Thyroid Cancer Research Grant

Thyroid Cancer Research Grant

• The American Thyroid Association (ATA) awarded a 2016 ThyCa Research Grant to Dr. Viswanath Gunda for his project "Combining Immune Checkpoints Inhibitors with BRAF Targeted Therapy in Thyroid Cancer."
• Dr. Gunda is an Instructor in Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.

Project Overview

• The project explores combinatorial approaches to treating thyroid cancer, targeting oncogene mutations (BRAFV600E) and kinase pathways (VEGFR) with an immunotherapeutic component.
• The goal is to stimulate the body's natural defenses to recognize and kill tumor cells.

Immune Checkpoint Receptors

• Checkpoint receptors (PD-1/PD-L1) are proteins on T-cells that prevent them from destroying cancer cells.
• Tumors exploit these checkpoints to evade the immune system and escape detection.

Research Focus

• Dr. Gunda's proposal focuses on understanding the role of PD-1/PD-L1 in thyroid cancer and studying the potential for inhibitors to have synergistic effects when combined with MAPKinase inhibitors and multi-kinase VEGFR inhibitors.
• He will study the effectiveness of anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 antibodies in blocking checkpoint receptors and allowing for immune system recognition and elimination of tumor cells in an immunocompetent mouse model of anaplastic thyroid cancer.

ATA Research Committee

• The ATA Research Committee, chaired by Dr. Motoyasu Saji, has been supporting young scientists in various thyroid-related research areas, including clinical, translational, and basic areas.
• The committee receives over 50 grant applications from various countries every year.

Funding and Support

• The ATA has awarded 85 thyroid research grants totaling over $2.2 million since the inception of the Research Fund.
• ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, Inc. has provided funding in support of 60 special research grants totaling $1,680,000 focused on thyroid cancer and medullary thyroid cancer since 2003.
• Bite Me Cancer has supported five thyroid cancer grants since 2014, totaling $143,750.
• The ATA supports all administrative and financial oversight for the research grant program.

Organizations

• The American Thyroid Association (ATA) is the leading worldwide organization dedicated to the advancement, understanding, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer.
• ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, Inc. is a member of the ATA Alliance for Patient Education.
• Bite Me Cancer is a member of the ATA Alliance for Patient Education.

The American Thyroid Association announces Viswanath Gunda as the recipient of a 2016 research grant for his project on thyroid cancer treatment. His project explores combinatorial approaches to treating thyroid cancer.