Forward Fund

The SITC Forward Fund enables SITC to further the society’s mission and expand the knowledge of and interest in cancer immunotherapy. With the investment from the Forward Fund, SITC has awarded more than $6 million in research funding to early career investigators in the last decade. In 2025 alone, SITC supported nearly 80 awards for early career scientists.

"The Forward Fund fellowship allowed me to transition from being a hematology oncology fellow to being an attending faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital, while allowing me the protected time to work on one of my advanced research projects.” Steven Blum, MD

Steven A. Rosenberg Scholars Award

Established in 2020, this award recognizes Dr. Rosenberg’s vast contributions to immuno-oncology by supporting emerging leaders who are focusing on novel approaches to moving immunology and cancer immunotherapy forward. Each year, SITC seeks the best and brightest to continue Dr. Rosenberg’s legacy as a Rosenberg Scholar.

SITC recognized Yonit Lavin, MD, PhD – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as the fifth Rosenberg Scholar at SITC’s 40^th Anniversary Annual Meeting.

Yonit Lavin, MD, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Martin “Mac” Cheever Excellence in Clinical Trial Design Travel Award Fund

Established in 2022, this fund recognizes Dr. Cheever’s numerous contributions to cancer immunotherapy by providing travel awards to deserving early career investigators pursuing excellence in clinical trial design. Each year, SITC identifies an emerging leader who participated in SITC’s Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) Workshop and whose research drives to improve immunotherapy protocols.

SITC recognized Oluwadunni Emiloju – Emory University and Lee Hong, PhD – Scripps Health as the recipients of this award at SITC’s 40^th Anniversary Annual Meeting.

Oluwadunni Emiloju
Emory University

Lee Hong, PhD
Scripps Health

Presidential Award

Established in 1991, the SITC Presidential Award is the most prestigious early career award, recognizing the investigator deemed to have the most outstanding oral abstract presentation among those delivered during the Presidential Session of the SITC Annual Meeting.

SITC recognized Robert Saddawi-Konefka, MD, PhD – MD Anderson Cancer Center as the 2025 Presidential Award recipient for his abstract titled, “Lymphatic-sparing immunoradiotherapy reprograms migratory dendritic cells to drive tumor rejection via the sentinel lymph node.”

Robert Saddawi-Konefka, MD, PhD
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Fellowships

SITC established its fellowship award program through the Forward Fund to support the development of early career scientists to cultivate the next generation of cancer immunotherapy experts. In 2025, SITC offered these fellowships:

• SITC-Genmab Cancer Immunotherapy in Hematologic Malignancies: DLBCL, FL, and CLL Translational Fellowship
• SITC-Merck Cancer Immunotherapy Clinical Fellowship
• SITC Cancer Immunotherapy Fellowship
• NCI Immunotherapy Fellowship