Congratulations to Dr. Brent Stockwell, (William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, and Pathology & Cell Biology, and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University) on receiving three awards for projects exploring cancer immunology from different angles.
From the Department of Defense Melanoma Research Program, Dr. Stockwell received a Team Science Award for inducing lipid peroxidation in lymph nodes, where melanoma cells are protected from the immune system. This project aims to promote "systemic immunosurveillance”-- as a result of the lipid peroxidation, destroyed melanoma cells will trigger the body’s immune system to fight off melanoma cells throughout the entire body.
Dr. Stockwell also received a Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Award for a project that targets myeloid cells, a blood cell formed in the bone marrow (and a key part of the immune system) to treat cancer.
The third award, an AACR-Mark Foundation Chemistry in Cancer Research Grant, supports a project in which iNKT cells, naturally present in the liver, will identify cancer cells by seeking certain traits. When the patient takes a harmless "prodrug," these engineered immune cells safely activate the medicine only at the tumor site, wiping out the cancer while leaving healthy tissue completely untouched.
The Stockwell Laboratory investigates therapeutic strategies to target cancers, with a focus on ferroptosis (cell death caused by a buildup of lipid peroxides), drug resistance, and single-cell methodologies. Furthermore, the group’s diverse use of chemical and biological tools deepens their understanding of cell death and disease.
