# Cancer Immunotherapy Research Program

> **NIH NIH P30** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $55,733

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
CANCER IMMUNOLOGY PROGRAM
The Cancer Immunology (CI) Program of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University (Winship) conducts
research that seeks to prevent and treat cancer by harnessing the immune system. The CI program was added
as a new scientific program in 2019 to bring together the growing number of faculty conducting basic, clinical,
and translational research in cancer immunology at Winship. The overall goal of the CI program is to conduct
transformational research to reduce the cancer burden among patients and populations at risk for cancer. Cancer
immunology research at Winship has already made seminal contributions to the development of
immunotherapies for cancer and has helped to define fundamental principles that guide immunotherapy
response. The overall scientific goals of the program are: (1) to identify the cellular and molecular mechanisms
underlying regulation of anti-tumor immunity, and (2) to discover and test new immunologic approaches to treat
or prevent cancer. Under the leadership of Madhav Dhodapkar, MBBS (leader), and Rafi Ahmed, PhD (co-
leader), the CI Program includes 25 core members representing 11 different departments within the School of
Medicine (SOM). This highly collaborative group of researchers has published a total of 293 cancer-relevant
scientific articles during the current funding period. Of these, 49 (17%) were intra- and 127 (43%) were inter-
programmatic collaborations, 197 (67%) involved a collaboration with another institution and 89 (30%) were
published in journals with an impact factor > 10. As of December 31, 2021, CI members held $9.15 million in
annual program direct costs, of which $6.4 million was peer-reviewed and $3.5 million (55%) was awarded
from the NCI. Program members play leadership roles in several Winship team science programs including
NCI-funded lung cancer SPORE and P01 awards and a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Specialized Center
of Research (SCOR) award in multiple myeloma, all newly awarded during the reporting period. Impactful CI
scientific contributions include i) development of abatacept to prevent acute graft versus host disease, ultimately
leading to FDA approval in 2021, ii) definition of antigen-specific B and T cells in tumor microenvironment of
head/neck cancer with practice-changing immunotherapeutic implications, iii) identification of antigen-
presenting-cell niches within tumors that may be key mechanism of immune escape, and iv) definition of the
CD8 T cells that provide the proliferative burst after PD-1 immunotherapy. CI program leaders develop
programmatic content, meetings, and retreats, and foster a rich and diverse research environment which
enhances training for the next generation of cancer researchers and promotes career development of under-
represented scholars. CI interacts closely with Winship Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) to address
catchment area priorities and engage in bi-directional communication with commun...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10848263
- **Project number:** 5P30CA138292-15
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** MADHAV V DHODAPKAR
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $55,733
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2009-04-07 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10848263

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10848263, Cancer Immunotherapy Research Program (5P30CA138292-15). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10848263. Licensed CC0.

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