UCLA receives $3.9M NIH grant to advance cancer immunotherapy

UCLA researchers have been awarded a five‑year, $3.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop drug‑based strategies that could improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy, particularly for melanoma and potentially other cancers.

The project is led by Dr. Cristina Puig‑Saus, an associate professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics and surgical oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and an investigator at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Using a drug‑screening platform, her team identified two promising compounds—one that strengthens T‑cell and cancer‑cell interactions and another that makes tumor cells more vulnerable to T‑cell attack. The funding will support preclinical testing of these agents in melanoma models and further investigation of their mechanisms and safety.