Benaroya Research Institute is one of four organizations receiving funding from a new $10 million autoimmunity research grant funded by the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, JDRF and the Helmsley Charitable Trust. Checkpoint inhibitors have become an increasingly common cancer immunotherapy treatment capable of extending patient lives. However, about 1 percent of patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors develop insulin-dependent diabetes that appears similar to type 1 diabetes (T1D). The new grant aims to understand how and why insulin-dependent diabetes may develop in some people following cancer immunotherapy. There is hope this autoimmunity research collaboration may also shed some light on causes of T1D in the broader population, not just with cancer patients. Among the investigators participating in the grant are Jane Buckner, MD, president and director of translational research at BRI.
