The Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) and the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) have partnered to award Dr. Asaf Madi of Tel Aviv University the ICRF-CRI Immunotherapy Collaborative Project Grant. Dr. Madi received $180,000 over three years to support his research aimed at refining tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy to predict patient responses and overcome drug resistance in melanoma. Alan Herman, ICRF’s Executive Director, highlighted the need for personalized treatments like TIL therapy, noting the potential of Dr. Madi’s work to offer new hope for melanoma patients.
Adoptive cell transfer using TILs is a promising personalized immunotherapy that has improved survival in advanced melanoma, but many patients either do not respond or develop resistance, limiting long-term effectiveness. Dr. Madi’s research focuses on identifying predictive biomarkers, uncovering mechanisms of tumor resistance, and optimizing the selection and expansion of TILs to enhance therapeutic outcomes.
His team studies the gene circuits that control immune cell differentiation, activation, and regulation, with a particular focus on how T cells behave in tumors following immunotherapy. By understanding why some T cells maintain anti-tumor activity while others become exhausted or suppressed, the research aims to guide the development of more potent TIL populations capable of durable tumor targeting and long-term immune memory, potentially reducing cancer recurrence.
Alicia Zhou, CEO of CRI, emphasized that the collaboration exemplifies progress in immunotherapy, uniting partners and discovery to tackle treatment resistance. She noted that insights from Dr. Madi’s work could make personalized cell therapies like TILs more reliable, durable, and transformative for melanoma patients.
Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, with over 100,000 new cases diagnosed annually in the U.S. alone. Advanced melanoma is often resistant to standard treatments, making the development of new therapies critical to improve survival and provide hope to patients and families worldwide.
Dr. Madi earned his Ph.D. in computational immunology at Tel Aviv University in collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute focusing on T-cell differentiation and cancer immunology. He now serves as an Associate Professor in Tel Aviv University’s Department of Pathology, leading a team dedicated to developing novel anti-cancer therapies.
