Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is proud to announce that Evan Weber, PhD, a cell and gene therapy researcher with the Center for Childhood Cancer Research (CCCR[DEE1] ) and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics (CCMT[DEE2] ), has been selected by the National Institutes of Health as a 2024 grant recipient in the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.
These grants are designed to support highly innovative scientists who propose visionary and broadly impactful behavioral and biomedical research projects. The High-Risk, High-Reward Research program supports investigators at each career stage who propose innovative research that, due to its inherent risk, may struggle in the traditional NIH peer-review process. Investigators seeking program support are encouraged to think beyond traditional bounds and to pursue trailblazing ideas in any area of research relevant to NIH’s mission of advancing knowledge and enhancing health.
Weber is one of the recipients of this year’s NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. First established in 2007, this award supports unusually innovative research from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received an NIH R01 or equivalent grant.
Weber’s research focuses on improving CAR-T design to modify T cell fitness so that the cells can provide more sustained immune response and longer lasting benefits to patients. One of the challenges involves overcoming epigenetic changes that can affect a patient’s DNA to make certain genes more or less active. This can affect T cells as well, and once T cells are locked into an inactive state, it can be challenging to reinvigorate them to provide an appropriate immune response.
In this project, Weber has proposed a new platform to epigenetically reprogram T cells to either reverse or altogether avoid these epigenetic changes that can cause them to become dysfunctional.
“CAR-T cell therapy holds incredible promise for treating a variety of challenging cancers and autoimmune diseases, so our lab is trying to develop unique ways to enhance the potency of these treatments by manipulating the epigenome,” said Weber, who also is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
While this initial research is focused specifically on T cells, Weber said that this technology could possibly be used for other types of cells in the future.
You can read more about this award in this announcement.
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Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is proud to announce that Evan Weber, PhD, a cell and gene therapy researcher with the Center for Childhood Cancer Research (CCCR[DEE1] ) and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics (CCMT[DEE2] ), has been selected by the National Institutes of Health as a 2024 grant recipient in the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.
These grants are designed to support highly innovative scientists who propose visionary and broadly impactful behavioral and biomedical research projects. The High-Risk, High-Reward Research program supports investigators at each career stage who propose innovative research that, due to its inherent risk, may struggle in the traditional NIH peer-review process. Investigators seeking program support are encouraged to think beyond traditional bounds and to pursue trailblazing ideas in any area of research relevant to NIH’s mission of advancing knowledge and enhancing health.
Weber is one of the recipients of this year’s NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. First established in 2007, this award supports unusually innovative research from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received an NIH R01 or equivalent grant.
Weber’s research focuses on improving CAR-T design to modify T cell fitness so that the cells can provide more sustained immune response and longer lasting benefits to patients. One of the challenges involves overcoming epigenetic changes that can affect a patient’s DNA to make certain genes more or less active. This can affect T cells as well, and once T cells are locked into an inactive state, it can be challenging to reinvigorate them to provide an appropriate immune response.
In this project, Weber has proposed a new platform to epigenetically reprogram T cells to either reverse or altogether avoid these epigenetic changes that can cause them to become dysfunctional.
“CAR-T cell therapy holds incredible promise for treating a variety of challenging cancers and autoimmune diseases, so our lab is trying to develop unique ways to enhance the potency of these treatments by manipulating the epigenome,” said Weber, who also is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
While this initial research is focused specifically on T cells, Weber said that this technology could possibly be used for other types of cells in the future.
You can read more about this award in this announcement.
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Jennifer Lee
Cell and Gene Therapy Innovations