Mayo Clinic President’s Discovery Translation Program Award announced

The Mayo Clinic President’s Discovery Translation Program announces the 2020 second-round award winner:

“Use of Natural Signals and Ambient Dendritic Cells to Culture-Expand Cancer Targeting T-Cells Directly From Unfractionated Peripheral Blood: A Phase 1 T-Cell Dose Escalation Trial Targeting Relapsed or Refractory MUC1-Expressing Multiple Myeloma”

Principal investigators are:

Sandra Gendler, Ph.D. (BIOC ’93), Division of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology

Michael Gustafson, Ph.D. (MBIO ’01), Division of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

Leif Bergsagel, M.D. (CANRG ’04) Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology

This project will be the first investigator-initiated clinical trial to use immune effector cells manufactured at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. In-house manufactured T-cells will be activated using peptides from tumor-associated MUC1, an oncogenic protein that is highly overexpressed by many tumors, including more than 80% of multiple myelomas. Success in multiple myeloma patients would demonstrate feasibility of the approach and is expected to lead to subsequent clinical trials for multiple myeloma and solid tumors.

The President’s Discovery Translation Program is an enterprise initiative that provides targeted resources at critical stages of product or service development and supports projects that hold great promise for transformative advancement in safety, quality and efficacy of clinical care.

The translation of discovery to clinical and commercial applications fosters the premier position of Mayo Clinic as a center of excellence in medicine and biomedical innovation.