# Immuno-Phenotyping Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · $173,912

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: IMMUNOPHENOTYPING CORE
The promising clinical efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors for a significant number of cancer types has been
dogged by inconsistent biomarkers, incomplete toxicity profiles, and non-validated correlative studies that have
not fostered next generation of clinical trials based on clear mechanistic studies to address immune resistance
mechanisms. For breast cancer, immunotherapy-based trials have expanded, but predictive biomarkers remain
poorly defined. Thus, there remains an unmet need for a comprehensive characterization of clinically relevant
biomarkers for breast cancer immunotherapy-based trials. In this SPORE proposal, we have introduced two
immunotherapy-based trials (Projects 2 and 4) and another trial that can be interrogated for future combination
with immune checkpoint inhibitors (Project 3). Given the critical need for a concerted and coordinated analysis
platform for immune monitoring and assessment, we propose to establish an Immunophenotyping Core (IPC).
We have both well established and state-of-the-art immunological assay platforms that can analyze
biospecimens collected from ongoing clinical trials to enable rational translational efforts of combinatorial
immunotherapy and to provide comprehensive clinical toxicity profiling on patients undergoing these
immunotherapy trials. IPC proposes to provide validated analytic platforms to include CyTOF, robust single cell
TCR sequencing, multispectral immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, whole exome and RNA sequencing.
Vanderbilt has recently led the efforts to comprehensively characterize the clinical toxicity profile of immune
checkpoint inhibitors, and we will synchronize these efforts to standardize immune toxicity profiling on patients
enrolled in breast cancer immunotherapy clinical trials. IPC will also incorporate translational technologies from
Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS) to promote immuno-imaging methods to advance non-
invasive tumor correlative studies in conjunction with the proposed clinical trials. IPC will help to establish
clinically relevant biomarkers and immune-toxicity profiles that can precisely define the therapeutic window for
breast cancer immunotherapeutic platforms and potentially define the next generation of breast cancer
immunotherapy-based studies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10456740
- **Project number:** 5P50CA098131-20
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Young J. Kim
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $173,912
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2003-08-07 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10456740

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10456740, Immuno-Phenotyping Core (5P50CA098131-20). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10456740. Licensed CC0.

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