- Research Areas
- Translational Research
Translational research facilitates the movement of new ideas and treatments from the laboratory to the clinic, as well as the movement of clinical observations from the clinic to the laboratory.
Translational research facilitates the movement of new ideas and treatments from the laboratory to the clinic, as well as the movement of clinical observations from the clinic to the laboratory.
Transcending boundaries
The aim of our institution is to advance the progress of research for the clinical benefit of our patients by fostering and expanding multidisciplinary collaborative interactions among MD Anderson faculty and with external companies and institutions.
Our current partnerships include:
- Artios Pharma
- Bayer
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Oncoceutics
- ShangPharma
- Ziopharm Oncology
Featured Translational Research Labs
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.mdanderson.org/content/mda/en/lookups/carousel-lookup/featured-lab-websites/heymach-laboratory/jcr:content/mainparsys/carouselitem.resize.jpg)
Heymach Laboratory
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.mdanderson.org/content/mda/en/lookups/carousel-lookup/featured-lab-websites/gibbons-laboratory/jcr:content/mainparsys/carouselitem.resize.jpg)
Gibbons Laboratory
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.mdanderson.org/content/mda/en/lookups/carousel-lookup/featured-lab-websites/Cascone-laboratory/jcr:content/mainparsys/carouselitem.resize.jpg)
Cascone Laboratory
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.mdanderson.org/content/mda/en/lookups/carousel-lookup/featured-lab-websites/wargo-laboratory/jcr:content/mainparsys/carouselitem.resize.jpg)
Wargo Laboratory
Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs)
The National Cancer Institute has awarded MD Anderson seven Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grants, more more than any other medical institution in the United States.
Translational Research Resources
Our researchers have access to state-of-the-art equipment, NCI-designated programs of research excellence and research centers and programs that promote collaboration.
Translational Research in Action
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and CureVac N.V. today announced a co-development and licensing agreement to develop novel mRNA-based cancer vaccines.
The collaboration creates strong synergies between CureVac’s unique end-to-end capabilities for cancer antigen discovery, mRNA design, and manufacturing and MD Anderson’s expertise in cancer antigen discovery and validation, translational drug development, and clinical research. The collaboration will focus on the development of differentiated cancer vaccine candidates in selected hematological and solid tumor indications with high unmet medical need.
"We look forward to collaborating with the team at MD Anderson to push the boundaries of mRNA technology and develop impactful therapeutic options for patients in need," said Alexander Zehnder, M.D., chief executive officer of CureVac. “In combining our respective expertise, we believe we can go further and faster to develop novel, off-the-shelf, mRNA-based cancer vaccines that have the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes.”
Both parties will contribute to the identification of differentiated cancer antigens based on whole genome sequencing combined with long- and short-read RNA sequencing and cutting-edge bioinformatics. Joint preclinical validation of the highest-quality cancer antigens will be supported by Sachet Shukla, Ph.D., assistant professor of Hematopoietic Biology and Malignancy and director of the department’s cancer vaccine program, and by MD Anderson’s ECLIPSE (Evolution of Cancer, Leukemia, and Immunity Post Stem cEll transplant) platform, part of the institution’s Therapeutics Discovery division.
“We are excited for cancer vaccines to potentially emerge as an essential therapeutic tool in the future,” Shukla said. “This collaboration with CureVac is an important milestone in our efforts and brings together complementary strengths toward our goal of developing transformative vaccines for cancer.”
Following selection of the most promising clinical-lead vaccine candidates and completion of Investigational New Drug (IND) approvals, MD Anderson will be responsible for conducting initial Phase I/II studies in appropriate clinical indications.
“Our ECLIPSE team uses proprietary high-throughput technology to identify and validate immune targets, and we are driven to advance impactful immunotherapies with the potential to transform the lives of patients with cancer,” said Jeffrey Molldrem, M.D., chair of Hematopoietic Biology and Malignancy and leader of the ECLIPSE platform at MD Anderson. “Together with CureVac, we hope to embrace this exciting area of drug discovery and development in pursuit of mRNA vaccines that will address significant unmet medical need.”
Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, CureVac and MD Anderson will jointly contribute to and support development of those programs designated to move forward. CureVac has worldwide exclusive rights to late-stage development, commercialization, or partnering of the cancer vaccine candidates. MD Anderson is eligible for certain downstream payments based on potential future commercialization.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.mdanderson.org/content/mda/en/newsroom/2024/04/md-anderson-curevac-enter-strategic-collaboration-develop-novel-cancer-vaccines/jcr:content/blog/adaptiveimage.resize.jpg)
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and C-Biomex Ltd. today announced a strategic research collaboration agreement to co-develop CBT-001, a radioligand targeting the CA9 cancer biomarker.
This collaboration brings together MD Anderson’s expertise in translational radiopharmaceutical research with C-Biomex’s differentiated radioligand. The principal investigator for this project is H. Charles Manning, Ph.D., professor of Cancer Systems Imaging and director of the Cyclotron Radiochemistry Facility at MD Anderson. Under the agreement, MD Anderson and C-Biomex plan to conduct preclinical studies of CBT-001 to evaluate its potential for translation into early-phase clinical studies and to support an anticipated Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
"With our global expertise in the design and discovery of differentiated peptide-ligands, Dr. Manning and the team at MD Anderson provide a perfect complement to advance the preclinical and clinical development of CBT-001,” said Cha JunHoe, Ph.D., chief executive officer of C-Biomex. “We hope this collaborative research allows us to move swiftly toward an FDA IND application and, ultimately, to an approved treatment that can benefit patients with a variety of cancers.”
CBT-001 is a radiolabeled isotope (Lutetium-177) attached to a proprietary peptide-ligand targeting CA9 (carbonic anhydrase 9), a biomarker overexpressed in various cancers, including renal, breast and lung cancers. CBT-001’s differentiated early-stage data, generated by C-Biomex in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, represents a strong foundation for this collaborative research.
The key to success with this type of molecule is specific delivery to the tumor and rapid clearance, with minimal accumulation in healthy cells. Through this research, the collaborators will evaluate systemic and tumor-specific uptake of CBT-001 as well as antitumor efficacy and toxicology in preclinical models.
C-Biomex, leveraging its unique CUSTM peptide discovery platform technology, is developing CBT-001 and several next-generation radioligand therapies with optimal characteristics. The collaborators anticipate this research will help to inform future preclinical and early-stage clinical investigations of these next-generation therapies.
“We are pleased to align our broadly engaged theranostics research team at MD Anderson with our colleagues at C-Biomex to advance the development of CBT-001,” Manning said. “We have seen encouraging early data with this radioligand, and we look forward to collaborative work as we seek to bring impactful new treatment options to our patients in need.”
Under the terms of the agreement, C-Biomex will provide research support funding, and MD Anderson is eligible to receive certain royalties and payments based on a range of future development milestones.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.mdanderson.org/content/mda/en/newsroom/2024/02/md-anderson-c-biomex-co-develop-radioligand-therapy/jcr:content/blog/adaptiveimage.resize.jpg)
BY Aubrey Bloom
A team of researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has developed a new method for using extracellular vesicles to enhance responses to immunotherapy in glioblastoma, potentially opening the door for wider use of engineered messenger RNA (mRNA) for cancer therapy. The study was published today in Nature Communications.
Earlier this year, a team of researchers led by Betty Kim, M.D., Ph.D., and Wen Jiang, M.D., Ph.D.,developed a novel method for loading mRNA into extracellular vesicles, small structures created by cells to transport biomolecules and nucleic acids within the body. The current study builds on that research by demonstrating the anti-tumor potential of mRNA-loaded extracellular vesicles.
mRNA therapies, which were recognized by the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, have long held breakthrough potential in pathogenic infections as well as diseases like cancer. However, challenges remain to accurately deliver mRNA throughout the body. For years, scientists have studied potential delivery mechanisms, including lipid or polymeric nanoparticles, but each of these has its own limitations.
“There are two primary challenges in using mRNA therapies for cancer treatment. First, how do you accurately target the tumor cells in the body? Second, how do you produce enough of the therapy for human use?” Jiang said. “Our approach solves those two problems.”
The quantity problem is solved by using a high-throughput system to produce mRNA-loaded extracellular vesicles from engineered cells. Host cells and a designer plasmid encoding the mRNA are subjected to two extremely short electric pulses, causing membranes inside the cell, as well as the cell membrane itself, to become temporarily permeable. This leads the cells to secrete many extracellular vesicles loaded with mRNA material that can then be collected.
For this study, the researchers engineered the extracellular vesicles to express the CD64 protein on their surface, which serves as a docking mechanism to load both anti-CD71 and anti-PD-L1 antibodies. Once in the body, they seek out CD71 and PD-L1, both of which are commonly overexpressed in glioblastomas.
These extracellular vesicles were loaded with mRNA encoding interferon-gamma, an immune signaling protein. When the vesicles bind to receptors on tumor cells, they are internalized and release the mRNA.
One reason glioblastoma is difficult to treat is that the downregulation of MHC-1, as well as other features of the tumor microenvironment, create an immunosuppressive environment that evades detection and limits the effectiveness of immunotherapies. The mRNA reverses that, changing the tumor microenvironment to make the tumor detectable to the immune system and more responsive to immunotherapies. In the preclinical models, a significant increase in survival time and initial antitumor activity was observed within 7 days of injection.
“We chose glioblastoma because it has limited treatment options currently,” Jiang said. “We know that interferon-gamma can induce responses to immunotherapy in glioblastoma, but delivering it to the tumor cells has thus far proven to be a major challenge due to its half-life and the inability for most delivery systems to cross the blood-brain barrier. These results hopefully pave the way for mRNA-loaded extracellular vesicles to be used in cancer applications.
According to Jiang, one of the other advantages of this approach is that it’s plug-and-play, meaning it can be adapted to other tumors by simply changing the antibodies to target those overexpressed in other tumor types.
Further preclinical work is ongoing to continue to improve production methods and profile the safety of extracellular vesicles before they are applied in clinical settings.
This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute (P30-CA016672) and the National Science Foundation (OIA-1946231). A full list of co-authors and disclosures can be found here.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.mdanderson.org/content/mda/en/newsroom/2023/10/mrna-delivered-by-extracellular-vesicles-induces-immunotherapy-r/jcr:content/blog/adaptiveimage.resize.jpg)