Stanford Neuro-Immuno-Oncology Program News
News
Brain cancer specialists hope Biden’s Moonshot speeds therapies
The goal of the Moonshot initiative -- named after President John F. Kennedy's audacious 1961 vow to put a human on the moon -- is to cut the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years. How? By bridging chasms between scientific research and therapeutic solutions, beginning with a focus on cancer's most deadly forms.
Brains and Heart
Neurologist Michelle Monje harnesses passion and purpose as she works to cure a devastating childhood cancer.
Nine Stanford scientists receive cancer research funding totaling $13 million
The funding, from Cancer Grand Challenges, will help the researchers address difficult problems in cancer prevention, treatment-resistant cancers and therapies for pediatric solid tumors.
From loss comes hope: Pediatric brain tumor treatment shows promise
Research from early clinical trials of pediatric glioma patients shows that altered immune cells can fight the deadly brainstem tumor.
NIH U19 grant award
Congratulations to Drs. Michelle Monje, Mike Lim, and Reena Thomas for their successful U19 grant award from the NIH. In a collaborative effort with the Harvard brain tumor program, this grant will allow for the evaluation of multiple novel therapeutics for patients afflicted by glioblastoma brain tumors. The correlative studies proposed will also advance precision medicine and our scientific understanding of the disease to ultimately improve treatment of adult glioblastoma brain tumors. This grant also means that Stanford has become a member of the prestigious new National Cancer Institute “Glioblastoma Therapeutic Network”, a national clinical trial consortium for adult brain tumors that will increase the cutting edge clinical trial options for Stanford patients.
Neuroscientist Michelle Monje awarded MacArthur 'genius grant'
The neuroscientist and pediatric neuro-oncologist is being recognized for her work to understand healthy brain development and create therapies for a group of lethal brain tumors.
National Academy of Medicine Elects 100 New Members
Michelle Monje, MD, PhD was elected as a NAM member - considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health & medicine recognizing individuals who demonstrate outstanding professional achievement & commitment to service.
Stanford’s Rhiju Das, Michelle Monje and Kristy Red-Horse announced as Howard Hughes investigators
Stanford University researchers who study three-dimensional structures of biological molecules, aggressive brain cancers and how to heal diseased hearts are among 33 scientists from 21 institutions announced as new Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators. The Stanford faculty members are Kristy Red-Horse, associate professor of biology at the School of Humanities and Sciences, Rhiju Das, associate professor of biochemistry, and Michelle Monje, associate professor of neurology.
Falling Walls Award Winner: Breaking the Wall of Brain Cancer
Michelle Monje, MD, PhD has been awarded the Falling Walls Foundation “top 10 breakthroughs of the year” in the life sciences for her discovery of synapses between neurons and brain cancer cells and the role of neuronal activity in malignant glioma progression. Congratulations, Michelle!
Brain tumors form synapses with healthy neurons, Stanford-led study finds
Tumors called high-grade gliomas wire themselves into the healthy brain, receiving and interpreting electrical signals from normal neurons, a Stanford study has found.
New hope for treating childhood brain cancer
In a recent segment on Stanford Radio's The Future of Everything, hosted by Stanford professor Russ Altman, MD, PhD, Monje discussed developments in the field, including immunotherapy as a promising new approach to the treatment of brain cancer in children.
Stanford Radio: Cancer therapy's impact on cognitive function
Michelle Monje, associate professor of neurology at Stanford University School of Medicine, explores immunotherapy – an alternative to current drugs that can induce long-lasting damage – as a promising new approach to the treatment of brain cancer in children. Full Story
Michelle Monje receives 2018 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award
Michelle Monje, MD, PhD has been announced as a 2018 Awardee of the prestigious NIH Director’s Pioneer Award. The Pioneer Award supports individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose highly innovative and potentially transformative approaches to major challenges in the biomedical or behavioral sciences towards the goal of enhancing human health. Dr. Monje received the award based on her laboratory research which discovered that neuronal activity critically regulates the progression of glial malignancies, and now seeks to leverage a deeper understanding of neuron-glioma interactions to develop novel therapeutic strategies for these lethal brain cancers. Past recipients in our department include Tony Wyss-Coray, PhD (2015) and Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD (2005). Our department is fortunate for its exceptional research milieu that has contributed to it being the only department of neurology in the US with three Director’s Pioneer awardees
Mom’s fundraising helps advance research into deadly brain tumor
Bereaved mother Mycah Clemons raised money for a summer scholarship at Stanford for research on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. The move sparked a series of experiments that have led to a possible treatment for the tumor.
Altered immune cells clear childhood brain tumor in mice
In mice, a fatal brainstem tumor was cleared by injecting it with engineered T cells that recognized the cancer and targeted it for destruction. The Stanford discovery is moving to human trials.