National Project: Cancer Research

Go the distance to give back in ways you’ve never thought of.

In 2026 the national membership voted to give $697K to six grant recipients.

Each doctor will receive more than $116K.

You may know us locally from our Holiday Boutique, Bags & Bingo event, or other past fundraisers around Tipton county, but we want to share a little bit about what Phi Beta Psi does on a national level.

Our National Project is Cancer Research – this can cover anything from new drug trials to potential treatment options and everything in between, for all types of cancer. Each chapter raises money every year and gives part of it to our National Project, then that money is awarded in grants to different doctors researching a cure for cancer.

Since 1941 when we started this National Project, Phi Beta Psi has given a GRAND TOTAL of $13,236,437 to the cause of finding a cure for cancer!

And the reason we have been able to do that is in huge part from each of our communities believing in our cause and making our fundraisers successful. We are proud of what we do and wanted to be able to share our wins with those who come out and support us every year.

2026 Grant Recipients

Anna Bianchi-Smiraglia, PhD

Roswell Park, Buffalo, NY
PROJECT: To investigate the interplay between metabolic alterations and immune response in chemotherapy-resistant triple negative breast cancer, aiming at identifying novel points of leverage for therapy.
Yang Chen, PhD

MD Anderson, Houston, TX
PROJECT: To understand the regulatory mechanisms by which chronic inflammation promotes the progression of pancreatic cancer. Studying the tumor immune microenvironment may shed light on new therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer treatment.
Rui Tang, PhD

Washington University, St Louis, MO
PROJECT: CAR-T therapy in lung cancer remains a challenge because we don’t fully understand how tumors interact with immune cells. We’re developing a precise, high-throughput method to study these interactions in living models— paving the way for more personalized and effective CAR-T treatments for patients.