Project Grant R41CA250892

This federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the Cancer Cause and Prevention Research program (CFDA 93.393) provides $678,399 to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to conduct a prebiotic diet intervention study in metastatic melanoma patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. The key objectives are to evaluate the effects of a prebiotic food-enriched diet (PREFED) on the gut microbiome, host metabolome, and immune response to...

This is a Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Research Manpower Program (CFDA 93.398) to New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, totaling $281,606 over a 5-year period from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2029. The grant funding supports research to understand how certain gut bacteria can stimulate an immune response against lung cancer tumors, even in the absence of immunotherapy. The principal investigator, Dr. Rabi Upadhyay, will work under the mentorship...

This $581,087 federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 Cancer Treatment Research) supports research by the University of Chicago to develop genetically-engineered Bifidobacterium bacteria that can deliver a novel human IL-2 protein to the tumor microenvironment. The goal is to enhance the effects of radiotherapy and immunotherapy for treating metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, a difficult-to-treat cancer. Preliminary data indicates this approach can...

This $636,222 federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) supports research at the University of Pittsburgh to investigate how certain gut bacteria modulate immune responses and enhance the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) cancer therapies, specifically in melanoma. The key objectives are to determine whether ICI-associated bacteria can metabolize the dietary compound tryptophan into aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.396 Cancer Biology Research) supports research to define the mechanistic basis of how gut bacteria produce androgens that promote resistance to immunotherapy and endocrine therapy in metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer. The $654,763 award to The Johns Hopkins University aims to determine if microbial-derived androgens are sufficient to mediate therapy resistance, identify gut microbial genes and androgen metabolites...

This $537,985.00 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute, under the Cancer Biology Research (CFDA 93.396) federal grant program, supports research by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to interrogate the spatial distribution and functional relevance of microbes within the tumor microenvironment of primary pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumors, as well as their influence on the metastatic process to the liver. The primary objectives are to: 1) Characterize...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) provides $640,583 to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy against metastatic colorectal cancer. The primary goal is to activate the PPARD-CPT1A axis in CD8+ T cells to boost their metabolic fitness and anti-tumor immunity within the tumor microenvironment. The project aims to delineate the mechanisms by which PPARD activation improves the...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.396 Cancer Biology Research) supports research to identify bacterial functions that can enhance the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy treatments known as immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). The $179,988 award to The Leland Stanford Junior University, effective January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2026, aims to leverage genomic and functional analyses to pinpoint microbial genes and metabolic pathways that improve tumor...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), under the Cancer Research Manpower (CFDA 93.398) program, provides $138,742 to The Johns Hopkins University to investigate how combination immunotherapy alters cellular signaling networks in the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The research aims to identify mechanisms by which tumor-specific T cells expanded through a personalized neoantigen vaccine attack liver metastases in a PDAC mouse...

This federal Project Grant award of $426,425.00, funded by the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.393 Cancer Cause and Prevention Research), supports a pilot study to investigate the role of gut microbiome alterations in the progression from metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The key research objectives are to: 1) characterize baseline gut microbiome diversity in MASLD patients with and without HCC; 2) correlate changes in gut...