Philip Greenberg, MD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center receives a co-funded three-year research grant from ACGT and MFCR.
STAMFORD, Conn., May 21, 2025 — A $500,000 grant co-funded by Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research will support Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center scientists who are probing the efficacy of engineered CD4 and CD8 T cells in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.
The grant was awarded to Philip Greenberg, MD, who is the head of the immunology program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Immunotherapy Integrated Research Center and Pathogen-Associated Malignancies Integrated Research Center, Rona Jaffe Foundation Endowed Chair and Professor of Medicine (Hematology Oncology) and Immunology at the University of Washington.
Over the course of a near-50-year career at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Dr. Greenberg has been recognized worldwide as a trailblazer in cell and gene therapy. In the 1990s, he led the first group to demonstrate that antigen-specific T cells can eradicate disseminated cancer cells, and his work has been at the cutting edge of T-cell research for cancer treatment ever since.
The newest grant from ACGT and The Mark Foundation will support Dr. Greenberg’s research into inserting genes into CD4 and CD8 T cells that can coordinate a T cell response against tumor cells.
Dr. Greenberg’s previous research has shown that these TCR plus CD8 genes, which improve TCR binding to their targets, can create functional CD4 T cells that can promote the health and survival of CD8 T cells, as well as preventing exhaustion.
“The purpose of this project will be to perform single cell and spatial analyses of infiltrating and circulating T cells, the tumor, and cells in the TME (tumor micro-environment), and use this information to design and test T cells that can overcome obstacles impeding tumor eradication,” Dr. Greenberg says. “We have already generated several immunomodulatory fusion proteins (IFPs) that can convert inhibitory or death signals into costimulatory and survival signals, or convert TGFb suppressive signals into proliferative signals, and will study them in preclinical PDA models.”
Funding from ACGT and The Mark Foundation will help generate the necessary processes, procedures and materials needed to help test these genes in a clinical trial in advanced pancreatic cancer featuring KRAS-G12V mutation in the context of HLA-A11 and the CD8ab genes.
“Dr. Greenberg is an esteemed scientist who has already led groundbreaking progress in engineering T cells to fight cancer,” says Kevin Honeycutt, ACGT chief executive officer and president. “Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive and difficult to treat forms of cancer, and his proposal forges a new way to use engineered T cells to create positive treatment outcomes. We are excited to support Dr. Greenberg’s clinical research and are optimistic in its efficacy to treat advanced pancreatic cancer.”
“Dr. Greenberg’s pioneering work in T-cell therapy has consistently pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in cancer treatment, and The Mark Foundation is proud to co-fund this critical clinical research,” says Ryan Schoenfeld, PhD, Chief Executive Officer. “This collaboration underscores the power of working together to translate the most promising laboratory science into therapies for the patients who need them most.”
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Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT)
For more than 20 years, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) has funded scientific research to bring innovative treatment options using cancer cell and gene therapy to people living with deadly cancers. These treatments continue to save the lives of many blood cancer patients and offer new hope to all people diagnosed with cancer. ACGT is currently focused on funding talented visionaries whose scientific advancements are driving the development of groundbreaking treatments for solid tumors including those most difficult to treat including brain, ovarian and pancreatic cancers.
100% of all public donations raised by Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy directly support research and programs. For more information, visit acgtfoundation.org, call (203) 358-5055, or join the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy community on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research
The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, a charitable organization based in New York City, actively partners with scientists worldwide to accelerate research that will transform cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Since 2017, The Mark Foundation has awarded over $260 million in grants to investigators at more than 115 academic institutions across 16 countries, with research programs focusing on early career support, team science collaboration, new technology innovation, and therapeutics discovery. Additionally, The Mark Foundation maintains a growing portfolio of investments in early-stage cancer diagnostics and therapeutics companies, including several that have transitioned from grantee projects into commercial development. To learn more, please visit www.themarkfoundation.org
