SECOND-TRANCHE RECIPIENTS

EDUARDO DAVILA, PhD Manufacturing of Genetically Engineered Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy

Eduardo Davila, PhD, professor in the Division of Medical Oncology, was awarded $50,000 in secondtranche funds. This funding will accelerate development toward pre-IND filing with the FDA by completing studies related to (1) specificity and potency assays to test TIL function; investigate changes in the T cell repertoire; and confirm that TILs do not become leukemic.

MICHAEL VERNERIS, MD Multi-omic Approach to Establish Mechanisms of Efficacy of Stem Cell-Derived Innate Lymphoid Cells in Gastrointestinal Tract Repair

Michael Verneris, MD, professor in the Department of Pediatrics, received a secondtranche award of $100,000. Innate lymphoid cells are tissue resident lymphocytes that can be restorative to injured mucosal tissues. In Crohn’s disease (CD), a subpopulation of ILCs (ILC3’s) are depleted and the loss of these cells is thought to be part of the pathogenesis of CD. Replacement of ILC3’s in CD may be therapeutic. Verneris’ laboratory has developed methods to generate ILC3’s from hematopoietic stem cells and has found that adoptive transfer of these cells can improve the intestinal dysfunction in TNFdARE mice, which is a model of CD. With this funding they will perform CITE-SEQ and Xenium in situ analysis on ILC3 treated (and untreated) mice to better understand the impact of ILC3’s adoptive transfer at single cell resolution. Additionally, they will continue to perform scale-up experiments with the goal of transferring this technology to the Gates Biomanufacturing Facility.