April 2025

Mansi Saxena, PhD; Thomas Marron, MD, PhD; Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, and colleagues

PGV001, a multi-peptide personalized neoantigen vaccine platform: Phase I study in patients with solid and hematological malignancies in the adjuvant setting

Cancer Discovery. 2025 Mar 17. PMID: 40094414

Dr. Bhardwaj and colleagues report results from their pilot clinical trial, NCT02721043, that evaluated the Personalized Genomic Vaccine 001 (PGV001), a neoantigen vaccination platform, in patients with a history of malignancies in the adjuvant setting. Results indicate that the peptide and poly-ICLC vaccine platform is safe, feasible and capable of inducing enduring T cell and B cell immunity in all vaccinated subjects irrespective of their disease background or concurrent therapy, and who were at high risk of recurrence.

Press Release

Brian Brown, PhD, Director of the Icahn Genomics Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He was honored for his seminal work in gene therapy and functional genomics, which have transformed the fields and contributed to key advancements in medicine and biotechnology. AIMBE Fellows represent the top two percent of medical and biological engineers. 



Press Release

Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, was named a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy Class of 2025. This distinction honors extraordinary scientists who have made transformative contributions with lasting impact to cancer research. Dr. Bhardwaj was recognized for her research on human dendritic cell biology, including the development of Toll-like receptor agonist- and dendritic cell-based vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases, and for leading clinical trials integrating checkpoint immunotherapies and innovative immunoadjuvants to advance patient care.

AACR Press Release

Ashutosh Tewari, MBBS, MCh, FRCS (Hon.), DSc (Hon), was honored with a 2025 Jacobi Medallion by the Mount Sinai Alumni Association. Dr. Tewari is System Chair and Professor at the Milton and Carroll Petrie Department of Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of the Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer. He is also Surgeon-in-Chief of the Tisch Cancer Hospital and a member of The Tisch Cancer Institute and the Institute of Immunology at Mount Sinai.

Read More About the Award Ceremony

Video Honoring Dr. Tewari

Andrew Ji, MD, received an American Cancer Society Discovery Boost Grant for his project, "Investigating the Effects of Immunosuppression on Carcinogenesis at Single-cell Spatiotemporal Resolution.” The overall goal is to understand how common immunosuppression regimens influence the cellular and molecular processes mediating skin cancer initiation and progression. Using cutting-edge single-cell and high-resolution spatial profiling, these molecular maps will provide unprecedented detail on the role of the immune system in preventing skin cancer and potentially identify novel approaches for cancer prevention and treatment.

The Ji Lab

Triparna Sen, PhD, was awarded R01 grant funding from the National Cancer Institute for “Defining and Overcoming Lineage Plasticity in Lung Cancer.” This project aims to characterize the transformation of lung adenocarcinoma to small-cell lung cancer and uncover the mechanisms behind this process using clinical samples and preclinical models. The research fills an unmet need to improve outcomes for patients with transformed lung cancer, whose prognosis remains dire. The study will provide insights into tumor evolution, identify core mechanisms, and develop therapies to delay or overcome lineage plasticity.

Dr. Sen was also awarded R01 grant funding from the National Cancer Institute for “Targeting Ferroptosis in Aggressive Subtypes of Lung Cancer.” The grant will support development of novel therapeutic strategies for patients with KRAS/STK11/KEAP1 co-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a highly aggressive disease with limited treatment options.

Dr. Sen and her team previously identified that ferroptosis evasion gene programs are enhanced in KRAS/STK11/KEAP1 co-mutant NSCLC, highlighting a promising therapeutic vulnerability. This research will focus on defining molecular and immune features, determining how STK11 and KEAP1 individually regulate tumor growth, invasion, and ferroptosis in preclinical models, and targeting ferroptosis regulators.

The Sen Lab

A Cancer Health Equity Research Center at Mount Sinai (CHERC-MS) was established with recently awarded grant funding from the American Cancer Society with the goal of reducing health inequities in cancer care and lessening the burden of cancer among underserved communities across the five boroughs of New York City. The projects funded through CHERC-MS will focus on community-engaged care coordination and navigation that addresses the social determinants of health across the cancer continuum to achieve equitable health outcomes. 

Read More About Aims and Research Projects

The services of The Tisch Cancer Institute Biostatistics Shared Resource can significantly increase the likelihood of successful grant awards. Researchers are reminded to allow a four-week lead time for grant development. The first step is to submit a request for services.

Questions can be directed to Erin Moshier, MSc, Managing Director.

More than 60 students from Richard R. Green High School of Teaching participated in Knocking Out Cancer on March 7. The event, held for the first time and expected to take placer annually, provided a unique hands-on experience of cancer research. Faculty, Hematology and Medical Oncology fellows, postdoctoral fellows, medical students, graduate students, and staff from across TCI participated in running interactive stations to inspire the next generation of cancer researchers.

The event was led by Layla Fattah, EdD, Administrative Director for Education for TCI, along with Jamilia Sly, PhD; Melissa Mazor, PhD, MS, RN; Dan Hasson, PhD; and Janice Gabrilove, MD. 

Brian Kanner—attorney, judge, and musician—barely missed a beat when he had a stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma at The Mount Sinai Hospital. A patient of Samir Parekh, MD, Mr. Kanner even kept up with his trumpet practice in his hospital room. He is doing well and is grateful to Mount Sinai’s multiple myeloma team and his local physician in Westchester.

“When I was first diagnosed in February 2024, it was quite a shock- I had never had a serious illness or spent a day in the hospital in 68 years. But the team at Mount Sinai provided all the information we needed to understand the disease, its treatment and likely outcomes. More importantly, at every stage of treatment spanning almost a year, the doctors, nurses and technicians at Mount Sinai treated us with the utmost professionalism, skill and empathy—they made us feel like family.”

In this photo, Mr. Kanner is at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum where he performed with the New York Guard Band.

John Mascarenhas, MD, and colleagues 

Pelabresib plus ruxolitinib for JAK inhibitor-naive myelofibrosis: a randomized phase 3 trial

Nature Medicine. 2025 Mar 10. PMID: 40065169

This is the first randomized phase 3 trial of JAK inhibitor-based combination therapy in treatment naïve myelofibrosis patients (NCT04603495). Findings showed that pelabresib plus ruxolitinib provided robust clinical benefit, resulting in a statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoint of spleen response. Improvement was also noted across other hallmarks of myelofibrosis, including symptom control, proinflammatory cytokine levels and bone marrow morphology. The trial highlights the potential to combine rationally developed therapies in combination to affect deeper clinical responses and modify the disease course.

Press Release

Xuming Zhu, PhD; Mingang Xu, PhD; Sarah Millar, PhD, and colleagues

Identification of Meibomian gland stem cell populations and mechanisms of aging

Nature Communications. 2025 Feb 15. PMID: 39955307

Data from this study identify markers for distinct stem cell populations that maintain Meibomian gland (MG) ducts and acini and reveal that MG ductules harbor stem cells for both the duct and the acinus. Dr. Millar and colleagues uncovered Hedgehog (Hh) signaling as a key pathway regulating MG stem cell proliferation and showed that its activity is enhanced in human MG carcinoma (MGC) and decreased in aging. Observations provide an improved understanding of the mechanisms of MG homeostasis, aging, and tumorigenesis, and suggest Hh signaling as a therapeutic target in MGC and in MG aging.

Press Release

National Eye Institute coverage

Christoper Sturgeon, PhD; Elvin Wagenblast, PhD; Franco Izzo, PhD; Eirini Papapetrou, MD, PhD

The crossroads of clonal evolution, differentiation hierarchy, and ontogeny in leukemia development

Blood Cancer Discovery. 2025 Mar 4. PMID: 39652739

Dr. Papapetrou and colleagues review genetic evolution, differentiation hierarchy, and developmental identity as the three principal sources of cellular heterogeneity in myeloid neoplasms, particularly AML, and three dimensions intersecting with each other in the pathogenesis, maintenance, and progression of human leukemias. They discuss research opportunities enabled by new models and technologies and posit that a synthesized view of the three dimensions through which hematopoietic cells transit during their healthy and diseased life will inform new insights into disease pathogenesis and new therapeutic avenues.

Lakshmi Rajdev, MD; Karyn Goodman, MD, MS, and colleagues

Incorporating circulating tumor DNA testing into clinical trials: A position paper by the National Cancer Institute GI Oncology Circulating Tumor DNA Working Group

JCO Precision Oncology. 2025 Mar. PMID: 40048671

The National Cancer Institute circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) GI working group was created to evaluate current data and provide guidance on the inclusion of ctDNA in GI cancer trials. The group focused on ctDNA's role as a potential surrogate for assessing prognosis and guiding treatment decisions that may enhance GI cancer trials. The group supports ctDNA as a primary efficacy end point for phase II studies and as a noninvasive evaluation strategy for new drug development. 

Check out the Shared Resources page on the updated TCI website.

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1. Identify and establish Shared Resources that benefit the TCI Research Programs
2. Evaluate and manage Shared Resources to assure access, cost-effectiveness, and impact to TCI Research Programs
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TCI members are encouraged to fill out the user survey to provide feedback.

Questions can be directed to Jerry Edward Chipuk, PhD, Associate Director of Shared Resources at The Tisch Cancer Institute.

Eirini Papapetrou, MD, PhD, was an invited speaker at ACUTE LEUKEMIAS XIX (ISALXIX) Biology and Treatment Strategies, March 16, in Munich. She will present at the European Hematology Association-SWG Scientific Meeting on Recent Advances in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemias, April 25-26, in Berlin.

Scott Friedman, MD, gave a keynote address, “The Evolution of MASH and Fibrosis Over Decades,” on March 21 at the Liver Connect conference in San Antonio. Dr. Friedman also gave the Martin Black Medicine and Grand Rounds Memorial Lecture on January 29 at Temple University Hospital. He presented “Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH)—Time for Translation.”

Department of Medicine Grand Rounds

April 8, 8:30 am

Uroosa Ibrahim, MD, Associate Director, Cellular Therapy Program

“Curative Strategies for Sickle Cell Disease: Stem Cell Transplant and Gene Therapy”

Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology Grand Rounds

April 10, 8:30 am

Shernan Holtan, MD, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

"The End of Fatal Acute FVHD: What Have we Learned?"

TCI Seminar Series

Tuesdays at Noon

Davis Auditorium

April 8

Steffi Oesterreich, PhD, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center

"New Models of Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer"

Hosted by Igor Bado, PhD

Frontiers in Cancer Immunotherapy

June 6-17

Presented by The New York Academy of Sciences Cancer & Signaling Discussion Group

Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, is a member of the Scientific Organizing Committee.

Registration