09/27/23Sanford Burnham Prebys How liver cells become scarring, and worse Press Release Read more

09/25/23Salk Institute Two Salk Institute faculty members earn V Foundation awards for cancer research LA JOLLA (September 25, 2023)—Salk Institute Assistant Professors Christina Towers and Deepshika Ramanan were named V Scholars by the V Foundation for Cancer Research. They will each receive $600,000 over three years to fund their unique cancer research goals. Read more

09/21/23Salk Institute Rewiring tumor mitochondria enhances the immune system’s ability to recognize and fight cancer LA JOLLA—Immunotherapy, which uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer, is an effective treatment option, yet many patients do not respond to it. Thus, cancer researchers are seeking new ways to optimize immunotherapy so that it is more effective for more people. Now, Salk Institute scientists have found that manipulating an early step in energy production in mitochondria—the cell’s powerhouses—reduces melanoma tumor growth and enhances the immune response in mice. Read more

09/20/23Salk Institute Reducing stress on T cells makes them better cancer fighters LA JOLLA—Even for killer T cells—specialized immune cells—seeking and destroying cancer cells around the clock can be exhausting. If scientists can understand why killer T cells become exhausted, then they can create more resilient cancer-killing cells. Read more

09/14/23Sanford Burnham Prebys New grant funds study of very aggressive childhood brain cancers driven by circular pieces of DNA Press Release Read more

09/07/23Sanford Burnham Prebys US Department of Defense backs Cosimo Commisso’s pancreatic cancer research Press Release Read more

09/06/23Salk Institute “Super-enhancer” super-charges pancreatic tumor growth LA JOLLA—Pancreatic cancers are among the most aggressive, deadly tumor types and, for years, researchers have struggled to develop effective drugs against the tumors. Now, Salk researchers have identified a new set of molecules that fuel the growth of tumors in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common type of pancreatic cancer. Read more

08/22/23Salk Institute High-fat diets alter gut bacteria, boosting colorectal cancer risk in mice Read more

08/11/23Salk Institute Using the body’s “invisible scalpel” to remove brain cancer LA JOLLA—Glioblastoma, the most common and deadly form of brain cancer, grows rapidly to invade and destroy healthy brain tissue. The tumor sends out cancerous tendrils into the brain that make surgical tumor removal extremely difficult or impossible. Read more

08/08/23Salk Institute Structural biologist Agnieszka Kendrick joins Salk faculty to study cellular transport LA JOLLA—The Salk Institute welcomes Assistant Professor Agnieszka Kendrick, a structural biologist who studies how cells recognize and transport cargo within the cell. Read more

06/13/23Salk Institute Mapping the development of infection-fighting immune cells LA JOLLA—The immune system protects the body from invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, or tumors, with its intricate network of proteins, cells, and organs. Specialized immune cells, called cytotoxic T cells, can develop into short-lived effector cells that kill infected or cancerous cells within our bodies. A small portion of those effector cells remain after an infection and become longer-lived memory cells, which “remember” infections and respond when infections reappear. But little was known about what influences cytotoxic T cells to transform into these effector and memory T cell subtypes. Read more