STAT+: Funding cuts threaten new generation of cancer immunotherapies, researcher says

Elizabeth Cooney is a cardiovascular disease reporter at STAT, covering heart, stroke, and metabolic conditions. You can reach Liz on Signal at LizC.22.

Macrophages are nicknamed the guardians of the body, known for detecting and then clearing damage from organs and tissues. That can also have a dark side:  By weakening inflammation, they can undermine immune cells that attack tumor cells.

Oncologist Miriam Merad has dedicated her research career to understanding how to adapt the dual powers of different immune cells — T cells and macrophages — to improve on current immunotherapies to treat cancer. The scientific challenge is daunting, and now there are other obstacles too. 

Cuts to research funding — some 40% of National Institutes of Health grant dollars — are a great concern to Merad, director of the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.