Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded Columbia University a $702,132 Project Grant on June 11, 2026, under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) to conduct multiplex single-cell chemical genomics research aimed at identifying small molecule modulators of tumor cell-intrinsic immunogenicity in glioblastoma. The three-year research initiative, concluding May 31, 2029, will employ highly multiplex chemical transcriptomic profiling to screen 3,792 small molecules against glioblastoma neurosphere models, determining how each compound exposure alters gene expression programs associated with tumor immunogenicity, immune recognition, immune checkpoint regulation, and resistance to anti-cancer therapies.

The research deliverables include comprehensive molecular characterization data from the large-scale chemical screening, identification of chemical hits meeting specific criteria for further development, medicinal chemistry review and classification of compounds for brain malignancy applicability, and validation studies assessing the identified compounds' ability to modulate immune-mediated tumor cell killing through tumor-immune cell co-culture assays. This work addresses the persistent challenge of low immunogenicity and poor immunotherapy response rates in glioblastoma, a highly aggressive primary brain cancer with historically poor patient outcomes despite current multimodal treatment approaches, with the ultimate goal of enhancing cancer immunotherapy effectiveness in this indication.