Lili Yang receives $2.3 million award from NIH

LILI YANG received the $2.3 million Director’s New Innovator Award from NIH for research into developing ways to genetically program blood stem cells to attack cancers. Yang is an assistant professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Her research focused on T cells and a smaller group of invariant natural killer T cells, which have a remarkable capacity to mount immediate and powerful responses to disease when activated. She and her colleagues hope to develop therapies designed to increase the number of iNKT cells in the blood.

“The potential for iNKT T cell receptor-based gene therapy is very exciting because it is very different from conventional T cell receptor-based gene therapy, which can only target specific types of tumor and a certain group of patients,” said Yang. “The kind of iNKT T cell receptor gene therapy we are investigating could have universal application, treating many types of cancer and a large group of patients no matter what types of tumor they have.”

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NCI

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Vol.52 No.34

By Claire Marie Porter

Health Equity

As Medicaid work requirements loom, CMS guidance offers automatic exemptions for some cancer patients
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published a guidance that spells out a process for states to use to exempt Medicaid recipients from the controversial work requirements established last year under President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

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Vol.52 No.34

By Frances M. Visco and Michelle Tregear

The end of “more money, more people, more trials”
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Harold Freeman, a surgeon who championed health equity, dies at 93
Freeman, the father of patient navigation, served as president of ACS and chair of the President’s Cancer Panel

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Harold Freeman in his own words
“When you fight poverty, you‘re fighting a humanitarian battle for all people.”

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September 18, 2026

Vol.52 No.34

By Katie Goldberg

Lili Yang receives $2.3 million award from NIH

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

Letai takes a swipe at “ill-informed commentators,” as he lays out his scientific vision for NCI
“To my knowledge, 100% of grants that clear my desk get funded”

As Medicaid work requirements loom, CMS guidance offers automatic exemptions for some cancer patients
Caveat: The guidance is optional. Will states opt in?

Scientific progress can’t help people if they can’t access care
This is a policy problem. And it is one we can change.

The end of “more money, more people, more trials”
Cancer centers are being asked to grow their portfolios on flat budgets. Headcount is the wrong answer.

Harold Freeman, a surgeon who championed health equity, dies at 93
Freeman, the father of patient navigation, served as president of ACS and chair of the President’s Cancer Panel

Harold Freeman in his own words
“When you fight poverty, you‘re fighting a humanitarian battle for all people.”

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Lili Yang receives $2.3 million award from NIH

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

Letai takes a swipe at “ill-informed commentators,” as he lays out his scientific vision for NCI“To my knowledge, 100% of grants that clear my desk get funded”

As Medicaid work requirements loom, CMS guidance offers automatic exemptions for some cancer patientsCaveat: The guidance is optional. Will states opt in?

Scientific progress can’t help people if they can’t access careThis is a policy problem. And it is one we can change.

The end of “more money, more people, more trials”Cancer centers are being asked to grow their portfolios on flat budgets. Headcount is the wrong answer.

Harold Freeman, a surgeon who championed health equity, dies at 93Freeman, the father of patient navigation, served as president of ACS and chair of the President’s Cancer Panel

Harold Freeman in his own words“When you fight poverty, you‘re fighting a humanitarian battle for all people.”

Never miss an issue!

Login

Letai takes a swipe at “ill-informed commentators,” as he lays out his scientific vision for NCI
“To my knowledge, 100% of grants that clear my desk get funded”

As Medicaid work requirements loom, CMS guidance offers automatic exemptions for some cancer patients
Caveat: The guidance is optional. Will states opt in?

Scientific progress can’t help people if they can’t access care
This is a policy problem. And it is one we can change.

The end of “more money, more people, more trials”
Cancer centers are being asked to grow their portfolios on flat budgets. Headcount is the wrong answer.

Harold Freeman, a surgeon who championed health equity, dies at 93
Freeman, the father of patient navigation, served as president of ACS and chair of the President’s Cancer Panel

Harold Freeman in his own words
“When you fight poverty, you‘re fighting a humanitarian battle for all people.”