At a special event December 11, attended by trustees from Sanford Burnham Prebys and featuring brief talks by many of the Institute’s newest faculty, the inaugural Erkki Ruoslahti Award for Transformational Leadership was presented to T. Denny Sanford.

The new award honors recipients whose visionary leadership drives positive change, inspires groundbreaking solutions and contributes to the transformation of industries and society.

It is named after one of the institute’s earliest faculty and its president from 1989 to 2002. Ruoslahti made seminal contributions to the discovery of cell adhesion receptors known as integrins, helped developed a novel class of tumor-homing peptides and advanced the science of nanomedicine.

His past honors include elected membership to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the European Molecular Biology Organization, the Japan Prize, Gairdner Foundation International Award, G.H.A. Clowes Award, Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Award and Jacobaeus International Prize.

In 2022, Ruoslahti was announced as one of three winners of the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, sometimes called “America’s Nobel.”

Sanford is, of course, one of the institute’s three namesakes, a distinguished businessman and philanthropist who has long supported its work and vision.

“Denny Sanford has been a friend, supporter and mentor for many, many years. He believes in the importance and value of both basic and translational science, of helping patients and the world become better and healthier,” said Brenner.

“His past, present and future support of Sanford Burnham Prebys is critical to our vision and mission. No one has done more. This award is a heart-felt, tangible symbol of our gratitude.”

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Most cancer deaths are caused by metastasis, but how cancer cells and tumors modify themselves and spread from their origins to other parts of the body remains largely a mystery — and fundamentally challenging.

In a new paper published December 6, 2024 in Science Advances, study co-author Sanju Sinha, PhD, assistant professor in the Cancer Molecular Therapeutics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, and colleagues, investigate whether primary and metastatic tumors more closely resemble the tissues of origin or target tissues in terms of gene expression.

Their findings suggest movement and evolution, providing a comprehensive transcriptome-wide view of the processes through which cancer tumors adapt to their metastatic environments before and after metastasis.

Sushmitha Vallabh, a senior lab manager at Sanford Burnham Prebys, was recognized for her outstanding contributions by Lab Manager magazine during the publication’s celebration of Lab Manager Appreciation Month in October 2024.

The magazine encouraged readers to nominate peers who demonstrate exceptional leadership in their labs. The team behind the publication also plans virtual and in-person professional development events for lab managers, as well as offers digital learning and certificate programs through The Lab Manager Academy.

Vallabh works in the lab of Carl Ware, PhD, a professor in the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys. We caught up with Vallabh to discuss this national recognition.

How did you enter the field of lab management?

Before joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, I was at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. I completed a master’s degree there and then joined the lab I had trained in as a staff member.

I was in that lab for close to four years, and during that time it grew considerably. One of the senior research technicians left, so I took over some of the lab management tasks, such as ordering supplies and making sure protocols were in place.

When I moved to San Diego and applied for a research technician job at my current lab, we ended up discussing my lab management experience. The lab also had a need in that area, so I ended up joining as a lab coordinator in 2020 and being promoted to lab manager the following year.

What do you like most about your role?

I like it when I’m able to solve problems. Every day, I discuss a variety of issues with any number of lab members. I try my best to find solutions for everyone, and it is always fulfilling to be able to answer questions and resolve challenges.

What did it mean to you to be selected for this honor?

I was very, very surprised, but in a good way. It felt especially rewarding because I’ve been following Lab Manager magazine for quite some time now. It is a great organization that provides professional development opportunities for lab managers, so it is nice to be honored by a group doing important work in the field.

What is the most important trait or skill you can help foster to make a lab more successful?

I think training is crucial. Even when new lab members join that have significant research experience, all labs and organizations are different. It is important to train new members on lab standards and protocols in order to set each individual within the lab up for success.

What is the top piece of advice you would give to someone considering entering your field?

Not to react quickly or jump to conclusions. Disagreements and conflicts will happen, and it is always important to talk to everyone involved before determining how best to resolve the situation.

Is there anyone you would like to acknowledge that helped you achieve this honor?

Zumi Alvarado is a lab coordinator at Sanford Burnham Prebys. I have trained her on our standards and protocols to facilitate collaboration between our labs. She thought there were practices she could adapt to her own team, so that must be why she nominated me for this award. It was thoughtful of her to put me in the running for this recognition.

I’m also grateful to Carl as my principal investigator. He has full faith in me, and he’s always there to help if I reach out about a problem. Also, I’d like to thank Paula Norris, the Ware lab’s lab director when I was hired. She was a wonderful mentor as I was learning about the lab.

More than 25 years after targeting a member of this superfamily of proteins led to groundbreaking treatments for several autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease, San Diego scientists note a resurgence of interest in research to find related new drug candidates.

In 1998, the same year “Footloose” debuted on Broadway, REMICADE® (infliximab) was approved by the FDA for the treatment of Crohn’s disease. This was the first monoclonal antibody ever used to treat a chronic condition, and it upended the treatment of Crohn’s disease.

Research published in February 2024 demonstrated better outcomes for patients receiving infliximab or similar drugs right after diagnosis rather than in a “step up” fashion after trying other more conservative treatments such as steroids.

Infliximab and ENBREL® (etanercept) — also approved in 1998 to treat rheumatoid arthritis — were the first FDA-approved tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) inhibitors. TNF is part of a large family of signaling proteins known to play a key role in developing and coordinating the immune system.

The early success of infliximab and etanercept generated excitement among researchers and within the pharmaceutical industry at the possibility of targeting other members of this protein family. They were interested in finding new protein-based (biologics) drugs to alter inflammation that underlies the destructive processes in autoimmune diseases.

As “Footloose” made it back to Broadway in 2024 for the first time since its initial run, therapies targeting the TNF family are in the midst of their own revival. Carl Ware, PhD, a professor in the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, and collaborators at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology and biotechnology company Inhibrx, report in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery that there is a resurgence of interest and investment in these potential treatments.

“Many of these signaling proteins or their associated receptors are now under clinical investigation,” said Ware. “This includes testing the ability to target them to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, as well as cancer.”

Today, there are seven FDA-approved biologics that target TNF family members to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. There also are three biologics and two chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell-based therapies targeting TNF members for the treatment of cancer. This number is poised to grow as Ware and his colleagues report on the progress of research and many clinical trials to test new drugs in this field and repurpose currently approved drugs for additional diseases.

“The anticipation levels are high as we await the results of the clinical trials of these first-, second- and — in some cases — third-generation biologics,” said Ware.

Ware and his coauthors also weighed in on the challenges that exist as scientists and drug companies develop therapies targeting the TNF family of proteins, as well as opportunities presented by improvements in technology, computational analysis and clinical trial design.

“There are still many hurdles to get over before we truly realize the potential of these drugs,” noted Ware. “This includes the creation of more complex biologics that can engage several different proteins simultaneously, and the identification of patient subpopulations whose disease is more likely to depend on the respective proteins being targeted.

“It will be important for researchers to use computational analysis of genetics, biomarkers and phenotypic traits, as well as animal models that mimic these variables. This approach will likely lead to a better understanding of disease mechanisms for different subtypes of autoimmune conditions, inflammatory diseases, and cancer, enabling us to design better clinical trials where teams can identify the appropriate patients for each drug.”