Spring 2026
By Hannah White Hannah
The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) is advancing bold new strategies to harness the immune system against cancer through two grants at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Nearly $1.5 million will support two exceptional investigators—Judith Agudo, PhD, and Samantha Fernandez, PhD,—whose innovative research is uncovering how cancer evades immune detection and how those defenses can be dismantled.
The CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Program recognizes scientists whose outstanding and innovative research has had a major impact on the cancer field and has the potential to stimulate new directions in cancer immunology. With the STAR award, Agudo is tackling her proposal, Decoding Cancer Cell Plasticity as a Driver of Immune Evasion During Tumor Evolution. Her lab studies the small population of “stem-like” tumor cells that often survive treatment and cause relapse or metastasis. With this funding, Agudo and her team are developing advanced models that more closely reflect patient biology to uncover how these resilient cells adapt to immune pressure and persist despite treatment.
“For immunotherapies to succeed, we must understand the mechanisms that allow certain cancer cells to resist immune attack,” said Agudo. “This funding allows us to pursue that knowledge in new and dynamic ways—work that will ultimately help us design better, more durable therapies for patients.” The second CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship will provide $243,000 of support for Fernandez. Her proposal is called Discovering Conserved Mechanisms of Interferon Dependent Cancer Immunity Using Cross-Kingdom Interactions. Fernandez’s research explores the complex role of interferon signaling in cancer, investigating how evolutionary conserved mechanisms of anti-tumor immunity can both drive strong immune responses and, paradoxically, enable tumor cells to hide from the immune system. Insights from this work could inform future generations of immunotherapies.
These projects exemplify the power of philanthropy to drive discovery. By supporting investigators like Agudo and Fernandez, CRI is helping Dana-Farber scientists pursue bold ideas that expand the frontiers of immunotherapy. This support empowers researchers to take risks, follow promising leads, and bring us closer to a future where immunotherapy benefits more patients worldwide.