Cancer Research Institute Grants

The role of the immune system is to protect the body from harmful pathogens like viruses, bacteria, and tumors. After identifying cancer cells, T cells can take action and destroy these cells. Some of the most successful immunotherapies today are the checkpoint inhibitors that target the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway on T cells. These treatments allow the T cells to stay active and more efficiently eliminate tumor cells, and are widely used to treat multiple types of cancers. However, only a fraction of patients experiences clinical benefit from current immunotherapies, and thus there is an urgent need to develop therapeutics that more effectively target the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway as well as other inhibitory checkpoints. With that goal in mind, Dr. Mor is developing a novel technology named PMSPA—which stands for Phosphoproteomic Mass Spectrometry combined with in-silico Prediction Algorithm—to identify additional checkpoints that, like PD-1, regulate the functions of the immune system. These pathways could then provide targets for novel immunotherapies that could help patients who don't respond to PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapies. Overall, this PMSPA technology will help identify novel drug targets to improve clinical response and overall survival among patients treated with current checkpoint immunotherapies.