Robert Prins receives grant to research brain tumor treatments

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on email
Share on print

Robert Prins, professor of neurosurgery and molecular and medical pharmacology in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been awarded a $750,000 grant to support research in developing immunotherapies for brain tumors.

The grant was sponsored by the Brain Tumor Funders’ Collaborative, a partnership between six private philanthropic and advocacy organizations dedicated to accelerating progress in brain tumor research by supporting research and collaborations.

While there have been many advancements in cancer treatments in the past 20 years, there has been limited treatment developments for people with malignant gliomas.

Prins, an immunologist in the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and member researcher with the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Center at UCLA, and members of the UCLA Brain Tumor Center are finding new ways to treat this deadly brain tumor by studying immune-based therapies.

Researchers are studying a new combination therapy using checkpoint blockade in conjunction with a personalized dendritic cell vaccine, which was developed at UCLA, for people diagnosed with glioblastoma. Prins and his team hope by combining the two treatments they will be able to create a new way to treat people with brain cancer, as well as develop new ways to track the immune response.

Table of Contents

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

In April 2025, announcements from the two most influential biomedical agencies in the US, the FDA and the NIH, declared that both will seek to reduce and minimize animal-based testing and experimentation. These declarations sparked joy in some circles, and deep concern in others that was reflected in a 28% fall in the share price of Charles River Labs (NYSE: NYSE:CRL). 
Over the past three decades, cancer genetics has transformed precision oncology. Germline testing has advanced from single-gene Sanger sequencing to parallel sequencing of hundreds of genes, while tumor (somatic) testing has expanded with the rise of targeted therapies based on point mutations, copy number changes and other alterations. 

Never miss an issue!

Get alerts for our award-winning coverage in your inbox.

Login