2026 Lustgarten Foundation Innovation and Collaboration Grant Program Recipients Announced

Cosimo Commisso, PhD, and Jonathan Serody, MD, Awarded Innovation and Collaboration Program Grants to Advance Next-Generation Therapeutic Strategies for Pancreatic Cancer

The Lustgarten Foundation today announced two new Innovation and Collaboration Program grants awarded to Cosimo Commisso, PhD, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, for his project, “Macropinocytosis: A Paradigm Shift from Metabolic Inhibition to Lethal Hyper-Activation in PDAC,” and Jonathan Serody, MD, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, for his project, “Enhancing Metabolic T cell Fitness for Adoptive Cell Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer Using Novel Microfluidic Chips.” Serody’s project brings together a multidisciplinary team that also includes Sarah Shelton, PhD, NC State University, and Jen Jen Yeh, MD, combining expertise across immunology, engineering, and pancreatic cancer research. Both grants support bold research designed to overcome the biological barriers and treatment resistance that have long made pancreatic cancer one of the hardest cancers to treat.

Treatment resistance refers to a cancer’s ability to survive and continue growing despite treatment. Pancreatic cancer is especially difficult to treat because it has multiple ways of protecting itself. One of its defining features is the tumor microenvironment, a dense network of scar-like tissue, supportive cells, blood vessels, and immune cells that surround the tumor. This protective barrier can block therapies from reaching cancer cells while also suppressing the immune system’s ability to recognize and attack the disease. At the same time, pancreatic cancer cells can adapt by activating survival pathways and becoming resistant to treatments that initially work. Researchers are developing innovative strategies to overcome these defenses by targeting the tumor microenvironment, improving drug delivery, and designing therapies that make cancer cells more vulnerable to treatment. 

“Breakthrough therapies begin with innovative, early-stage science,” said Andrew Rakeman, PhD, Vice President of Research at the Lustgarten Foundation. “These projects reflect the kind of bold, collaborative research that expands our understanding of pancreatic cancer biology. By investing in foundational discoveries today, we’re creating the knowledge needed to develop the next generation of life-saving treatments for patients.” 

Pancreatic tumors survive by scavenging nutrients from their surroundings through a process known as macropinocytosis, or “cellular drinking.” Most researchers have focused on blocking this process to starve cancer cells. Dr. Commisso’s team is taking the opposite approach by forcing pancreatic cancer cells to consume so much material that they become overloaded and die. His research will also investigate whether this hyperactive scavenging can serve as a “Trojan Horse,” enabling cancer cells to take up greater amounts of chemotherapy packaged in nanoparticles. If successful, this strategy could both trigger cancer cell death and improve the delivery and effectiveness of existing treatments. 

“For years, we’ve tried to stop pancreatic cancer cells from feeding themselves. Our research asks a fundamentally different question: What if we could force them to overconsume until they self-destruct?” said Cosimo Commisso, PhD. “This project has the potential to transform one of pancreatic cancer’s greatest survival mechanisms into one of its greatest vulnerabilities while also improving how we deliver therapies directly to tumor cells.” 

Immunotherapy has transformed treatment for many cancers but has shown limited success in pancreatic cancer because immune cells struggle to survive and function within the tumor’s highly suppressive environment. Dr. Serody’s team will engineer metabolically enhanced CAR-T cells designed to remain active inside pancreatic tumors while targeting EPHA2, a protein found on particularly aggressive pancreatic cancers. Using an advanced “pancreatic cancer-on-a-chip” model that closely mimics human disease, researchers will evaluate how these engineered immune cells move through tumors, persist over time, and destroy cancer cells. The findings could accelerate the development of a new generation of precision immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer. 

“Pancreatic cancer presents one of the most challenging environments for immune cell therapies,” said Jonathan Serody, MD. “By strengthening the metabolic fitness of CAR-T cells and testing them in models that closely replicate human tumors, we hope to overcome the barriers that have limited immunotherapy and bring more effective treatments closer to patients.” 

The Innovation and Collaboration Grant Program provides seed funding for bold, innovative research with the potential to accelerate the Lustgarten Foundation’s mission of transforming pancreatic cancer into a curable disease. By supporting high-risk, high-reward projects that address critical unanswered questions, the program attracts new scientific talent and advances novel approaches to pancreatic cancer research. These investments deepen our understanding of the biology driving pancreatic cancer initiation and progression, identify more precise therapeutic targets, and speed the preclinical and clinical testing of novel drugs and combinations.  

Learn more about Lustgarten’s Innovation and Collaboration Program by visiting Lustgarten.org/Innovation-Collaboration.