YALE CANCER CENTER CALABRESI IMMUNO-ONCOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM

Summary: Therapy for multiple types of cancer has evolved dramatically in the last decade with the emergence of immune modulation therapies that induce responses and prolong survival in the adjuvant and metastatic settings. It is now apparent that these advances are only the vanguard in a rapidly evolving field. Investigators from Yale School of Medicine have played key roles in both pre-clinical and clinical advances in immuno- oncology. Continued advancement requires better understanding of primary and secondary resistance to immune therapy, the biology of immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment, rational drug combinations, studies of drug toxicities and new trial designs specific for immune therapies. Hence, there is an urgent need to train junior investigators to conduct patient-oriented cancer immunology and immunotherapy studies to further accelerate these advances. Our Immuno-Oncology Training Program (IOTP) addresses this critical need by training MD or MD/PhD Scholars in clinically-relevant immuno-oncology and translational immunology. At least five junior faculty scholars are enrolled at any given time. IOTP is distinct from existing training programs at Yale as it is the only one to specifically focus on training of junior faculty in patient-oriented research in immuno- oncology and immunotherapy. IOTP has been highly successful to date in developing a diverse pool of independently funded researchers who capitalize on the wealth of expertise at our institution in immunobiology and immunotherapy. IOTP faculty have extensive track records of mentorship and are actively pursuing research in these areas. IOTP is supported by the Yale Cancer Center (YCC) and synergizes with the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, home to our CTSA grant, which provides some foundational courses. Key distinguishing features or IOTP are didactic and practical training developed specifically for this program including courses on basic immunology and cancer immunology, immunotherapy-specific clinical trial design, the Cancer Immunology Forum and an individually tailored, two-year Translational Immuno-oncology research project encompassing laboratory and/or clinical research. New for the next funding period include a course on computational immunology, endeavors for training in mentorship and community outreach and engagement initiatives. Each scholar has a panel of mentors. Junior faculty within five years of appointment at Yale School of Medicine are eligible, with up to five scholars appointed at any one time, and an additional scholar will be funded by YCC. The program is led by an Executive Committee comprised of the PI (Dr. Harriet Kluger, YCC Associate Cancer Center Director for Education and Training), the Co-Director, Dr. Diane Krause, MD, PhD, an expert on cellular therapies, David Stern, PhD, Chair for Curriculum Development and Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, Chief of Oncology and Associate Cancer Center Director for Translational Research. In summary, the IOTP draws upon an area of profound institutional strength and enables YCC to focus specifically on cross-disciplinary training of scholars in Cancer Immunotherapy to meet the increasing need for cancer immunology experts and researchers.