News and Events

Clinical trial tests vaccine for late-stage HPV-linked tumors

The human papillomavirus (HPV) has been linked to many kinds of cancer, including cervical, uterine, vaginal, penile and oropharyngeal. For those who develop advanced HPV-linked cancer, the NIH Clinical Center has a clinical trial open to test a vaccine with and without checkpoint inhibitors to see if this treatment approach can stop tumor growth.

Lymphoma therapy drug tested as early treatment for chronic graft-versus-host disease

cGvHD can occur after a person has had a stem cell or bone marrow transplant. In some cases, the donated bone marrow/stem cells view the host's body as foreign and start to attack it. cGvHD can occur at any time after a transplant, but it's more common after the marrow/stem cells have created a new immune system in the host's body. A clinical trial is studying the lymphoma therapy drug ibrutinib to see if early treatment can prevent the most severe symptoms of cGvHD.

Ira Pastan receives 2020 Paul A. Volcker Career Achievement award

Ira Pastan, M.D., NIH Distinguished Investigator and Co-Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, has received the 2020 Paul A. Volcker Career Achievement Medal from the Partnership for Public Service’ Service to America Medals, also known as the SAMMIES. The Paul A. Volcker Career Achievement Medal recognizes federal employees who have led significant and sustained achievements over 20 or more years of service in government. Dr. Pastan was recognized for discovering a new class of drugs that can successfully treat a rare form of leukemia and hold promise to be effective therapies for pancreatic and lung cancer as well as mesothelioma.

Ruth Nussinov and Kandice Tanner named American Physical Society Fellows

Ruth Nussinov, Ph.D., Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunometabolism, and Kandice Tanner, Ph.D., Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Cell Biology, were named as American Physical Society Fellows. The fellowship program recognizes members who made advances in physics through original research and publication or made significant innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology.

Jordan Meier receives the 2021 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry

Jordan Meier, Ph.D., Senior Investigator in the Chemical Biology Laboratory, received the 2021 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry for outstanding research of unusual merit and independence of thought and originality. Dr. Meier’s efforts in defining how metabolism regulates epigenetic signaling in cancer and how metabolite-protein interactions occur in all living organisms were cited as meritorious examples of advancing two fundamental areas of research.

Sue Wickner receives the 2021 American Society for Microbiology Award for Basic Research

Sue Wickner, Ph.D., Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, received the 2021 American Society for Microbiology Award for Basic Research. The award recognizes outstanding scientists whose discoveries have been fundamental to advancing our understanding of the microbial world. Dr. Wickner’s research into the mechanisms of action of molecular chaperones aims to provide insight for future development of drugs for the prevention and treatment of diseases caused by protein aggregation and misfolding, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, type II diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and prion diseases.

Combination therapy for solid tumors and small-cell cancers studied in new clinical trial

A clinical trial of a drug combination to treat solid tumors and small-cell cancers is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center. PARP inhibitors can work better when combined with chemotherapy, such combinations can be too toxic, so this study uses a new kind of chemotherapy called PLX038 and combines it with a PARP inhibitor rucaparib to see if the combination of PLX038 and rucaparib can safely shrink solid tumors and small-cell cancers.

Clinical trial studies combination immunotherapy for colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) affects the colon and rectum, which are located at the lower end of the digestive tract. One of the most common cancers, it often spreads to the liver. Because treatments that aim to use the patient’s own immune system to attack mCRC have not been very successful so far, investigators are leading a study that combines two different types of immunotherapy to see if one can enhance the effect of the other.

Registration Open: Enhancers, Gene Regulation and Genome Organization

Registration is now open for the upcoming Enhancers, Gene Regulation and Genome Organization symposium. The goal of this meeting is to critically address the wealth of new data generated by bulk and single-cell molecular, imaging and computational approaches that are increasingly revealing how the genome folds to faithfully accommodate gene expression programs and cell fate decisions. The goal is to advance an understanding of how transcriptional enhancers function, how to separate cause and effect, and to identify critical questions that will guide future directions. Sessions Include: Enhancer Genetics, Enhancers in Development, Enhancer Biophysics, Enhancer in Disease and Enhancers and ncRNA.

Selumetinib offers hope as first FDA-approved treatment for neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1)

Autumn Schierling is one of 50 children who have been participating since 2015 in a clinical trial of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) at the NIH Clinical Center. In March 2020, the results of the trial were published and in April the FDA approved selumetinib as the first treatment for NF1. Brigitte Widemann, M.D., Chief of the Pediatric Oncology Branch who started conducting clinical trials for NF1 in 2001 was quoted as saying, “The medication’s approval is ‘huge progress’ and we will work to make more progress.”

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