PI: Maryam Asgari, MD, MPH | Professor and Chair, Dermatology

Team: Cathy Bradley, PhD, Dean, Colorado School of Public Health; Lori Crane, PhD, MPH, Professor, Community & Behavioral Health; Russell Glasgow, PhD, Director of the Adult & Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research & Delivery Science (ACCORDS) Dissemination and Implementation Science Program; Chris Gignoux, PhD, Professor, Biomedical Informatics

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the U.S., and Colorado has one of the highest per-capita rates of skin cancer in the country. Leveraging established expertise in developing skin cancer PRS polygenic risk scores (used for stratification and prediction of disease risk) and implementation, Asgari and team will test a skin cancer screening program that uses a validated skin cancer risk prediction tool that combines genetic and clinical risk factors to identify individuals at high risk for skin cancer among Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine (CCPM Biobank) participants and examine its efficacy in reducing skin cancer-related outcomes. The results of this research are likely to impact patient care in the next five years by identifying a high-risk subgroup for which skin cancer screenings could yield clear, direct benefits, including reduction in morbidity and mortality.

PI: Eduardo Davila, PhD | Professor, Medical Oncology

Team: Breelyn Wilky, MD, Associate Professor, Medical Oncology; Richard Duke, MD, PhD, MS, Professor, Medical Oncology; Terry Fry, MD, Professor, Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology & Director, Gates Institute; Michael Verneris, MD, Professor, Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology; Matthew Seefeldt, PhD, Director of Cell Therapy Manufacturing, Gates Biomanufacturing Facility

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. and the leading cause of death in Colorado. The Davila laboratory, in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, is developing a novel methodology to enhance all forms of cellular immunotherapy including a more universal form of cell therapy referred to as tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy. The goal is to develop good manufacturing practices, technology and methodology to reduce production times, reduce the number of cells that need to be administered, lessen costs, and generate more effective cellular immunotherapy products. With support from the AAI, the near-term goal is to carry out a first-in-class clinical trial of the TIL technology to be initiated in early 2025.

PI: Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer, PhD | Professor, Ophthalmology

Team: Malik Y. Kahook, MD, Professor, Ophthalmology; Naresh Mandava, MD, Professor, Ophthalmology; Michael McDermott, MD, Professor, Endocrinology; Jeffrey Bennett, MD, PhD, Professor, Neurology; Larry Allen, MD, MHS, Professor, Cardiology; Mark Earnest, MD, Professor, Internal Medicine; Chris Gignoux, PhD, Professor, Biomedical Informatics; Sean Davis, MD, PhD, Professor, Biomedical Informatics; Ian Brooks, PhD, Director, Health Data Compass and Associate Professor, Biomedical Informatics; Michael Miller, Director, Office of Information Technology

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have demonstrated the value of ophthalmic imaging in assessing the overall health of the patient, beyond just diseases of the eye. Kalpathy-Cramer and team are developing a multidisciplinary project by bringing AI-assisted ophthalmic imaging outside of ophthalmology to improve patient health and clinical outcomes, meet quality metrics and reduce health system costs, and further advance the field of oculomics. The team hypothesizes that by imaging patients at internal medicine, endocrinology, cardiology and neurology clinics using routine ophthalmic systems including fundus cameras and Optical Coherence Tomography systems, supported by advanced AI, they can identify new ophthalmic biomarkers for patients at risk for many systemic diseases sooner than current practice, leading to overall improved outcomes. The successful completion of this ambitious goal would make oculomics a mainstream, non-invasive and cost-effective tool for the assessment of patient health.

PI: Valeria Canto-Soler, PhD | Associate Professor, Ophthalmology & Director, CellSight

Team: Miguel Flores-Bellver, PhD, Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology; Marc Mathias, MD, Associate Professor, Ophthalmology; Alan Palestine, MD, Professor, Ophthalmology; Silvia Aparicio Domingo, Research Services Program Manager; Andres Lisker, MD, Research Associate, Ophthalmology; Hoang Nguyen, Research Services Senior Professional, Ophthalmology; Riya Koley, Research Services Professional, Ophthalmology; Wenbo Zhou, Research Associate, Ophthalmology; Dominic Shayler, Postdoctoral Fellow, Ophthalmology; Caitlin Hays, Research Services Professional, Ophthalmology; Naresh Mandava, MD, Professor and Chair, Ophthalmology; Jordan Krause, Assistant Director of Product Management, Gates Institute; Matthew Seefeldt, PhD, Executive Director, Gates Biomanufacturing Facility; Russell Craig Marians, PhD, Senior Research Associate, Dermatology; Christopher Garbe, MBA, Technical Operations Director, Gates Biomanufacturing Facility; Christopher Petrelli, PhD, PMP, Project Manager, Gates Biomanufacturing Facility; Cheri Adams, MSHS, RAC, RN, Program Director, Gates Institute; Andrew Roth, PhD, Scientific Writer, Gates Institute; Chanel Louise Mansfield, MPH, Associate Director of Clinical Research, Gates Institute; Mary Tapolsky, PhD, Director of Licensing, CU Innovations; Doreen Molk, MS, Senior Licensing Manager, CU Innovations; Bruce Beckstein, Owner and President, MedOne Surgical, Inc.; Segundo Rodriguez, Engineering Manager, MedOne Surgical, Inc.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the developed world and nearly 90% of patients suffer from the dry form of this condition. Valeria Canto-Soler and team have developed two products: the first is a transplant designed to reverse vision loss in dry AMD patients with developing geographic atrophy (GA), and the second is a first-of-its-kind transplant designed to restore vision in dry AMD patients affected by late-GA. The potential impacts of these products are enormous, as approximately 2 million Americans with GA would be immediately eligible for experimental retinal transplantation to restore vision, thus having a profound effect on their quality of life.

PI: Antonio Jimeno, MD, PhD | Professor, Medical Oncology

Team: Tin Tin Su, PhD, Professor, Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology (CU Boulder); Dan Gustafson, PhD, Pharmacology (CSU Fort Collins); Dan Bowles, MD, Associate Professor, Medical Oncology

An interdisciplinary team will target fusion proteins to treat patients with head and neck cancers. With the use of a synthetic small molecule called SVC112 that uses a new and unique mechanism of action, the team now has a clear line of sight from discovery to generate preclinical data to de-risk and ready SVC112 for the clinic. Based on compelling efficacy and safety profiles, SVC112 passed three reviews to enter the competitive National Cancer Institute’s Experimental Therapeutics (NExT) Program in 2023 to develop SVC112 for salivary gland cancer; AAI support will accelerate the investigational new drug filing to the Food and Drug Administration (months 0-18), fund the first-in-human Phase 1a trial in cancer patients (months 18-36), and the Phase 1b trial in ACC patients (months 36-60).