Page 5 – Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center

Cancer-seeking molecular delivery system could boost immunotherapy drug, research finds

For past decades, the treatment of cancer has generally meant surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination of the above. Through recent work from a collaboration of researchers from the University of Rhode Island and Yale University comes the promising new approach of delivering immunotherapy agents, STING agonists, via a cancer-seeking molecular delivery system. The delivery relies on the acid-seeking molecule- pHLIP. These molecules deliver cargo directly to the tumor environment via targeting of the high acidity of cancerous tumors. Through this novel drug delivery technique, cancer immunotherapy may become even more effective.

Heal Ukraine Group Webinar: The Growing Humanitarian and Health Care Crisis in Ukraine. October 11, 2022

Healthcare Leaders speak about their direct experience of their work with NGOs in Ukraine describing current unmet needs, opportunities to help and continuing challenges.

Addressing the mental health crisis for Ukrainians in war and peace.

“Ongoing military operations by Russia not only pose a threat to the physical health of Ukrainian civilians but also grave danger to their psychological wellbeing. Mental health consequences of trauma are often overlooked and may be mostly invisible. As such, resources for mental healthcare are generally not prioritized. This neglect is a mistake. Humanitarian responses, including support from host countries, funders, and intergovernmental organizations must address both immediate and long-term mental health needs of Ukrainians.”

Hart Opinion Peace The Hill Ukraine Ukrainians War

VIC lab members enjoying social gatherings this summer.

Lab members gathered on a sunny July afternoon for the annual VIC at Myopia Polo event alongside VIC friends and family. Cocktails and hors d’ oeuvre’s were enjoyed while socializing and watching the competitive tournament play.

Liam Dwyer was presented with the Will Tankard Scholar Award as the most dedicated young scientist at VIC in 2022. This award is given out in memory of a courageous young polo player dedicated to improving his craft.

Lab members took the opportunity to gather for a pot luck picnic with many members contributing delightful homemade treats representative of their home countries.

Undergraduates enjoy a successful summer internship at VIC!

VIC hosted six undergraduate student interns this summer

Alice Barocco and Jacob Smith came from Imperial College, London. The Professor Dulcie Coleman Endowed Student Training Award is sponsored by Dr. Mark Poznansky in memory of his mother who was an eminent research scientist at Imperial College. This is a competitive application process and the top two students were both given the award this year.

James Adeosun came from Clare College, Cambridge University, where Dr. Poznansky studied for his PhD.. A top student is selected internally and interviewed and approved by Dr. Poznansky.

Saumya Maheshwari came from Edinburgh University Medical School. Dr. Poznansky gained his undergraduate and medical degrees at this institution. This is the first year this program has been implemented and there was an overwhelming number of applications.

Katie Lu is an undergraduate at Stamford University and successfully applied for the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center Summer Research Studentship Program.

Jolade Adebekun is an undergraduate at Harvard University and joined us at VIC though the Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) organized by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at MGH.

All of the students join us for a period of 12 weeks and are mentored by VIC Principal Investigators and Senior Scientists and have the opportunity to contribute to relevant ongoing research studies and to be included on the resulting publications. This has been a highly motivated group who have integrated into the lab exceptionally well over the summer and it has been a pleasure to spend time with them.

Precise reconstruction of the TME using bulk RNA-seq and a machine learning algorithm trained on artificial transcriptomes.

Publication in Cancer Cell: Precise reconstruction of the TME using bulk RNA-seq and a machine learning algorithm trained on artificial transcriptomes.

This manuscript was written with colleagues from across countries and institutions with major contributions from Vic’s scientists, Susan Raju Paul and Patrick Reeves.

The Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, MGH (Charlestown, MA) and the Division of Thoracic Surgery, MGH (Boston, MA) collaborated with an external industry partner, BostonGene Corporation (Waltham, MA) to assist in validating a new proprietary RNA-Seq deconvolution algorithm, Kassandra, which has a potential for future clinical application. The manuscript detailing the work was published in Cancer Cell in August 2022. This project was led by Dr Mark Poznansky, along with VIC Scientists Dr Susan Raju Paul and Dr Patrick Reeves, in collaboration with Dr Michael Lanuti and the team at MGH Thoracic Surgery.

algorithm and a machine learning artificial Cancer Cell of the TME Precise Publications reconstruction RNA-seq trained on transcriptomes using bulk

Evaluation of a Human T Cell-Targeted Multi-Epitope Vaccine for Q Fever in Animal Models of Coxiella burnetti Immunity.

Publication in Frontiers in Immunology: Evaluation of a Human T Cell-Targeted Multi-Epitope Vaccine for Q Fever in Animal Models of Coxiella burnetti Immunity.

Ann Sluder and Mark Poznansky are first and last authors with major contributions from Christine Rollier and the team at Epivax as well as contributions from the Oxford Vaccine Group and colleagues at Colorado State University.

Putin weaponizing refugees: NATO must draw red lines and enforce them

Op-Ed in the Hill written by Drs’ Poznansky, Callahan and Hart on the presumption that Putin’s past actions will serve as his current playbook and the consequential NATO response. “As a medic in the British Army during the late 1980s, I was taught that a war in Western Europe, started by the Soviet Union, would immediately result in hundreds of thousands of refugees, with that number escalating to millions in a matter of days. Because the region is one of the top three most densely populated subcontinents, battlefield casualties and medical management of refugees were expected to place enormous strain on military and civilian medical care in every area of…”

Advancing Cures Aid Care Health care Hospitals Join The Effort MGH Saving Lives Ukraine VIC War

WMD in Ukraine: a planetary near-death experience

Op-Ed in the Hill written by Drs’ Helfand, Callahan, Hodgkin and Poznansky on the continued existence of weapons of mass destruction and the unacceptable threat to the Ukraine, global security and public health.

“The war in Ukraine is now in its fifth month and, while the brutal toll of military and civilian casualties continues to climb, the territorial lines have become increasingly static, with mostly incremental gains by Russian forces in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. We continue to learn of human rights violations, from intentional targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure to deportation of Ukrainian civilians into Russia. Despite the devastation…”