Karmanos Cancer Institute Immunology Researcher Obtains Nearly $1 Million National Institutes of Health Grant

Karmanos Cancer Institute Immunology Researcher Obtains Nearly $1 Million
National Institutes of Health Grant

DETROIT, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Venuprasad K. Poojary, Ph.D.,
assistant professor at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne
State University School of Medicine, has secured a two-year federal grant for
almost $1 million to further his research into creating more effective
immunotherapy strategies for cancer treatment. Dr. Poojary's grant brings the
total number of federal stimulus grant dollars received by Karmanos
researchers to approximately $8 million this year.

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Among the more than 20,000 applications the National Institutes of Health
received for the NIH Challenge Grants, Dr. Poojary's application ranked within
the top 1 percent. He received a grant for $999,094. The NIH has allocated
$200 million for the challenge grants for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. They are
part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 passed in February
of this year.

Dr. Poojary's research is titled, "Role of TIEG1 in Foxp3+Treg development and
tumor progression," and explores tumor pathways that cause effector T cells,
those that help maintain a healthy immune system, to be converted to regulator
T cells, which allow the growth of cancerous tumor cells.

Researchers have already created vaccines that are effective in controlling
regulator T cells in the lab environment, but so far immunotherapy vaccines
have not been successful when used on humans.

"Immunotherapy for cancer has not been successful because tumors exploit the
immune system," Dr. Poojary said. "We must now build on immunotherapy's great
cancer treatment potential by learning how we can make it more effective."

Dr. Poojary's research strives to understand on a molecular level how immune
suppressor cells can be controlled so that tumor cells do not proliferate. He
believes this research will provide him and his colleagues significant new
insight to overcome the limitations of current immunotherapy strategies.

"We want to develop inhibitors for regulator T cells to use along with tumor
vaccines, and our goal is to block the development of tumor-promoting
regulator T cells in the tumor microenvironment," he said. "People have tried
to deplete regulator T cells from the body using antibodies, but such an
approach is associated with the risk of triggering autoimmunity in patients."

The nearly $1 million NIH grant will allow Dr. Poojary and his staff to invest
the grant monies in what they need to conduct work more quickly and
efficiently. As part of the grant, Dr. Poojary will hire four people to assist
him. Without the grant, he says this research would have been very difficult.

"If we can understand the pathway of T cells, we will be very close to
determining the inhibitors for what converts good cells into tumor-promoting
bad cells," he said. "This is the hard step, but I am very confident that I'll
achieve my goals with the project."

Dr. Poojary says it will be significant when doctors can control the
conversion of normal T cells into abnormal cells that allow tumors to grow.
"With this knowledge, we would be very close to having the immunological tools
to more effectively treat aggressive cancers, such as locally-advanced and
metastatic breast cancer, prostate cancer and brain cancer," according to Dr.
Poojary. He said he is fascinated by the intricacies of the immune system and
how systems differ from patient to patient.

"I'm interested in knowing how the immune system works," he said.
"Immunotherapy is the future for cancer treatment and it can be developed for
any disease. Immunotherapy is much safer, but we have to improve the
efficiency of tumor vaccines so that you get more specific and longer-lasting
effects."

Dr. Poojary has been studying immunology since 1998 when he began his
doctorate studies at the National Center for Cell Science in Pune, India.
After receiving his Ph.D., he served as a postdoctoral fellow and later a
research scientist in the Division of Cell Biology at LaJolla Institute for
Allergy and Immunology in San Diego, Calif. He has been with the Karmanos
Cancer Institute since March 2009.

About the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute
Located in mid-town Detroit, MI, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute is
one of 40 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in
the United States. Caring for nearly 6,000 new patients annually on a budget
of $216 million, conducting more than 700 cancer-specific scientific
investigation programs and clinical trials, the Karmanos Cancer Institute is
among the nation's best cancer centers. Through the commitment of 1,000 staff,
including nearly 300 faculty members, and supported by thousands of volunteer
and financial donors, the Institute strives to prevent, detect and eradicate
all forms of cancer. For more information call 1-800-KARMANOS or go to
karmanos.org.

SOURCE Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute

Patricia A. Ellis of Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, +1-313-576-8629,
+1-313-410-3417