Michael Demetriou, MD, PhD
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has awarded $4.6 million to UC Irvine neuroscientist Michael Demetriou, MD, PhD to advance his groundbreaking work on genetically modified chimeric antigen receptor CAR T-cells. These CAR T-cells target abnormal complex sugar chains called glycans on the surface of all major cancer cell types, potentially revolutionizing cancer treatment. This novel immunotherapy could extend the benefits of CAR T-cells to solid tumors like breast, prostate, pancreatic, and ovarian cancer, illustrating the power of academic collaboration in developing transdisciplinary approaches to cancer. The grant will support further translational work to bring this therapy to clinical trials, with the goal of safely treating a wide range of cancer types.