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The Immunity Boosters
A Conversation with Dr. Kunle Odunsi
ith a strong emphasis on innovative,
high-impact, phase I clinical research
studies, RPCI’s new Center for
Immunotherapy is bringing together “a critical
mass of clinical investigators and scientists
who are focused on a wide range of cancer
types,” says Center Director Kunle Odunsi,
MD, PhD. That intellectual capital—brought
together with an immune-analysis facility, a
therapeutic cell-production facility and a
support system for partnerships with industry
and academic centers—puts RPCI on the fast
track toward developing effective new immunotherapies. Although some other cancer centers
in the US include some of those components,
“it is unusual for them to function under one
umbrella, in synergy,” explains Dr. Odunsi.
W
The Center is testing several strategies,
including cancer vaccines, antibody therapy,
cellular therapy and immune-response
modifiers. One critical component of those
efforts is the cGMP Therapeutic Cell
Production Facility (TCPF), the first of its
kind in Upstate New York. This self-contained
modular unit can produce immune cells
under the strict purity and sterility conditions
required by the FDA and New York State.
ABOUT THE CENTER’S DIRECTOR
Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, FRCOG, FACOG
Chair, Department of Gynecologic Oncology
Professor of Gynecologic Oncology, Division of Surgical Subspecialties
Research Program Director, Division of Gynecologic Oncology
Director, Center for Immunotherapy
Professor of Gynecology & Obstetrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences, University at Buffalo
Director, US Cancer Vaccine Collaborative Program, Cancer Research
Institute/Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
“This unique resource allows us, for the first
time, to conduct cellular therapies, where we
take immune cells from patients, expand them
in the TCPF and give them back to patients,”
says Dr. Odunsi. With each immunotherapy
approach, “the tumor may respond by
developing mechanisms to escape from
immune attack. Therefore, we are focusing on
understanding how best to generate positive,
high-quality immune cells, and how best to
counteract some of the negative influences,
especially those generated by the tumor
environment.”
The Center also houses a critical “sister”
facility, the Immune Analysis Facility (IAF),
which “uses highly sophisticated techniques
to measure individual patient immune-function
parameters at baseline and at various intervals
after the treatment,” explains Dr. Odunsi.
“This allows us to understand how the immune
therapy under study is working to produce
desirable immunologic effects, and if not,
how best to further optimize the therapy.”
“Our studies are proof-of-concept trials, testing different variables in
order to identify the most effective method for generating high-quality
immune responses against human cancers.”
To generate answers quickly and efficiently, the
Center is equipped to conduct coordinated,
parallel, phase I clinical research studies, each
generating information about a single variable.
While traditional phase I clinical studies gauge
safety and toxicity before moving on to phase II,
“our phase I immunotherapy studies are out of
the box of the traditional phase I paradigm,”
explains Dr. Odunsi. “Our studies are proofof-concept trials, testing different variables
to identify the most effective method for
generating high-quality immune responses
against human cancers. Our IAF enables us
to examine the depth and breadth of immune
responses generated by the different variables,
and we then take the best strategy to phase II
clinical research studies.
“When planning new trials, we strategically
identify variables that we need to test, based
on basic and preclinical studies conducted at
RPCI or other institutions. Once we understand
what a particular investigator is testing in a
clinical trial, another investigator sets up a
similar trial, but adds a single variable. This
model allows us to monitor the results with
our immune-analysis facility and generate novel
insights into the impact of the single variables
on immune responses in humans. Conducting
these studies in parallel, not in sequence, is
another major strength of the center.
“We will generate novel understandings, novel
insights, into the impact of single variables on
immune responses in humans—not in mice.”
Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
• MD, University of Ife, College of Health Sciences, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
• PhD, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
• OBGYN Residency: Yale University School of Medicine
• Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship: Roswell Park Cancer Institute
• Fellow, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (UK)
• Fellow, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• Board Certifications: Obstetrics & Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology, American
Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Research interests: Mechanisms of interaction of the immune system with human ovarian
cancer; development of cancer vaccine therapies; early detection of ovarian cancer.
T H E C E N T E R ’ S S C I E N T I F I C A D V I S O RY C O M M I T T E E
Dr. Candace Johnson
Dr. Kelvin Lee
Dr. Protul Shrikant
Strategic guidance for the Center for Immunotherapy is provided by a
Scientific Advisory Committee chaired by Kelvin Lee, MD, the Jacobs
Family Chair of Immunology; Vice Chair, Department of Medicine, and
Co-Leader, Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy CCSG Program,
RPCI. Other members include Candace Johnson, PhD, the Robert,
Anne and Lew Wallace Endowed Chair for Translational Research and
Deputy Director, RPCI; Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine,
Pathology and Dermatology and Director, Tumor Vaccine Program, New
York University; Alexander Knuth, MD, Chair for Internal Medicine and
Oncology, University of Zurich, Switzerland; and Protul Shrikant, PhD,
Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, RPCI.