The AACR-Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson Stimulating Therapeutic Advances through Research Training (START) Grants represent an exciting initiative to address the need for promoting and supporting academia-industry collaborations.

2025 Grantee

Scientific Statement of Research 

The widespread application of adoptive cell therapies is limited by the scarcity of high-quality tumor antigens. While TCR-T cell therapies have demonstrated early clinical success, their complexity and high cost continue to limit broader patient access. Dr. Ramirez-Fernandez will equip γδ T cells with a genetically knocked-in, co-receptor-independent mKRAS-directed αß TCR, creating hybrid immune cells with enhanced specificity and efficacy against RAS-driven cancers. Additionally, he will explore inducible cytokine armoring strategies to boost persistence while ensuring localized, antigen-specific cytokine release, thereby mitigating risks such as severe cytokine release syndrome. Further advancing this strategy, he will combine these cells with mRNA-lipid nanoparticles encoding αROR1×CD28 and αMeso×CD3 bispecific antibodies. These innovative adjuvants are designed to potentiate adoptive T cell therapy while recruiting non-modified T cells to achieve precision-targeted and robust tumor elimination.  

Biography 

Dr. Ramírez-Fernández is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Cellular Immunotherapies. He received his PharmD from the University of Granada, Spain, completed a residency in Clinical Immunology at Hospital 12 de Octubre, Spain and earned his PhD in Biomedicine from Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. He also holds a master’s degree in molecular Oncology. His research focuses on engineered γδ T cells and next-generation adoptive cell therapies targeting solid tumors.  

Acknowledgement of Support 

“I am honored to receive the 2025 AACR–Johnson & Johnson START Grant. This award will strengthen my leadership in translational immuno-oncology and connect me with a unique scientific and industry network. It will accelerate the development of γδ T cell and bispecific mRNA-LNP platforms for the implementation of next-generation, off-the-shelf immunotherapies.” 

2024 Grantee

Research

Adoptive T cell therapies have  been successful in hematologic malignancies, but their efficacy has been limited in solid tumors. One of the key barriers is believed to be the immunosuppressive tumor metabolic microenvironment. To address this challenge, Dr. Ngwa will use an unbiased approach employing CRISPR/Cas9 technology to identify and characterize metabolic genes that regulate tumor sensitivity or resistance to adoptive T cell therapy in lung squamous carcinoma (LUSC). The successful completion of this project has potential translational implications for the treatment of LUSC, a challenging subset of lung cancer that is difficult to treat with no FDA-approved targeted therapeutic options.

Biography

Inspired by her life challenges, Dr. Ngwa developed an interest in cancer research after obtaining an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and master’s degree in chemical sciences from Kennesaw State University. She obtained her doctorate from Vanderbilt University, where she investigated the role of vascular endothelial glutaminase in breast cancer. Currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she is interested in developing new strategies to target metabolic genes in solid tumors to improve immunotherapy in LUSC. 

Acknowledgment of Support

“With an interest in immuno-oncology, my long-term goal is to identify metabolic genes that regulate tumor sensitivity or resistance to adoptive T cell therapy. This fellowship will allow me to investigate these modalities while expanding my knowledge and skills as an independent investigator in the field of cancer immunometabolism.”