Computationally designed protein nanoparticles have recently emerged as a promising platform for the development of new vaccines and biologics. For many applications, secretion of designed nanoparticles from eukaryotic cells would be advantageous, but in practice, they often secrete poorly. Here we show that designed hydrophobic interfaces that drive nanoparticle assembly are often predicted to form cryptic transmembrane domains, suggesting that…
In a just-published paper in the journal Nature, a collaborative team of researchers from ISB, UCLA, PACT Pharma, and beyond analyzed T-cell responses in melanoma patients who were treated with different immune checkpoint inhibitors, and how those responses evolved over time. Cristina Puig Saus, PhD, who led the work, and co-authors Antoni Ribas, PhD, and Jim Heath, PhD, sat down to discuss…
CRISPR-Cas9 has yielded a plethora of effectors, including targeted transcriptional activators, base editors and prime editors. Current approaches for inducibly modulating Cas9 activity lack temporal precision and require extensive screening and optimization. We describe a versatile, chemically controlled and rapidly activated single-component DNA-binding Cas9 switch, ciCas9, which we use to confer temporal control over seven Cas9 effectors, including two cytidine…
March is Women’s History Month and we’re celebrating by talking with some of our institute’s directors. The executive director of Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) is Rita Mangione-Smith, MD, MPH, who is also vice president for research and health care innovation for Kaiser Permanente Washington, led by regional president Angela Dowling. Among KPWHRI’s 11 directors are 9 women, with women leading all 4…
An interdisciplinary research team led by University of Washington Chemistry Professor Alshakim Nelson received $2 million in funding from the National Science Foundation’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program. The funding will be used to combine engineered microorganisms with 3D printing to create materials for sustainable built environments. This grant will provide funding to researchers at UW, the University of Texas at…
There are few complications of bone marrow transplantation more dangerous than a viral infection that heads for the lungs. Jim Boonyaratanakornkit, MD, PhD, aims to do something about it. With a team of researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, he is reporting progress on the development of an experimental drug combination to prevent infection by four common respiratory viruses. Before…
Scientists at the University of Washington School of Medicine are winners of the 2023 Gizmodo Science Fair for their experimental breast cancer vaccine. In November, the researchers published data from a Phase I safety trial of their vaccine, which involved 66 women with advanced-stage breast cancer. The women had undergone treatment that either put their cancer into complete remission or largely contained…
“There’s a real diversity of jobs available that folks don’t always think about initially when they think about going into healthcare,” says Marc Cummings, the President and CEO of Life Science Washington, a nonprofit trade association serving the life sciences industry in the state of Washington. Dr. Tina Albertson, the Chief Medical Officer at nearby Lyell Immunopharma, agrees. For instance…
The Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI) published the results of a Phase I clinical trial demonstrating the safety and immunogenicity of a new, thermostable vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), the world’s second deadliest infectious disease. The TB vaccine comprises multiple proteins from the causative Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacterium as a fusion protein (designated ID93) combined with a proprietary immune-stimulating adjuvant (called GLA-SE)…
University of Washington students developing a potential test for endometriosis took home the top prize Thursday at the 8th annual UW Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge. The competition gives students the chance to make connections and win funding that could help develop their school projects into startups. The winning group, Endozene, received $15,000 sponsored by Washington Research Foundation.
