Grant: Team Grant: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention - Vaccines

Our immune system has two main branches: one that learns over time (the adaptive immune system), and one that responds immediately to threats (the innate immune system). For decades, scientists believed that only the adaptive immune system (e.g. T cells) could "remember" past infections or threats. But new discoveries have revealed that the innate immune system can also be trained to respond more effectively to future challenges, even to something as complex as cancer. This process is called "trained immunity". Our research team is exploring how we can harness trained immunity to help prevent or treat cancer. By using safe, natural immune-boosting agents like the BCG vaccine (used for tuberculosis) and a compound called beta-glucan (found in yeast), we can "reprogram" the first responders of our immune system (e.g. neutrophils and monocytes) so they are better equipped to recognize and fight off cancer cells. We have already seen exciting results in models of bladder cancer, melanoma, and brain tumors, where these trained immune cells slow tumor growth and improve survival. In this project, we will study how trained immunity works in different types of cancer, map how these immune cells behave in tumors, and explore how early-life immune exposures, including childhood vaccination, might offer long-term protection against cancer. Our goal is to uncover new, low-cost, and durable ways to enhance immune defenses against cancer, ultimately paving the way for better prevention and treatment strategies that are accessible to more people.