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Wistar Science Saves Lives Annual Report 2014

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Wistar Science Saves Lives Annual Report 2014 WISTAR SCIENCE SAVES LIVES ANNUAL REPORT 2014 A YEAR OF COLLABORATION 2014 was a remarkable year for The Wistar Institute. The $102 million building expansion project was completed in September 2014 with the opening of the Robert and Penny Fox Tower. Beyond the brick and mortar, the $35 million capital campaign Building Wistar, Changing the World is nearing completion and will usher in vital new faculty and grow Wistar’s programmatic strengths in cancer research, immunology and infectious disease. Our scientists and staff exulted in the Fox Tower—a modern and exciting addition to Wistar’s campus and the first new construction in 40 years. Meetings have come out from behind closed doors and into the soaring piazza-like atrium. Scientists have made the open plan, light-filled laboratory spaces thoroughly their home. 89,000 square feet and seven stories later, we are celebrating the moment— and your support—that has allowed us to build for the future and do what we do best: Wistar Science. 2014 was also a series of pivotal moments. The remarkable work our scientists do at “the bench” gained Wistar an “Exceptional” rating from the National Cancer Institute—the highest possible rating a cancer center can earn. At the core of this effort was teamwork and collaboration. Last year witnessed HIV expert Dr. Luis Montaner’s multi-institutional collaboration to begin the largest ever HIV cure-focused clinical trial of its kind—based here in Philadelphia—to drain HIV reservoirs in affected individuals; Dr. Meenhard Herlyn’s progressive melanoma work, bringing together the diverse expertise of Wistar and Penn scientists, garnered a third Special Program of Research Excellence grant awarded to the Institute; and Dr. Louise Showe’s research into lung cancer detection, now in clinical study with industry partners, could make a simple blood test emerge as an important cancer diagnostic tool. In these pages, we highlight Wistar’s advances in cancer research, strides to develop better vaccines, and progress devoted to tackling HIV/AIDS, along with comprehensive accounts of our activities, administration and governance. 2014 was undeniably seminal, but looking back or looking forward, isn’t that true every year at Wistar? DARIO C. ALTIERI, M.D. RUSSEL E. KAUFMAN, M.D. President & CEO of The Wistar Institute, President Emeritus of Director of The Wistar Institute Cancer Center, The Wistar Institute and Robert and Penny Fox Distinguished Professor 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 3 We closed 2014 by announcing the evolution of Wistar leadership with Dr. Dario C. Altieri succeeding Dr. Russel E. Kaufman as president & CEO in THE FUTURE March 2015. Dr. Kaufman’s 12 years at Wistar have brought unprecedented scientific accomplishments and accolades, and his legacy has fortified the Institute for years to come. Dr. Altieri is no stranger to Wistar. Since 2010, IS NOW he has been director of Wistar’s National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center and Wistar’s first chief scientific officer. Dr. Altieri has galvanized Wistar’s strength in cancer research, recruited world-class investigators and charted a new path for translational medicine that accelerates the progression from basic research to clinical trials with partners in industry and medicine. CONTENTS 6 SCIENTISTS AND CLINICIANS IN TANDEM CREATE BETTER MEDICINE 10 HIV CURE STRATEGY LEADS TO LARGEST CLINICAL TRIAL OF ITS KIND 13 NEW TEST COULD CATCH LUNG CANCER BEFORE IT BECOMES DEADLY 14 HERPES VIRUS REPLICATES BY REARRANGING TELOMERES 16 COLLABORATION LEADS TO PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL GRANT FOR MELANOMA RESEARCH 17 GRANT HONES IN ON CANCER GENETICS AND CELLULAR SENESCENCE RESEARCH 18 BUILDING A BETTER FLU SHOT 21 REDEFINING THE BUSINESS OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH 22 BORN THIS WAY: THE WORK OF A MILLENNIAL PHILANTHROPIST 24 DELIVERING ON A CAMPAIGN OF PROMISE 26 EVENTS 30 ANNUAL GIVING 34 HERITAGE SOCIETY 35 WISTAR FAMILY GIFTS 36 BOARD OF TRUSTEES This artistic rendering of a human 37 STAFF AND ADMINISTRATION dendritic cell shows how membranes fold back onto the surface of a cell like a set of sheets. These sheet- like structures end up trapping the HIV virus, and then eventually the virus can be transferred to helper T-cells, which contribute to the infection. Photo credit: National Cancer Institute (NCI) SCIENTISTS AND CLINICIANS IN TANDEM CREATE BETTER MEDICINE Dario C. Altieri, M.D., President & CEO of The Wistar Institute, Director of The Wistar Institute Cancer Center, and Robert and Penny Fox Distinguished Professor In 2014, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) rated Wistar’s Cancer Center— and its director, Dario C. Altieri, M.D.—as “Exceptional,” the highest possible ranking, and recommended renewal of the Center’s Support Grant with a $14.9 million award over the next five years. Playing a significant role in securing renewed status as an NCI Cancer Center was Wistar’s commitment to collaboration, both across disciplines and in partnership with other institutions, including the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery at Temple University, the Community College of Philadelphia, and the Christiana Care Health System’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute in Delaware. 6 THE WISTAR INSTITUTE In its Support Grant renewal, NCI described the Wistar-Graham Center partnership as “extraordinary and innovative.” Wistar, the nation’s first NCI-designated cancer center solely devoted to cancer biology research, and the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, one of the first NCI-designated community cancer centers, made history when they joined forces in 2011. It was the region’s first and only inter- institutional affiliation between a basic research institution and a community cancer center. Access to quality patient-derived primary tumor samples from Christiana Care’s Tissue Procurement Center enables Wistar scientists to better study a tumor’s microenvironment and determine how and why cancer grows and spreads. Together, these two centers are working to more quickly “translate” or advance discoveries in cancer medicine from the lab into early phase (Phase I and II) clinical trials with cancer patients at Christiana Care. Given that 80 percent of oncology care is given at community cancer centers like that at Christiana, the pairing is a natural fit. It also fosters opportunities for collaboration, education and funding between researchers and clinicians that would not otherwise be feasible. The end goal: better diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Some of the pioneering joint projects in basic biomedical science and translational cancer research underway in 2014 include: LUNG CANCER Louise C. Showe, Ph.D., a professor in Wistar’s Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis program and director of the Institute’s Genomics Facility, together with Thomas Bauer, M.D., a thoracic surgeon at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, are developing a blood test for detecting early stage non-small cell lung cancer. Using blood samples contributed by lung patients through the Tissue Procurement Center, Dr. Showe is working on a more sensitive, less invasive test that uses whole blood, which could easily be drawn at the doctor’s office. Above, this three-dimensional spheroid was grown from a line of melanoma cells that have a mutation of the NRAS gene. This mutation, which helps the cancer grow and spread, occurs in up to 25 percent of melanoma patients and could be a useful target for new therapies. 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 7 8 THE WISTAR INSTITUTE Scientists analyze tumor samples to identify the genetic drivers of various melanoma subtypes and try to determine why some tumors are resistant to treatment. MELANOMA Scientists in Wistar’s Melanoma Research Center, the nation’s largest melanoma laboratory outside of the National Institutes of Health, are using tumor samples donated by patients undergoing melanoma surgery at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center. This invaluable resource provides director Meenhard Herlyn, D.V.M., D.Sc., and his team with a vast range of melanoma subtypes, some previously unavailable, with which they are working to identify genetic drivers and determine why some tumors are resistant to treatment. OVARIAN CANCER AND IMMUNITY José Conejo-Garcia, M.D., Ph.D., professor and program leader for Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis at Wistar, has teamed up with gynecologic oncologists at Christiana Care on ovarian cancer research. Dr. Conejo-Garcia uses tumor samples from the Tissue Procurement Center to verify that previous animal model findings reflect what actually happens in human disease. Dr. Conejo-Garcia wants to learn more about how ovarian cancer acts on the body’s natural defenses to enable tumor growth. His laboratory is attempting to identify tumor surface markers that could become targets for early detection—a critical need, considering there is currently no effective screening test for ovarian cancer. His lab is also working to culture ovarian tumor cell lines to study tumor progression and to test new drugs. Dr. Conejo-Garcia and his team co-authored two papers on this work with gynecologic specialists at Christiana Care. Christiana’s Tissue Procurement Center is also supplying custom-prepared, protocol-driven samples of peripheral blood and cancer tumors to Dmitry Gabrilovich, M.D., Ph.D., and investigators in his Translational Tumor Immunology program. They are looking at various types of myeloid cell defects and how cancer impacts their role in the body’s immune response. Some of their proposed therapeutic strategies to overcome these actions are being tested in clinical trials. Above, this three-dimensional image of a melanoma cell was obtained using a special type of electron microscope that is able to render cells that have a very small resolution. Photo credit: NCI 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 9 HIV CURE STRATEGY LEADS TO LARGEST CLINICAL TRIAL OF ITS KIND Luis J. Montaner, D.V.M., M.Sc., D. Phil., Herbert Kean, M.D., Family Professor; Professor and Director, HIV-1 Immunopathogenesis Laboratory; Member, Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program 10 THE WISTAR INSTITUTE “With this funding, Philadelphia will conduct the largest randomized trial anywhere focused on testing an easily accessible strategy to advance an HIV cure.” Dr.
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