Specto Design is a Los Angeles LA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY & IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCHER RECIEVES BLASKER AWARD TO FUND CANCER RESEARCH
Award Supports Innovative Discoveries in the San Diego Region
SAN DIEGO - August 30, 2007 - The San Diego Foundation’s Science and Technology Working Group chose Edith Janssen, Ph.D., of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology as a recipient of a $70,000 award to support her research into a potential new therapy for destroying cancerous cells.
Janssen was awarded a prestigious Blasker Science & Technology Grant, which supports individuals in the San Diego region who demonstrate high potential in the scientific, engineering and medical fields. The Blasker Grant awards were established in 1989 through an endowment from the estate of Samuel Blasker, who wanted to create a fund to support “unique and innovative discoveries and experiences which may be of benefit to all mankind.” The fund that supports the Blasker Grant awards is administered by The San Diego Foundation, a broad-purpose community foundation whose donors and funds share a common purpose: to make San Diego a better place.
Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., President & Scientific Director of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, a nonprofit medical research center recognized as a world leader in research of the immune system, said Janssen’s work offers a potential new approach for teaching the immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells. “One of the mysteries of cancer is that the immune system, which would normally respond to and destroy mutated cells, often produces little or no response to cancerous tumors,” Kronenberg explained. “Dr. Janssen’s work uses a recently discovered subset of cells to instruct the immune system to recognize the differences which distinguish cancerous cells from their normal counterparts, and then to eradicate those cancerous cells.” Janssen discovered the cell subset important for instructing the anti-tumor response in 2006 in a collaborative study with Scripps Research faculty member Kasper Hoebe, Ph.D.
Janssen said she is honored to receive the grant and hopes her work will one day result in new therapies for numerous types of cancers, ranging from lymphoma and leukemia, to melanoma and stomach cancers. “This cell subset, which is a family member of the cell now used in tumor therapy, appears to be much more potent in fighting cancerous tumors,” she said. “I am now working to understand the characteristics of this cell further, with the hopes that one day this information could be used as a basis for cancer therapy.”
About The San Diego Foundation
Founded in 1975, The San Diego Foundation is a broad-purpose community foundation helping individuals, families and organizations carry out their charitable plans, with the common goals of improving the quality of life in the greater San Diego region, now and for generations to come
About LIAI
Founded in 1988, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology is a
nonprofit medical research center dedicated to increasing knowledge and
improving human health through studies of the immune system. Scientists
at the institute carry out research searching for cures for cancer,
allergy and asthma, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases such
as diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. LIAI's research
staff includes more than 100 Ph.Ds.
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