The National Cancer Institute-designated Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center (MECCC) has announced the new Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Institute for Immunotherapy for Cancer and Inflammatory Disorders.  Xingxing Zang, Ph.D., an international leader in developing novel immunotherapies, has been named its inaugural director.  

“Nuestro objetivo es estar a la vanguardia del desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías de inmunoterapia y avanzarlas hacia ensayos clínicos, y en última instancia, tratamientos efectivos para el cáncer y otras enfermedades”, dijo el Dr. Zang, profesor de microbiología e inmunología, de oncología, de medicamento y de urología, la Chair Louis Goldstein Swan en Investigación del Cáncer en el Albert Einstein College of Medicine, y miembro sénior del programa de investigación de Terapéutica del Cáncer del MECCC. “Nuestro instituto es un entorno colaborativo que reúne a más de 45 científicos y médicos líderes de una variedad de campos en un enfoque interdisciplinario para descubrir nuevos objetivos de inmunoterapia y nuevas estrategias para el desarrollo de medicina ”.

Harnessing the Power of the Immune System

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Xingxing Zang, Ph.D.

Faculty Profile

Immunotherapy, which involves activating and bolstering the immune system to eliminate disease, has revolutionized cancer treatment over the past 20 years. There are several types of cancer immunotherapies: adoptive cell therapy, which takes a patient’s immune cells, multiplies or alters them in the lab, and infuses them back into the patient; cancer vaccines, which “train” the immune system to fight an existing malignancy; immune cell engagers, which redirect the patient’s immune cells toward cancer cells; antibody-drug conjugates, in which antibodies that target cancer cells are linked with chemotherapy molecules that kill the cells; and immune checkpoint inhibitors that release the “brakes” on the immune system. In 2018, James Allison, Ph.D., Dr. Zang’s mentor, received the Nobel Prize for developing the first checkpoint inhibitor. Currently nine checkpoint inhibitors are approved for treatment of different cancers and have revolutionized the treatment of malignant disorders.

A lo largo de su carrera, el Dr. Zang ha descubierto varios puntos de control inmunitario nuevos y ha desarrollado numerosos inhibidores de puestos de control, centrados principalmente en la inhibición de las familias B7-CD28, proteínas que desempeñan papeles importantes en la evasión y progresión inmunitario del cáncer. Dos de sus inhibidores de puestos de control se están evaluando actualmente en ensayos clínicos de fase 1 y fase 2 en 12 tipos diferentes de cánceres sólidos y tres tipos diferentes de cánceres de la sangre. También ha formado su propia empresa para seguir desarrollando nuevos inhibidores contra cánceres metastásicos que no responden a los fármacos actuales. A principios de este año, dirigió un equipo en MECCC que demostró que CAR-T, un tipo de terapia celular adoptiva que ahora se utiliza contra los cánceres de la sangre, puede tratar con éxito los tumores sólidos.

“Dr. Zang’s expertise, knowledge, creativity, productivity, and collaborative spirit have made him a true leader in the field,” said Edward Chu, M.D., M.M.S., director of MECCC. “We are extraordinarily pleased that he will lead this important new endeavor.”

Critical Sustaining Support

Philanthropic support has been critical to establishing the new institute. “This would not have been possible without the generosity of Marilyn and Stanley Katz,” said Yaron Tomer, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein and chief academic officer at Montefiore Einstein. “Their $4.5 million endowment gift will provide a perpetual engine of support to the institute, giving us the opportunity and flexibility to invest in the promising science that can lead to novel discoveries and treatments.” 

Gregoire Lauvau, Ph.D., professor of microbiology & immunology and the Sylvia and Robert S. Olnick Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research at Einstein and a member of MECCC’s Cancer Therapeutics research program, serves as the institute’s associate director for basic research. Chandan Guha, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., vice chair of radiation oncology at Einstein and Montefiore, professor of radiation oncology, of urology, and of pathology at Einstein, and associate director of innovation/tech transfer at MECCC, is associate director for clinical/translational research.