The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a $408,966 Project Grant under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) to Southern University and A&M College, a historically Black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The grant supports research to develop pharmacological small molecules that can enhance the efficacy of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-based oncolytic viral therapy for treating malignant cutaneous melanoma. The project aims to investigate how inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in tumor cells can create conditions for the spread of the engineered VSV-MORV-G oncolytic virus and induce cancer cell death. Researchers will evaluate this novel pharmaco-virotherapy approach in cell lines and preclinical animal models of melanoma. The project is expected to run from July 2024 to June 2027 and engage underrepresented minority and female students in biomedical research activities.