Sidi Chen, assistant professor in the Department of Genetics and Systems Biology Institute at Yale School of Medicine and member of Yale Cancer Center, received a $500,000 grant from Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy for pancreatic cancer research.
With the funding, Chen plans to advance a highly scalable strategy he’s been developing—known as MAEGI, or Multiplexed Activation of Endogenous Genes as an Immunotherapy.
“The ACGT Scientific Advisory Council finds Dr. Chen’s MAEGI technology to be unique and exciting because it simultaneously targets multiple differences and activates multiple immune system responses,” Kevin Honeycutt, CEO and president of ACGT, said in a statement. “It has proven to be very effective in animal models. We believe our support will enable its advancement into the clinic where it would have major, life-saving impact on pancreatic and other difficult-to-treat cancers, such as melanoma, glioblastoma and triple negative breast cancer.”
