Who We Fund

TAP Partner

Solu Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing next-generation therapeutics to eliminate disease-driving cells in cancer, immunology and other therapeutic areas. The company’s proprietary CyTAC (Cytotoxicity Targeting Chimera) and TicTAC (Therapeutic Index Control Targeting Chimera) platforms enable the development of innovative medicines that combine the target-binding capability of small molecules with the therapeutic power of biologics.

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

A phase 1 study of STX-0712, a CCR2-CyTAC monocyte depletor, in patients with CMML

TAP Partner

BioInvent International AB is a clinical-stage biotech company that discovers and develops novel and first-in-class immuno-modulatory antibodies for cancer therapy, with currently four drug candidates in five ongoing clinical programs in Phase 1/2 trials for the treatment of hematological cancer and solid tumors, respectively. The Company's validated, proprietary F.I.R.S.T™ technology platform identifies both targets and the antibodies that bind to them, generating many promising new drug candidates to fuel the Company's own clinical development pipeline and providing licensing and partnering opportunities.

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

A phase 1/2 study of BI-1206, a monoclonal antibody to CD32b (FcyRIIB), in combination with rituximab and acalabrutinib in patients with indolent NHL that has relapsed or is refractory to rituximab

A phase 2 study of BI-1808, a monoclonal antibody to TNFR2, as a single agent and in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with solid tumors and CTCL

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Avigan is the Director of Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center; Chief of the Division of Hematology/Hematologic Malignancies, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He leads a large program for translational and clinical investigation in cellular immunotherapy for blood cancers. He has developed a personalized tumor vaccine and conducted a series of clinical trials to define safety, immunologic response and clinical efficacy of vaccination across the country. He has established pre-clinical models studying the immune microenvironment in patients undergoing CAR T and bispecific T cell engager therapy. We have developed transcriptomic platforms to identify biomarkers predictive of response to CAR T cell demonstrating the critical contribution of secondary activation of adaptive immune mechanisms. We led a consortium to study the integration of vaccine and CAR T cell therapy to promote durable CAR T cell persistence and disease regression.

Program Name(s)

Discovery

Project Title

Mapping antigen-specific T-cell clonotypes that sustain durable response to T-cell Engager Therapy for Multiple Myeloma

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr Verma has been involved in study of blood cancers such as MDS and AML in the lab and in the clinic. His work has defined the critical role of various signaling pathways (p38 MAP kinase, TGF-beta, smad2/3, IRAK and others) activation in MDS and CMML and this work has directly led to the therapeutic targeting as these pathways in clinical trials in MDS/AML (Nat Cell Bio 2019, JCI 2018, Blood 2015, 2011, JCO 2020, NEJM 2020). The FDA approval of Luspatercept in MDS was also supported by his work in the lab. Dr Verma was on the team to first define stem cell alterations in MDS/AML (Nat Med, 2018; JCI 2014, Blood 2012). Dr Verma has conducted clinical studies in blood cancers (Nat Med, 2022, Cancer Cell 2021, Can Disc, 2020; JAMA Onc 2018) that have studied the effects of COVID-19 and environmental exposures (WTC 911 disaster) on outcomes and pathogenesis. He has also been actively engaged in early phase clinical trials that are investigating novel agents for MDS and AML.

Program Name(s)

CMML Initiative

Project Title

Targeting the inflammasome in CMML

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Robert Orlowski, the Principal Investigator of this proposal, serves as the Florence Maude Thomas Cancer Research Professor and Director of the Myeloma Section at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and is the Deputy Chair of the Department of Lymphoma & Myeloma. Also, Dr. Orlowski serves as the Chair of the SWOG Barlogie/Salmon Myeloma Committee, which is part of the National Clinical Trials Network that conducts studies to advance novel therapies for myeloma, and to expand our understanding of its biology. In the laboratory arena, Dr. Orlowski is a physician scientist whose focus has been on bench-to-bedside research that develops and validates novel therapies to improve patient outcomes, and focuses on drug resistance mechanisms that may serve as predictive biomarkers for response. His past work has included leading roles in the development of the proteasome inhibitors bortezomib and carfilzomib, as well as the monoclonal antibodies daratumumab and elotuzumab.

Program Name(s)

Specialized Center of Research Program

Translational Research Program

Project Title

SCOR in High-Risk Plasma Cell Dyscrasias

Targeting HSP70 to Immune Effector Cells to Overcome the Immune Suppressive Myeloma Microenvironment

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Hai-Li Ma is a Research Fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on uncovering the molecular mechanisms that drive blood cancers and developing new strategies to harness the immune system to combat them. In her PhD research, she discovered how chemical modifications on RNA and splicing factor mutations contribute to leukemia development. At Dana-Farber, in Dr. Andrew Lane’s laboratory, she applies cutting-edge genetic and molecular approaches to investigate how acute myeloid leukemia cells evade immune clearance, with the goal of translating these insights into innovative immunotherapies for patients with blood cancers.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Decoding leukemia-intrinsic determinants that modulate macrophage-mediated phagocytosis

TAP Partner

Auron is a platform-powered company targeting cell-state plasticity to improve patient outcomes in oncology and inflammatory disease. Auron uses AI and machine learning to compare cell states and identify novel drug targets, optimal development models, and biomarkers to facilitate proper patient selection, ultimately accelerating the development of effective and durable therapies. 

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

A phase 1 study of AUTX-703, a KAT2A/B degrader, in patients with AML or MDS

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

I am an Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation) at Fred Hutch with clinical trial and computational expertise. I have a broad background with a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation combined with computational sciences training, including a PhD in evolutionary models of aging and a KL2 career development award focused on microbiome bioinformatics. I leverage my clinical and computational expertise to make cancer treatment safer by improving supportive care. I characterize microbiota disruptions in patients with cancer, investigate their clinical significance, and test microbiota restorative therapeutics to improve clinical outcomes. Recently, I led the largest clinical trial of FMT in allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients to date. We used findings from this trial to design the proposed randomized placebo-controlled phase 2 trial of third-party FMT to prevent aGVHD after transplantation.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

Fecal microbiota transplantation to prevent acute GVHD after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Brody is Director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at Mount Sinai and a member of the Depart of Immunology. He has developed a robust clinical program and a translational Cancer Immunotherapy Lab which investigates basic and applied tumor immunology to develop novel therapies for lymphomas and CLL with results published in top-tier journals including Nature Medicine and Cancer Discovery.  Dr. Brody has pioneered a therapeutic vaccine approach—in situ vaccination—that induces anti-tumor immunity and regression of tumors throughout the body with clinical results published primarily for Follicular Lymphoma. Recently, his group discovered a novel approach ‘potentiating bystander killnig’ to improve immunotherapies by preventing a common escape mechanism that tumors use to evade CAR-T and bispecific antibody therapies.

Dr. Brody’s research receives funding from numerous grantors e.g. the NIH, Cancer Research Institute, Damon Runyon Foundation, and the Lymphoma Research Foundation.

Program Name(s)

Research Accelerator for Follicular Lymphoma

Project Title

Understanding and targeting rare Ag–(CD19/CD20–) Follicular Lymphoma cells to prevent post-immunotherapy antigen escape

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Glycotyping as a novel approach to study leukemia stem cell heterogeneity and function

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

I am a doctor and scientist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center who studies the immune system in people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). My goal is to understand why the immune system stops working well in this disease and to develop new treatments that help immune cells fight cancer more effectively.

I trained as a hematologist and later learned laboratory and computer-based research methods, which I now use together to study how immune cells behave in leukemia. My work has helped reveal why some immune therapies do not last and how we might improve them.

I grew up in a low-income family in Italy and was able to pursue my education through scholarships (University of Pisa, University of Florence, University of Siena, Johns Hopkins University). These experiences strengthened my commitment to helping patients and supporting others from disadvantaged backgrounds. I hope my research will lead to better, more durable treatments for people living with AML.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Rejuvenating TCR-T Cells to Treat and Prevent Relapse in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Rui Lu, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an Associate Scientist at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. He received his Ph.D. from the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and completed postdoctoral training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Lu leads a research laboratory focused on deciphering the epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms that drive cancer, with an emphasis on developing targeted, mechanism-based therapies. His expertise spans chromatin regulation, transcriptional control, leukemia biology, and functional genomics, supported by diverse molecular, cellular, bioinformatic, and in vivo modeling approaches. His independent research program has been recognized by multiple competitive awards from the NCI, ASH, ACS, the Mark Foundation, and others, and has produced a series of high-impact, peer-reviewed publications in the field of leukemia and epigenetics.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Dissecting and Targeting Epigenetic and Transcriptional Dependencies in Acute Myeloid Leukemia