The Weill Cancer Hub East, a collaborative initiative formed by Weill Cornell Medicine, Princeton University, The Rockefeller University and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, has been established to explore the interplay between nutrition, metabolism and immunotherapy in cancer treatment.
The initiative was launched with a $50m gift from the Weill Family Foundation.
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The Weill Cancer Hub East brings together experts from the four institutions to improve immunotherapy, a therapeutic strategy that uses a patient’s immune cells for treatment.
It aims to drive cross-field partnerships, combining cancer biology, immunology, trials, metabolism and nutrition experts.
With philanthropy from each partner institution, total funding will exceed $125m.
Up to 2034, the hub will explore the connection between solid tumours and their environment.
It also aims to understand how diet and beneficial microbes that help metabolise food can influence cancer treatment effectiveness.
The initiative will investigate how emerging therapeutics such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists are used in diabetes and anti-obesity treatments, which may affect cancer progression and treatment.
The Weill Cancer Hub East will leverage metabolomics, computational analysis, immunology and AI to study how metabolism impacts the immune system’s cancer-controlling ability.
It will provide seed funding for collaborative projects focusing on reprogramming the tumour microenvironment and augmenting cell function through patients’ metabolisms and microbiomes.
The hub will provide a portfolio of trials, including assessment of the GLP-1 agonist effects on cancer subjects’ immune responses and results.
The outcomes may also apply to metabolic, autoimmune and cardiovascular conditions.
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, a cancer research sponsor, is funding studies in cancer metabolism and immunotherapy, providing additional support to the hub’s efforts.
A scientific steering committee, with leaders from each academic institution, will oversee the hub’s activities.
The scientific strategy of the hub will be directed by a leadership committee, including representatives from partner institutions and the Weill Family Foundation.
The adaptable structure of the hub will allow it to respond to upcoming directions in cancer research.
The hub is the second collaborative entity established by the Weill family and the Weill Family Foundation through their philanthropy.
Weill Family Foundation founder and Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Fellows chair emeritus Sandy Weill stated: “The Weill Cancer Hub East will offer doctors and scientists a tremendous opportunity to revolutionise the treatment of cancer, a disease that complicates so many lives.”
