Recent News and Publications from Cancer Immunology and Virology

Cancer immunology is an important part of the fabric of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. To that end, the mission of the Department of Cancer Immunology and Virology (CIV) is to serve as an intellectual center for cancer immunology efforts across the Institute as well as the Harvard Medical School community.

On this page, learn about the accomplishments of our skilled researchers and collaborators.

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National Academy of Sciences Presents the 2026 Award in Molecular Biology to Philip J. Kranzusch, PhD

Philip J. Kranzusch, PhD, will receive the 2026 National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology. The Award recognizes a recent notable discovery by a young scientist from the United States.

Photo credit: National Academy of Sciences

Learn about the NAS Award

Recent CIV Publications

*Principal Investigators from Dana-Farber appear in bold

Chun JH, Lim BS, Roy S, Walsh MJ, Abhiraman GC, Zhangxu K, Atajanova T, Revach OY, Clark EC, Li P, Palin CA, Khanna A, Tower S, Kureshi R, Hoffman MT, Sharova T, Lawless A, Cohen S, Boland GM, Nguyen T, Peprah F, Tello JG, Liu SY, Kim CJ, Shin H, Quijano-Rubio A, Jude KM, Gerben S, Murray A, Heine P, DeWitt M, Ulge UY, Carter L, King NP, Silva DA, Kueh HY, Kalia V, Sarkar S, Jenkins RW, Garcia KC, Leonard WJ, Dougan M, Dougan SK, Baker D. Design of a potent interleukin-21 mimic for cancer immunotherapy. Sci Immunol. 2025 Sep 26;10(111):eadx1582. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adx1582.

Tan JMJ, Melamed S, Cofsky JC, Syangtan D, Hobbs SJ, Del Mármol J, Jost M, Kruse AC, Sorek R, Kranzusch PJ. A DNA-gated molecular guard controls bacterial Hailong anti-phage defence. Nature. 2025 Jul;643(8072):794-800. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09058-z.

Rakhshandehroo T, Mantri SR, Moravej H, Louis BBV, Salehi Farid A, Munaretto L, Regan K, Khan RMM, Wolff A, Farkash Z, Cong M, Kuhnast A, Nili A, Lee UJ, Allen HH, Berland L, Simkova E, Uslu SC, Tavakolpour S, Rowley JE, Codet E, Shahbazian H, Baral J, Pyrdol J, Jacobson CA, Nadeem O, Nia HT, Wucherpfennig KW, Rashidian M. A CAR enhancer increases the activity and persistence of CAR T cells. Nat Biotechnol. 2025 Jun;43(6):948-959. doi: 10.1038/s41587-024-02339-4.

Qi Y, Zhang S, Wang K, Ding H, Zhang Z, Anang S, Nguyen HT, Kappes JC, Sodroski J, Mao Y. The membrane-proximal external region of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein trimers in A18-lipid nanodiscs. Commun Biol. 2025 Mar 15;8(1):442. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-07852-z.

Salehi Farid A, Rowley JE, Allen HH, Kruger IG, Tavakolpour S, Neeley K, Cong M, Shahbazian H, Dorafshani N, Berrada A, MacDonagh AC, Padera RF, Brugarolas P, Packard AB, Rosenbaum MW, Divakaran S, Di Carli MF, Rashidian M. CD45-PET is a robust, non-invasive tool for imaging inflammation. Nature. 2025 Mar;639(8053):214-224. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08441-6.

Jang S, Bedwell GJ, Singh SP, Yu HJ, Arnarson B, Singh PK, Radhakrishnan R, Douglas AW, Ingram ZM, Freniere C, Akkermans O, Sarafianos SG, Ambrose Z, Xiong Y, Anekal PV, Montero Llopis P, KewalRamani VN, Francis AC, Engelman AN. HIV-1 usurps mixed-charge domain-dependent CPSF6 phase separation for higher-order capsid binding, nuclear entry and viral DNA integration. Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Oct 14;52(18):11060-11082. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkae769.

Hobbs SJ, Nomburg J, Doudna JA, Kranzusch PJ. Animal and bacterial viruses share conserved mechanisms of immune evasion. Cell. 2024 Oct 3;187(20):5530-5539.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.07.057.

Zhang Z, Anang S, Nguyen HT, Fritschi C, Smith AB 3rd, Sodroski JG. Membrane HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins stabilized more strongly in a pretriggered conformation than natural virus Envs. iScience. 2024 May 28;27(7):110141. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110141.

Alvarez Calderon F, Kang BH, Kyrysyuk O, Zheng S, Wang H, Mathewson ND, Luoma AM, Ning X, Pyrdol J, Cao X, Suvà ML, Yuan GC, Wittrup KD, Wucherpfennig KW. Targeting of the CD161 inhibitory receptor enhances T-cell-mediated immunity against hematological malignancies. Blood. 2024 Mar 21;143(12):1124-1138. doi: 10.1182/blood.2023022882.

Kim HJ, Nakagawa H, Choi JY, Che X, Divris A, Liu Q, Wight AE, Zhang H, Saad A, Solhjou Z, Deban C, Azzi JR, Cantor H. A narrow T cell receptor repertoire instructs thymic differentiation of MHC class Ib-restricted CD8+ regulatory T cells. J Clin Invest. 2024 Jan 2;134(1):e170512. doi: 10.1172/JCI170512.

Mukhopadhyay S, Amodeo ME, Lee ASY. eIF3d controls the persistent integrated stress response. Mol Cell. 2023 Sep 21;83(18):3303-3313.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.08.008.

Roehle K, Qiang L, Ventre KS, Heid D, Ali LR, Lenehan P, Heckler M, Crowley SJ, Stump CT, Ro G, Godicelj A, Bhuiyan AM, Yang A, Quiles Del Rey M, Biary T, Luoma AM, Bruck PT, Tegethoff JF, Nopper SL, Li J, Byrne KT, Pelletier M, Wucherpfennig KW, Stanger BZ, Akin JJ, Mancias JD, Agudo J, Dougan M, Dougan SK. cIAP1/2 antagonism eliminates MHC class I-negative tumors through T cell-dependent reprogramming of mononuclear phagocytes. Sci Transl Med. 2021 May 19;13(594):eabf5058. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abf5058.

Dana-Farber’s Philip J. Kranzusch, PhD, Receives 2025 Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists

Philip J. Kranzusch, PhD, Professor of Cancer Immunology and Virology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was one of three scientists awarded top honors at the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, a significant prize for early-career researchers.

Photo credit: Blavatnik Awards / The New York Academy

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