Robert A. Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts—an institution known for producing groundbreaking discoveries in oncology. She subsequently held research appointments at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, as well as at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), before establishing her laboratory at EPFL.

At EPFL, Dr. Brisken has built a globally recognized research program focused on deciphering the cellular and molecular mechanisms through which estrogen, progesterone, and hormonally active environmental compounds influence normal breast development and carcinogenesis. Her group’s central conceptual advance has been the demonstration that a subset of hormone receptor-positive cells function as local “signalling hubs,” translating systemic hormonal cues into paracrine messages that coordinate the behavior of other cells in the mammary gland. This insight reshaped the field’s understanding of how hormonal signals operate at the tissue level.

Methodologically, her laboratory has pioneered sophisticated in vivo approaches, combining microsurgical techniques in mice with targeted genetic manipulations to dissect the specific contributions of reproductive hormones. Recognizing a critical gap in the ability to study estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers, which account for roughly 70% of all breast cancer cases, her team developed the intraductal xenograft model, in which patient-derived cancer cells are introduced directly into the mammary ducts of immunocompromised mice. This breakthrough preserves the architecture, microenvironment, and hormone responsiveness of human tumors, enabling studies that closely mirror the biology of the disease in patients. Alongside this, her group has established ex vivo organoid cultures and humanized mouse models that use patient samples to examine hormone action in both normal tissue and during disease progression. These models have allowed unprecedented investigation into early cancer lesions, the transition from in situ to invasive disease, spontaneous metastasis to clinically relevant organs, and the phenomenon of tumor dormancy, areas that had previously been difficult to study in a physiologically relevant way.

Her work has revealed striking interpatient heterogeneity in hormonal responses, pointing toward the need for more individualized breast cancer therapies. Building on these findings, Dr. Brisken’s current research explores novel therapeutic strategies targeting the progesterone and androgen receptors, with the ultimate goal of developing prevention and treatment approaches tailored to a patient’s specific hormonal and tumor biology.

Beyond her scientific achievements, Dr. Brisken has demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to the academic and medical communities. She was the first woman to serve as Dean of the EPFL Doctoral School, overseeing more than 2,000 PhD students across 18 programs, and has been an influential mentor to early-career scientists. She is a member of the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) Biological Protocol Working Group, the Hinterzartener Kreis oncology think tank associated with the German Science Foundation, and has served on numerous Swiss, European, and American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) committees. She co-founded the International Cancer Prevention Institute, a Swiss foundation dedicated to advancing cancer prevention research, and coordinated a €4.2 million EU doctoral training network on cancer prevention. Since 2020, she has also headed a research team at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, one of Europe’s foremost cancer research centers.