The Immunology and Immunotherapy (l&l) Program represents the merger of the central components of twopre-existing programs, the basic science Immunology Program and the immunotherapy-oriented LymphomaProgram. The l&l Program's overall mission is to translate fundamental advances in our understanding of basiccancer immunology to therapeutic advances, by closely coordinating and integrating the laboratory and clinicalcomponents. This coordination is highly bidirectional, however. Insights gained in the laboratory used to informthe development of new therapies, and discoveries in the clinic are used to direct new laboratory studies. Thel&l Program is built upon an exceptionally strong foundation in fundamental immunology, its memberscomprising an illustrious group of investigators responsible for major advances in T- and B-cell development,dendritic cell function, Toll-like receptors, and antigen presentation. Moreover, the l&l Program has produced avariety of novel immunotherapeutic approaches, encompassing a spectrum of immunologic strategies facilitatedby the Program's laboratory advances, including 1) the induction of anti-tumor immunity via extracorporealphotoimmunetherapy (ECP); 2) methods of minimizing graft-versus-host disease in allogeneic stem celltransplantation; 3) optimization of graft-versus-tumor responses; 4) biodegradable nanoparticles for delivery oftumor antigen vaccines; 5) enhancement of anti-tumor immune responses by blockade of CTLA-4. The l&lProgram has 46 independent but highly interactive members representing both laboratory and clinicalinvestigators from 11 departments. The program is led by Ira Mellman (Chair, Cell Biology; YCC AssociateDirector for Science), bridges the fundamental and clinical l&l components. Dr. Mellman is an expert in themechanisms of antigen presentation by DCs and more recently has focused on applying basic immunologicalprinciples to the development of human cancer immunotherapies. Three Associate Leaders, working closelywith Dr. Mellman, direct subcomponents of the Program. Dr. Warren Shlomchik oversees the basic cancerimmunology component, while Dr. Michael Girardi and Dr. Francine Foss have responsibility for theimmunotherapy component. Communication and programmatic focus are maintained by a monthly meeting ofmembers devoted to cancer immunology, a working group charged with implementing immunotherapyprotocols, a general retreat, a seminar series, and a newly established seed grant competition to fund innovativeapproaches to immunotherapy. Total peer-reviewed support is $20.8 direct costs ($30.1 million total costs).Overall funding is $28.4 million in direct costs ($39.2 million total costs). In the last grant period, 613 cancerrelatedpapers were published, of which 23% were intraprogrammatic and 11% were interprogrammatic.
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