In 1987, three Dartmouth Medical School scientists co-founded a successful biotech company, Medarex, based on their discoveries in the lab. Medarex went on to produce two of today\u2019s leading antibody-based cancer therapies. Now, profits from that endeavor are supporting the annual Munck-Pfefferkorn Awards, which fund new biomedical research projects at the Geisel School of Medicine that have high potential to benefit patients and to generate future revenue through grants or entrepreneurial endeavors.<\/p>\n
Distribution from the Munck-Pfefferkorn endowment allowed Geisel to invest almost $1.2 million into eight different programs. The inaugural award recipients are focusing on a variety of areas, including priming the immune system to fight cancer, understanding which factors promote difficult-to-treat infections in the lungs, and revealing targets for the diagnosis and treatment of a rare autoimmune disease. (For a full list of award recipients, see below.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Munck-Pfefferkorn endowment fund was born in a spirit of supporting investigators to try new and innovative lines of investigation,\u201d said Duane Compton, PhD, Interim Dean of Geisel. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see the variety of scientific projects that this endowment can help launch. It\u2019s an invaluable tool for the school and its faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n
The endowment is named in honor of two luminaries from Dartmouth\u2019s medical school: Elmer Pfefferkorn, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Allan Munck, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Physiology and Neurobiology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact that Elmer and Allan had on Dartmouth, on science, and on all of us cannot be overstated,\u201d said Michael Fanger, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Geisel and a co-founder of Medarex. \u201cTo see that impact extend to the next generations of researchers, clinicians, and patients is consistent with their legacies and all of our shared goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another Medarex co-founder Paul Guyre, PhD, Professor of Physiology and Neurobiology and of Microbiology and Immunology at Geisel, agrees and added, \"It is tremendously gratifying that these grants can accelerate some of our colleagues' most creative ideas toward positive effects on both people's lives and Dartmouth's future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Testing a New Nanoparticle Immunotherapy Treatment in Canine\u00a0Melanoma Tumors\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Jack Hoopes<\/strong>, DVM, PhD, Professor of Surgery and Medicine (Radiation Oncology) and Adjunct Professor of Engineering at the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College Researchers will test a new strategy for treating human melanoma, a particularly deadly cancer, using spontaneous oral melanoma tumors in pet dogs. Because the canine tumors are so biologically similar to human melanomas, the data from the study will likely predict how effective the treatment will be in humans, too. The strategy involves the\u00a0injection of iron oxide nanoparticles into the tumors, radiation therapy,\u00a0and one of two vaccines that have been proven to stimulate immune systems to fight tumors. In previous studies, Dr. Hoopes and Dr. Fiering\u00a0advanced the nanotechnology component of the therapy and effectively treated canine oral tumors. With the addition of immunotherapy, this new strategy has the potential be much more effective in dogs and, eventually, humans.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In Pursuit of New Treatments for CF, COPD, and Other Respiratory Infections<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Dean Madden<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry In cystic fibrosis (CF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other respiratory diseases, infections often become resistant to antibiotics, leading to inflammation, tissue damage, and, eventually, death. Thus, there is a pressing need for new therapeutic strategies. Four interrelated projects funded by this Munck-Pfefferkorn grant will focus on a network of extracellular factors that are believed to promote difficult-to-treat airway infections and chronic inflammation. The Munck-Pfefferkorn support will enable the group to fill critical gaps in the understanding of this network and, hopefully, identify new targets for treating chronic respiratory diseases.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Seeking Simple Blood Tests to Predict Lung Cancer Risk<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Jennifer Doherty<\/strong>, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and of Community and Family Medicine Lung cancer is the most deadly cancer in the United States. Although low-dose CT screening (i.e. CAT scan) has been proven to save lives, the method also results in many false positives\u2014people being told they may have lung cancer when they do not. This project will examine specific age- and inflammation-related characteristics of DNA circulating in people\u2019s blood. The hope is that such characteristics\u2014or biomarkers\u2014could predict which people deemed as high risk for lung cancer should have a CT scan and who can skip it. This personalized medicine approach will reduce unnecessary testing, invasive procedures, and stress for those potentially at risk.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Enhancing the Immune System to Fight Tumors<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Edward Usherwood<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology Enhancing the body\u2019s own immune system, specifically T cells, to fight tumors is \u201ccoming of age,\u201d note Drs. Usherwood, Turk, and Sentman. However, while early clinical trials are promising, sustaining the activity of these designer T cells\u2014called CAR T and CD8 T\u2014within the body over time remains elusive. In this project, researchers will work to identify key genes that can drive the designer T cells to persist long term in patients and enhance the cells' ability to fight tumors and to recruit other immune cells to do the same.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Refining a Powerful Immunotherapy Strategy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Charles Sentman<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology Several years ago, Dr. Sentman found a way to create and attach a hybrid receptor\u2014or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)\u2014to immune cells, thereby enhancing their ability to kill tumor cells and to recruit other immune cells to do the same. Furthermore, Sentman\u2019s CARs target many types of cancer, unlike most CARs in development. This project aims to address key design questions related to CAR T cell therapy for cancer and to improve the delivery of CAR T cells to specific tissue locations within the body\u2014critical steps in attracting industry investment and bringing the immunotherapy closer to widespread use.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Testing an Inexpensive, Portable Cervical Cancer Screening Tool<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Gregory Tsongalis<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Pathology Cervical cancer is still a major killer of women in low- and middle-income countries, in part because pap tests require specialized personnel and recent vaccines are expensive and impractical for those settings. This project will test the real-world efficacy of a rapid, inexpensive, portable test developed by Dr. Tsongalis that can detect the 14 types of human papilloma virus (HPV) known to cause cervical cancer. The team will trial the test in 400 women in Honduras, comparing the results to a much more expensive method that is known to be accurate. If successful, the test could transform cervical cancer screening\u2014and survival\u2014in countries worldwide.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Probing a Painful, Debilitating, and Sometimes Deadly Autoimmune Disease<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Michael Whitfield<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Genetics Scleroderma is a family of rare autoimmune diseases that affect the skin and, in some cases, internal organs. The most severe kind, systemic sclerosis (SSc), has an unknown cause and is the most deadly systemic autoimmune disease. Dr. Whitfield and his collaborators are using novel and emerging bioinformatic and statistical methods to create molecularly derived categories of SSc, which vary in disease severity, internal organ involvement, and responses to treatment. Through this award, the team will investigate the drivers of this disease, positioning them to develop new diagnostic and prognostic tests, and to begin to define new treatments.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Leveraging Current Research for Colorectal Cancer Insight<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Elizabeth Barry<\/strong>, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and of Community and Family Medicine Dartmouth maintains the clinical trial database and repository of blood and DNA specimens for a large, multi-center study about the possible role of vitamin D and calcium in preventing colon cancer. This award will enable the collection and central storage of cancerous and pre-cancerous tissues collected at the many study sites. Geisel researchers will conduct a pilot study using the specimens to 1) confirm their quality and utility for future studies and 2) test important hypotheses about the development of colorectal cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Geisel School of Medicine has announced the inaugural recipients of the annual Munck-Pfefferkorn Awards. Named in honor of two luminaries from the medical school, the endowed award funds new biomedical research projects at Geisel that have high potential to benefit patients and to generate future revenue through grants or entrepreneurial endeavors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,1,8],"tags":[676,635,19,678,674,675,38,677,129,320],"class_list":["post-6231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-donor-impact","category-news","category-research","tag-allan-munck","tag-biomedical-research","tag-cancer","tag-copd","tag-cystic-fibrosis","tag-elmer-pfefferkorn","tag-faculty","tag-grants","tag-philanthropy-2","tag-research-2","author-13"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/pfeff-munck2.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4r3h1-1Cv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6231"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6242,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231\/revisions\/6242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Inaugural Munck-Pfefferkorn Award Recipients<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nSteven N. Fiering<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Genetics<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Deborah Hogan<\/strong>, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
\n<\/strong>George O\u2019Toole<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
\n<\/strong>Bruce Stanton<\/strong>, PhD, Andrew C. Vail Professor of Microbiology and Immunology<\/p>\n
\nCarmen Marsit<\/strong>, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology and of Epidemiology<\/p>\n
\nMary Jo Turk<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
\nCharles Sentman<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology<\/p>\n
\nYina Huang<\/strong>, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology and of Microbiology and Immunology
\nMargie Ackerman<\/strong>, PhD, Assistant Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth\u2019s Thayer School of Engineering<\/p>\n
\nJennifer Doherty<\/strong>, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Community and Family Medicine
\nKathleen Lyons<\/strong>, ScD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
\nLinda Kennedy<\/strong>, MEd, Associate Director of Community Affairs for Dartmouth\u2019s Norris Cotton Cancer Center<\/p>\n
\nBrock Christensen<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology, of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and of Community and Family Medicine
\nPatricia Pioli<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, of Microbiology and Immunology, and of Physiology and Neurobiology
\nMonique Hinchcliff<\/strong>, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Chris Amos<\/strong>, PhD, Professor and Chari of Biomedical Data Science
\n<\/strong>John Baro<\/strong>n, MD, Active Emeritus Professor of Medicine; Professor of Epidemiology and Community and Family Medicine
\n<\/strong>Douglas Robertson<\/strong>, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine and of The Dartmouth Institute
\n<\/strong>Arief Suriawinata<\/strong>, MD, Professor of Pathology<\/p>\n