Three teams of CIC researchers recently received pilot funding from the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center (UVA CCC). CIC Resident Members Justin Taylor, PhD, and Kristin Anderson, PhD, received funding for their joint project “Elucidating and Enhancing B Cell Responses Targeting Ovarian Cancer.” Anderson is a member of the second funded project, with CIC member Natasha Sheybani, PhD, entitled “Leveraging Focused Ultrasound to Enhance Adoptive T Cell Therapy Efficacy in High-Fidelity Peritoneal Cancer Models.” Anderson is also an awardee alongside Dr. Roger Abounader, MD, PhD, on a project titled “The Role and Therapeutic Exploitation of MicroRNAs in Glioblastoma T Cells.” These awards are reflective of the strong oncoimmunology community fostered by both the CIC and UVA CCC.
Taylor and Anderson propose to study the interactions between cancer checkpoint blockade treatments, which stop the body from inhibiting its own immune response to cancer cells, and T cells engineered to target mesothelin, a protein overexpressed on the surface of some cancer cells. This treatment regimen has been effective against ovarian cancer in lab mice, and the Taylor/Anderson team will further explore the immune system interactions to increase its potency.
Sheybani and Anderson also target ovarian cancer, this time through a combination of engineered T cells and focused ultrasound therapy. Focused ultrasound, which uses targeted acoustic energy to disrupt and damage tumors, causes increased immune system activity around tumors. When paired with T cells genetically engineered to target and destroy cancer cells, Sheybani and Anderson hope to see synergistic effects that increase the efficacy of both methods.
Targeting glioblastoma, a type of highly malignant brain cancer, Anderson and Dr. Abounader will explore using micro-RNA to enhance T cell therapies for these cancers. Glioblastoma is typically resistant to immunotherapy, but micro-RNAs have been shown to regulate T cell function. This project aims to use this feature of micro-RNAs to improve T cell therapy against glioblastomas.
Each award provides seed funding for preliminary experiments that will be expanded into NIH-fundable projects.