Donor Support and Events
Fostering Legacy: Lethal Melanoma Research Grant in Honor of Katie Morgan The MRF is proud to spotlight the 2025 Established Investigator Award recipient in honor of Katie Morgan: Lisa Cannon-Albright, PhD, from the University of Utah. This $200,000 grant will support groundbreaking research focused on lethal melanoma, the most aggressive form of this deadly cancer.
Scan the QR code to learn more about Lisa’s research.
Katie’s family shares: “Katie was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in 2021. Despite early detection in 2016 and following standard protocols, her disease progressed to a lethal form. Melanoma is a very sneaky disease, and it is crucial for researchers and doctors to distinguish patients with treatable melanoma from those at risk for lethal melanoma. Research is essential to identify these cases early and provide more aggressive, life-saving interventions.” Dr. Cannon-Albright’s work builds on this mission. Her
As Dr. Cannon-Albright explains: “We have shown that analysis of extended families that display a high-risk for cancer is a powerful approach to finding the genes responsible (e.g., BRCA1, BRCA2, CDKN2A). Unique Utah resources, including a computerized genealogy of Utah from its founders and decades of family studies, have made this study of lethal melanoma families possible. We will identify the rare genetic variants inherited by affected cousins in these families as candidates for lethal melanoma
predisposition. Understanding how the genes we identify affect an individual’s risk for lethal melanoma can allow risk prediction, early diagnosis, development of new treatments and we hope it will eventually lead to prevention of this deadly outcome.” Katie’s story and this research underscore why early detection matters, but also why understanding lethal melanoma is essential. Your support in Katie’s memory funds research that could save lives, provide better treatments and help prevent others from experiencing the devastating impact of lethal melanoma.
team is studying families in Utah with unusually high rates of melanoma to uncover rare genetic changes that increase the risk of dying from the disease. By analyzing DNA from relatives in these high-risk families and comparing it to large public datasets, her research aims to identify the genes responsible for lethal melanoma. Discovering these genes will help doctors predict who is most at risk, catch melanoma earlier, develop new treatments and ultimately prevent fatal outcomes.
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