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What if the next advance in cancer immunotherapy starts with one bold idea?

Every breakthrough begins with a question no one has answered before. But turning bold ideas into new treatments takes more than scientific curiosity — it requires the funding to pursue them.

That’s why the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) is proud to announce the 2026 CLIP (Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program) and Technology Impact Award projects, supporting innovative research and cutting-edge technologies that have the potential to accelerate the next generation of cancer immunotherapies.

The CLIP and Technology Impact Awards invest directly in ambitious research projects and transformative technologies. These awards support work with the potential to answer critical scientific questions, overcome barriers to effective treatment, and provide researchers with powerful new tools to advance the field.

“Progress in cancer immunotherapy depends on scientists who are willing to challenge conventional thinking and pursue bold new approaches,” said CRI CEO Alicia Zhou, PhD. “These projects reflect the kind of innovative, high-impact science that has the potential to improve outcomes for patients and shape the future of cancer treatment.”

Each year, CRI selects a group of projects with the potential to move the field forward in meaningful ways. By supporting bold translational research and technology development, these awards help accelerate discoveries that could ultimately benefit patients around the world.

Learn more about this year’s awardees and the innovative research they’re leading.

Meet the Investigators

2026 CLIP Projects: Accelerating the Translation of Discovery

By supporting investigators whose work directly connects laboratory science with clinical application, CRI accelerates research capable of improving patient care while generating new scientific understanding that benefits the entire field.

Meet the 2026 CLIP Investigators:

• Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD Defining vaccine-induced immunity against mutated Calreticulin in myeloproliferative neoplasms

• Margaret Callahan, MD, PhD Regulatory T cell programming is a key determinant of response to anti-PD-1+anti-LAG-3 therapy

• Christian Hinrichs, MD On-demand cytokine support to enhance adoptive T cell therapy

• Suzanne Lentzsch, MD, PhD Bispecific phagocyte engagers for AL amyloidosis precise immunotherapy

• Hind Rafei, MD Splicing isoform-directed Cas13 reprogramming of CAR-T cells for solid tumor immunotherapy

• Joshua Veatch, MD, PhD Development of CD4+ T cell therapies targeting human papillomavirus-driven malignancies

• Deric Wheeler, PhD EphA2-DDR1 axis promotes collagen remodeling and immune exclusion in head and neck cancer

2026 Technology Impact Awards: Turning Bold Visions into Breakthroughs

The Technology Impact Award provides seed funding for visionary investigators developing entirely new approaches to some of cancer immunotherapy’s most difficult challenges — from advanced imaging platforms and computational systems to novel biological tools capable of revealing aspects of the immune system that remain invisible today.

Meet the 2026 Tech Impact Awardees:

• Michael Birnbaum, PhD Polyclonal TCR-T therapy enabled by scalable synthesis of tumor-reactive TCR libraries

• Brian Brown, PhD Targeting RNA-LNP to boost cancer vaccine immunity

• Peter Bruno, PhD Next-generation cancer vaccines through AI-guided MHC-II functional genomics

• Jie Luo, PhD Whole-body immune cell mapping platform for understanding immunotherapy resistance

• Ekaterina Vinogradova, PhD A chemoproteogenomic platform to pharmacologically probe and modify T cell function

By funding these ambitious and well-conceived projects, CRI continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in cancer immunotherapy. As these investigators pursue their work, the field will move closer to a future immune to cancer, where more patients benefit from treatments that are more precise, powerful, and long-lasting.

The post From Bold Ideas to Breakthroughs: Introducing CRI’s 2026 CLIP & Technology Impact Award Projects appeared first on Cancer Research Institute.