Celebrating Your Impact

ACCELERATING INNOVATION
With support from philanthropy and the Commonwealth of Virginia, the center launched a competitive annual seed funding program to kick-start research on the most innovative new ideas with the potential to yield commercially viable new cancer medicines, treatment protocols, screening interventions, or diagnostics. Along with the pilot funding, researchers who receive an annual award are paired with industry mentors who can provide guidance on the next steps for translating laboratory discoveries into the market. Example projects funded by this new innovation accelerator include: 

• The study of new diagnostic and monitoring techniques for colorectal cancer, the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States 

• An improved immunotherapy for mantle cell lymphoma—an aggressive and incurable disease 

• A precision treatment for metastatic ovarian cancer 

FOSTERING COLLABORATION 
The center created seven translational research teams (TRTs) charged with addressing the most prevalent and deadly cancers and risk factors in the region. Each team is led collectively by a basic scientist, a physician-investigator, and a population researcher with expertise in studying or treating a specific disease type or area, such as breast cancer, melanoma, or lung cancer. Each TRT represents multiple departments, schools, and disciplines and meets regularly to foster collaboration and identify opportunities to accelerate the translation of scientific findings into new medicines or interventions that can be rapidly developed, tested, and approved for use.  

EXPANDING CLINICAL TRIALS
For cancer patients across Virginia, the center has accelerated and expanded access to clinical trials in conjunction with UVA Health Cancer Care’s growing footprint of clinical facilities and partnerships throughout the state. For example, in 2022, with donor support, the center established a dedicated program for phase 1 clinical trials—typically the first in-human testing of a new cancer medicine or therapy. Phase 1 trials are a critical, resource-intensive step that enables the center’s researchers to make their newly discovered therapies available to patients as quickly and efficiently as possible.  

LEADING-EDGE THERAPIES
The center helped establish the world’s first and only Focused Ultrasound Cancer Immunotherapy Center at the University. Focused ultrasound is an innovative precision soundwave imaging technology. This technique has been shown to overcome the limitations of many cancer treatments, such as the blood-brain barrier, and amplify or improve the accuracy of others. For example, one promising study showed that focused ultrasound increased the effectiveness of immunotherapy drugs against breast cancer and other solid tumors, making treatment options more precise and less invasive, and ushering in a new era of personalized cancer care.  

DEVELOPING NEW TREATMENTS AND CURES
With the support of a visionary donor, the center launched the Translational Orphan Blood Cancer Research Initiative (TOBCRI), which focuses on reducing the burden of leukemias, lymphomas, and myelomas, including the rare (orphan) and most complex types of these diseases. The initiative has generated six new experimental drugs that could be available to patients within two years, and more are in the research and development pipeline.  

CARING FOR THE COMMUNITY
Generous donors have also strengthened and expanded the center’s Community Outreach and Engagement programs and efforts to improve the prevention and early detection of cancers that are especially burdensome in Virginia. For example, the center has increased access to free screenings for breast, colon, and prostate cancer in rural and less resourced areas of Virginia, where rates of disease prevalence and mortality are exceptionally high and the barriers to primary and specialty healthcare are especially acute.