Ep140: Yung Lie on Supporting Young Scientists with Bold, Brave Ideas

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Jung Lee traces her path from a Wisconsin upbringing and academic science career to leading Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, emphasizing the organization’s philosophy of backing bold early-career scientists with freedom to pursue high-risk ideas. The conversation highlights Damon Runyon’s history, its role in catalyzing breakthroughs like immunotherapy and CRISPR, and its efforts to ease structural burdens on young researchers while building bridges across academia, industry, and clinical science.

Main Topics: Lee’s personal and scientific journey (Priority: 5/5): Lee describes growing up in Wisconsin in an Indonesian immigrant family, discovering science through nature and her physician father, studying at Berkeley and Stanford, and moving from basic research toward broader scientific leadership. Damon Runyon’s mission and history (Priority: 5/5): The foundation began in 1946 with public fundraising for cancer research and has maintained a focus on supporting early-career scientists at pivotal career stages with flexible, high-risk funding. Early bets on transformative science (Priority: 5/5): Lee highlights Damon Runyon’s support for now-mainstream ideas such as cancer immunotherapy and CRISPR before they were widely accepted, illustrating the value of funding brave, uncertain science. Leadership transition and organizational strategy (Priority: 4/5): Lee explains becoming the first scientist CEO of Damon Runyon, her role in expanding impact, fundraising, and partnerships, and the board’s expectation that she bring scientific insight plus strategic leadership. Challenges facing young scientists (Priority: 4/5): The discussion addresses postdoctoral underpayment, delayed career stabilization, and the difficulty of building adult lives amid precarious funding; Damon Runyon responds with stipends, childcare support, and extension funding. Connecting academia, industry, and clinic (Priority: 4/5): Lee emphasizes Damon Runyon’s convening role in linking researchers across disciplines and sectors so that basic discoveries can translate into therapies and companies. Future of cancer research (Priority: 4/5): Lee is optimistic about single-cell technologies, quantitative disciplines, and other emerging tools that will improve understanding of cancer progression, resistance, and personalized treatment.

Key Arguments: Damon Runyon’s greatest value comes from funding people as much as projects, trusting talented young scientists to follow the science even when hypotheses fail. Basic science is essential because many transformative advances in cancer emerge from curiosity-driven work that initially seems far from clinical application. Early support can change career trajectories by giving scientists independence, credibility, and a community of peers and mentors. The organization’s role is not only to fund research but also to help solve structural problems that make scientific careers difficult, especially for postdocs. Progress in cancer will increasingly depend on integrating biology, computation, physics, imaging, and single-cell technologies to understand disease more precisely. Damon Runyon sees success broadly, including scientists who move into academia, industry, biotech startups, or venture capital and continue advancing patient care.

Data Points: Years of history: 75+ years - Damon Runyon’s organizational track record since its founding in 1946 Total scientists funded: almost 4,000 - Scientists supported by Damon Runyon over its history Total investment: more than $430 million - Cumulative funding provided by Damon Runyon Nobel Prize winners supported: 13 - Former Damon Runyon scientists who later won Nobel Prizes National Academy of Sciences elected: 97 - Former Damon Runyon scientists elected by peers Fellowship year: 2000 - The year Jung Lee received her Damon Runyon fellowship Postdoctoral work period: 2000 to late 2007 - Lee’s postdoctoral years before joining Damon Runyon staff Awards administered by Lee: about 550 awards - Approximate number of awards Lee worked on over a decade Grant dollars overseen by Lee: $140 million - Total grants Lee helped administer during her Damon Runyon tenure Postdoc stipend: $70,000 starting stipend - Damon Runyon’s increased postdoctoral fellowship starting stipend as of July 1 Extension funding during COVID: additional 6 months - Support provided to current awardees affected by the pandemic Typical NIH R01 first award age: early 40s - Used to illustrate how late many scientists achieve stable federal funding PhD training length: around 6 years - Average time cited for earning a PhD before postdoctoral work Postdoctoral training length: 3 to 5 more years - Typical additional training after the PhD

Pivotal Quotes: "we are absolutely thrilled about this new partnership" — Jung Lee: Opening response to Luke Timmerman about the Timmerman Traverse partnership "we fund people or projects, and the answer is always both" — Jung Lee: Explaining Damon Runyon’s funding philosophy "if this actually works, it is going to revolutionize everything" — Jung Lee: Recalling the committee discussion about funding Feng Zhang and CRISPR

Implications: The episode underscores how long-horizon cancer progress depends on bold early-stage funding, stronger support for young scientists, and cross-sector collaboration. For biotech and philanthropy, it shows that backing uncertainty can yield outsized breakthroughs.