2025 Krantz Awards

    The Krantz Awards — the hospital’s most significant internal funding opportunity for cancer research — were established in 2023 to fundamentally change how cancer is diagnosed and treated at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute and beyond. In supporting the visionary efforts of the Krantz Center faculty, the awards are expected to accelerate research and drive cancer discovery across the institution and generate a seismic shift in the treatment of cancer for patients around the world.

    Meet the 2025 Krantz Award recipients below.

    2025 Quantum Award

    Mario-CART cells to discover the best next-generation engineered T cell therapies for cancer patients

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    Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research investigators Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, and Rob Manguso, PhD, along with clinical cellular therapy expert Matt Frigault, MD, are working together to improve chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. CAR T has transformed the treatment of certain blood cancers, but it has not been as effective for solid tumors like pancreatic cancer.

    Team (left to right): Matthew Frigault, MD, Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, Robert Manguso, PhD.
    Team (left to right): Matthew Frigault, MD, Marcela Maus, MD, PhD and Robert Manguso, PhD.

    This team has determined how to test which genes might make CAR T-cells stronger and more effective in laboratory models. The FDA has now approved their efforts to try this approach in people. They are launching a first-in-the-world study where pancreatic cancer patients will receive these specially engineered CAR T-cells while researchers test which genetic changes can boost their power. If it is successful, this could be a huge breakthrough that makes CAR T-cell therapy effective for many more types of cancer.

    2025 Breakthrough Awards

    Targeting epithelial heterogeneity in liver cancer

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    Team (left to right): Andrea McClatchey, PhD and Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD.
    Team (left to right): Andrea McClatchey, PhD and Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD.

    Bile duct cancers are rare and aggressive, but recent targeted therapies have brought new hope for patients. Krantz Center investigators Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD, an expert in cancer genetics, and Andrea McClatchey, PhD, an expert in developmental biology, will collaborate on a new bile duct cancer-focused research project that builds on Mass General’s leadership in this field. Their work aims to uncover why some bile duct cancers respond well to these new treatments while others do not, paving the way for more personalized therapies.

    Studying DNA repair to enhance cancer immunotherapy

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    Team (left to right): Andrew Elia, MD, PhD, Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD, MBA and Debattama Sen, PhD.
    Team (left to right): Andrew Elia, MD, PhD, Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD, MBA and Debattama Sen, PhD.

    Cancer-fighting T cells often become “exhausted” and stop working. With support from a prior Spark Award, Krantz Center investigators Deb Sen, PhD, and Andrew Elia, MD, PhD, discovered that a drug affecting DNA damage response can also reinvigorate exhausted T cells. They are now working with Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD, radiation oncologist-in-chief of Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, to test this approach in models of pediatric brain tumors. Their findings could open an entirely new way to boost the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.

    Dissecting the role of H3K27 methylation in B cell oncogenesis using novel histone tools

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    Team (left to right): Peter van Galen, PhD, Konrad Hochedlinger, PhD and Hanno Hock, MD, PhD.
    Team (left to right): Peter van Galen, PhD, Konrad Hochedlinger, PhD and Hanno Hock, MD, PhD.

    Changes in how DNA is packaged inside chromosomes can drive cancer, but the details remain poorly understood. With support from a previous Spark Award, Krantz Center investigator Konrad Hochedlinger, PhD, discovered that a single mutation in a chromosome regulator can trigger lymphoma in mice. He will now collaborate with fellow Krantz Center investigator Hanno Hock, MD, PhD, and Brigham and Women’s investigator Peter van Galen, PhD, to uncover why this mutation can lead to disease. Their work could reveal fundamental cancer mechanisms with wide-reaching implications across blood cancers and solid tumors.

    2025 Spark Awards

    Proof of Concept for a Peptide-PROTAC Strategy

    Mikolaj Slabicki, PhD

    Mikolaj Slabicki, PhD
    Assistant Professor of Medicine

     

     

     

    Using spatial transcriptomics to define roles for aging in cancer progression

    Raul Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD

    Raul Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD
    Scientific Director, Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research
    Laurel Schwartz Professor in Medicine in the Field of Oncology
    Professor of Medicine

     

     

    Targeting ALK Fusion Proteins with COUPLrs: Mechanistic Insights and Therapeutic Development

    Liron Bar-Peled, PhD

    Liron Bar-Peled, PhD
    Rullo Family Endowed Chair in Cancer Research
    Associate Professor of Medicine

     

     

    Anthony John Iafrate, MD, PhD

    Anthony John Iafrate, MD, PhD
    Austin L. Vickery, Jr. Professor of Pathology

     

     

     

    Combining high-sensitivity automated protein quantification with CTC enrichment for selecting immune-based cancer therapies

    Avanish Mishra, PhD

    Avanish Mishra, PhD
    Assistant Professor of Surgery

     

     

     

    David R. Walt, PhD

    David R. Walt, PhD
    Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Bioinspired Engineering
    Professor of Pathology

     

     

     

    Overcoming resistance to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy with cryoablation in metastatic melanoma

    Meghan Mooradian, MD

    Meghan Mooradian, MD
    Assistant Professor of Medicine

     

     

     

    Moshe Sade-Feldman, PhD

    Moshe Sade-Feldman, PhD
    Assistant Professor of Medicine

     

     

     

    2025 Technology Award

    The 2025 Technology Award will fund a powerful computational infrastructure (graphics processing unit, or GPU) for AI-based cancer research. This system will allow Krantz Center researchers to analyze vast genetic, pathology and clinical datasets at unprecedented speed and depth. With matching support from our Department of Pathology colleagues, this resource will accelerate discoveries across the Krantz Center and the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute.

     

    Learn more about the Krantz Awards

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