This federal Project Grant award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Director (CFDA 93.310 - Trans-NIH Research Support) provides $406,249 to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania to investigate how chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy can be improved for treating solid tumors. The primary goals are to: Define the tumor and stromal features that influence CAR T cell infiltration and function. Determine the impact of CAR T cell functional profile on...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.396 - Cancer Biology Research) totaling $227,906 will support the development of a novel technology for spatially resolved multi-omics sequencing of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples at the cellular level. The key products and services to be delivered under this award include: Developing spatial epigenome sequencing capabilities to measure gene expression and epigenetic characteristics directly in...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859), provides $812,500 in funding to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) to conduct research on RNA regulation and noncanonical translation between cell states. The research aims to map post-transcriptional regulation and the unannotated proteome, including RNA localization and modifications, to better understand how...
This Project Grant award of $371,719 from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.393 - Cancer Cause and Prevention Research) supports research by the University of Pennsylvania to characterize epigenetic targets in prostate cancer. The key objectives are to: Gain mechanistic insights into how the histone methyltransferase NSD2 influences the chromatin landscape to facilitate the assembly of the androgen receptor (AR) enhanceosome complex and enhance AR-driven transcription in prostate cancer...
The National Institutes of Health's Office of the Director awarded a $2,925,000 Project Grant to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania under the Trans-NIH Research Support program (CFDA 93.310) to develop genomic tools for massively parallel recording of signaling activity at cellular resolution in a brain-wide manner. The University of Pennsylvania will utilize CRISPR/Cas tools to record signaling inputs in each cell's genome and analyze these signals at high-throughput using...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania is focused on engineering a protein therapeutic to limit the transformation of the patient's own anti-tumor autoantibodies into highly potent T cell-redirecting antibodies, specifically within the tumor microenvironment. The $216,682 award, effective March 1, 2025 through February 28, 2027, aims to optimize the engineered protein therapeutic...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) provides $702,748 to Weill Medical College of Cornell University to research the role of neutrophils in anti-tumor immunity and immune-related adverse events associated with T cell-based cancer immunotherapies. The key objectives are to: 1) characterize the gene pathways and tumor-derived factors that define functional subsets of anti-tumorigenic neutrophils, 2) identify the clinically...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.398 Cancer Research Manpower) provides $239,991 to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania to conduct research aimed at deciphering and modulating chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell persistence and overcoming CAR T cell exhaustion. The key products and services to be delivered under this award include: Development of novel split-engineered CRISPR/dCAS9-guided epigenome editors that can inducibly activate target...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), under the federal Cancer Biology Research program (CFDA 93.396), provides $698,008 to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania to conduct research on the regulation of histone propionylation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). The project aims to elucidate the mechanism by which branched-chain amino acid metabolism generates nuclear propionyl-CoA to modulate histone propionylation and gene expression, with the goal...
This Project Grant award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Trans-NIH Research Support program (CFDA 93.310) provides $1,602,000.00 to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute to develop and optimize a new class of Epigenetic Reprogramming Factors (ERFs) that can target hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of DNA regions in a pathway-specific manner. The goal is to leverage this ERF technology to prevent or reverse epigenetic signatures associated...
The National Institutes of Health Office of the Director awarded a $2,925,000 Project Grant to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania under the Trans-NIH Research Support program (CFDA 93.310) on September 1, 2022 for a three-year period ending August 31, 2025.
The grant will fund research to develop an in-depth understanding of transcriptional and epigenetic reprogramming of neutrophils in the tumor microenvironment. The grantee will leverage single-cell profiling, fate mapping, and spatial transcriptomics to identify distinct neutrophil subsets induced by different tumor microenvironment factors. Genetic perturbation tools will be used to functionally validate key regulators of neutrophil behavior in cancer. The aim is to identify microenvironment factors that program neutrophils into functionally discrete subsets and provide a blueprint for transcriptional control of neutrophil responses in cancer. Insights gained may reveal novel therapeutic targets for modulating neutrophil function and treating cancer.