Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University has been awarded a five-year, $10.9 million SPORE grant from the NCI to advance new approaches for lung cancer treatment.
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University has been awarded a five-year, $10.9 million Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to advance new approaches for lung cancer treatment.
First awarded in 2019, the Winship Lung Cancer SPORE is the first and only grant of its kind to be awarded in the state of Georgia and one of only five SPORE grants in the U.S. dedicated to lung cancer. Additionally, Winship is one of only five institutions nationwide with four or more SPOREs – Winship investigators also lead or contribute to other NCI-funded SPORE programs focused on lymphoma, anal and cervical cancers, and leukemia disparities.
Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD
The Winship Lung Cancer SPORE is led by Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, executive director of Winship and contact principal investigator of the grant, and Haian Fu, PhD, as multi-principal investigator of the grant. The unique translational cancer research program brings together an elite team of Winship investigators including clinical oncologists, immunologists, computational scientists, drug discovery experts and translational researchers to address critical challenges in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
"This award reflects the strength of our multidisciplinary team and the progress we have made since the program was first funded in 2019,” says Ramalingam. "This highly prestigious award allows us to build on those discoveries and pursue new strategies with the potential to improve treatment and outcomes for patients with lung cancer.”
Building on discoveries from the first funding period, the new SPORE supports three translational research projects designed to improve the understanding and treatment of NSCLC:
Project 1: Investigate novel inhibitory molecules selectively expressed by stem-like CD8 T cells and determine how they regulate stem-like cell function and interactions with myeloid cells in NSCLC. The project also includes a clinical trial evaluating a novel combination immunotherapy approach for advanced NSCLC. Project co-leaders are Rafi Ahmed, PhD, and Ramalingam.
Project 2: Use an innovative artificial intelligence-informed systems biology approach to predict outcomes for patients with stage III NSCLC, leveraging data from a recently completed Phase 3 ECOG-ACRIN clinical trial. Project co-leaders are Anant Madabhushi, PhD, and Ticiana Leal, MD.
Project 3: Evaluate the metabolic enzyme SUCLA2 as a novel therapeutic target for NSCLC and investigate a noncanonical mitochondrial signaling pathway involved in lung cancer metastasis. Project co-leaders are Sumin Kang, PhD, and Conor Steuer, MD.
Haian Fu, PhD
“The SPORE brings together expertise in immunology, computational science, drug discovery and clinical oncology to pursue an integrated team approach to lung cancer translational research,” adds Fu, chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at Emory University School of Medicine, and co-leader of Winship’s Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Program. “By investigating the biology of immunotherapy response, applying AI to improve outcome prediction and identifying a novel metabolic vulnerability associated with metastasis, we aim to rapidly turn fundamental discoveries into meaningful clinical solutions for patients with lung cancer.”
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. According to the NCI, an estimated 229,410 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in the U.S. this year, with more than 7,000 in Georgia alone.
“Our SPORE brings together three complementary areas of investigation: improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy, using AI-informed approaches to better predict outcomes for patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer and evaluating a promising new therapeutic target associated with lung cancer metastasis,” Ramalingam says. “Importantly, the program also includes a clinical trial that will help us translate our scientific discoveries into potential new treatment approaches for patients with advanced lung cancer.”
Additional members of the Lung Cancer SPORE team include Gabriel Sica, MD, PhD; Jaishree Jagirdar, MBBS; Madhusmita Behera, PhD; Jeffrey Switchenko, PhD, MS; and Shi-Yong Sun, PhD.
Funding for the NCI SPORE is provided via NCI award number P50CA302567.