Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumor in children, and about one-fourth of children with MB fail to respond to standard treatment. Allison M. Martin, M.D., has received a 5-year, $970,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate a novel immunotherapy approach that targets B7-H3—a molecule that is highly overexpressed in MB and that promotes metastasis in other tumor types.

Dr. Martin will study the function of B7-H3 in MB and the effectiveness of B7-H3 blocking antibodies in treating MB. To do so, she will evaluate use of the antibodies in human MB cell lines and in MB mouse models that she has developed and will determine whether the antibodies are able to cross the blood-brain barrier. She will also assess the expression of B7-H3 in human MB patient samples.

Dr. Martin is assistant professor of pediatrics and of microbiology & immunology at Einstein. (1 K08 NS116651-01)