Fueling New Knowledge

Eszter Boros

Stony Brook University’s Eszter Boros, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, is one step closer to developing cancer treatments that cause significantly fewer side effects and lead to better outcomes.

As the winner of the 2021 Stony Brook Discovery Prize, Boros received a $200,000 grant from the Stony Brook Foundation for her research related to new imaging agents and more targeted cancer therapeutics.

Boros’ lab found that radioactive imaging agents produce a small blue light flash. With additional research, Boros and her team believe they may discover ways to use the same process in light-activated chemotherapeutics. The Discovery Prize award will enable Boros and her colleagues to extend their research with the goal of targeting the toxicity of chemotherapeutics directly at the tumor and nowhere else in the body.

Established in 2013 by the Stony Brook Foundation’s Board of Trustees, the Discovery Prize is funded entirely by philanthropy. The award has become an invaluable source for Stony Brook’s most promising rising stars and their pioneering research.

In a year of extraordinary challenges, alumni and friends came together in a remarkable way to support our students, faculty, healthcare workers and patients. For a wider view at the vast impact of your support, take a look at this year’s Stony Brook Foundation Annual Report to Donors.