Pelayo Correa, MD, professor emeritus of Medicine and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and John Kuriyan, PhD, dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, have been elected to the 2025 class of fellows of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy.
John Kuriyan, PhD
The mission of the fellows of the AACR Academy is to recognize and honor extraordinary scientists whose groundbreaking contributions have driven significant innovation and progress in the fight against cancer.
Fellows of the AACR Academy constitute a global brain trust of leading experts in cancer science and medicine, working to advance the AACR’s mission to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, collaboration, communication, advocacy and funding for cancer research.
Fellows of the AACR Academy are nominated and elected through a peer-reviewed process that rigorously evaluates each candidate’s scientific achievements and contributions to global cancer research. Only those whose work has made a profound and lasting impact on cancer research and related fields are considered for election and induction into the AACR Academy.
Correa was recognized for his “illustrious work defining the histological stages of gastric carcinogenesis through the ‘Correa Cascade’ and establishing the link between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer, fundamentally advancing the understanding of the pathology, epidemiology, and prevention of this disease.”
Kuriyan, Mary Geddes Stahlman Chair and University Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Cell and Developmental Biology, was recognized for his “heralded contributions to cell signaling and kinase biology, including the elucidation of the switching mechanisms of tyrosine kinases such as SRC and EGFR, which has advanced the fundamental understanding of signal transduction regulation and informed the development of kinase-targeted therapies for cancer and other malignancies.”
Correa and Kuriyan are among 33 new fellows who will be recognized at the AACR Annual Meeting on April 25-30 in Chicago. Including this year’s class, only 375 cancer researchers have been named fellows of the AACR Academy.
Some cancer patients experience durable remissions from immune checkpoint inhibitors that spur their T cells to attack cancer cells, but these immunotherapies can also cause reactions.
One of the adverse effects of these treatments is skin reactions known as cutaneous immune-related adverse events (cirAEs), although it is not known how often they morph into a chronic condition. Research led by investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center published in JAMA Dermatology provides insight into chronic cirAEs. They recommended long-term follow-up for patients by dermatologists familiar with cirAEs and consideration of corticosteroid-sparing treatment options.
“Understanding the potential for side effects to become long-lasting has been an important advance recently, and managing them more effectively is a key unmet need,” said the study’s corresponding author, Douglas Johnson, MD, MSCI, professor of Medicine, holder of the Susan and Luke Simons Directorship, and co-leader of the Translational Research and Interventional Oncology Research Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
The investigators reviewed the records of 318 patients from a previous study who had been treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Of that number, 100 or 31% developed cirAEs with the skin conditions becoming chronic for 24 of the patients — nearly 8% of the full cohort. The study looked at 21 of those patients who underwent detailed follow-up. Another 31 patients were added from Vanderbilt clinics who were treated for cirAEs.
The 52 patients had received either pembrolizumab, nivolumab, ipilimumab or anti-PD1 and CTLA4 combination therapy.
The types of skin reactions varied, with 15 experiencing pruritus or itchy skin, 12 experienced morbilliform eruptions or drug-induced skin rashes, 12 experienced dermatitis or inflamed and scaly rashes, eight experienced bullous pemphigoid-like eruptions (fluid-filled blisters that resemble a rare autoimmune skin disease), five experienced eczema, four experienced lichenoid (flat-topped, scaly lesions), two experienced psoriasiform (breakouts that resemble psoriasis), and one experienced acneiform or acne-like eruptions.
The median duration of cirAE from treatment cessation was 446 days. Rare cases lasted more than five years.
Other Vanderbilt authors on the study included the study’s lead author, Kylie Fletcher, BS, Rachel Goodman, MD, MBA, J. Randall Patrinely, MD, MBA, and Anna Dewan, MD, MHS.
The research received support from Medical Scholars at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, the Susan and Luke Simons Directorship, the James C. Bradford Jr. Fund in Melanoma Cancer Research and the Van Stephenson Memorial Cancer Research Fund.
Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Understanding factors that contribute to the development of colorectal cancer could point to new targets for treating the disease at earlier stages, when survival rates are highest.
Nicholas Markham, MD, PhD
Nicholas Markham, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine, and colleagues are exploring how bacteria in the colon may contribute to cancer development. They previously showed that C. diff (Clostridioides difficile) isolated from human colorectal cancer samples accelerated tumorigenesis in the colon in a mouse model of intestinal cancer.
Now, they have combined single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics and immunofluorescence to build a multiomic atlas of gene expression and protein abundance in C. diff-associated colorectal tumorigenesis.
They report in The Journal of Pathology that the protein DMBT1 (Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumors 1) shows striking differences in regulation in areas of the colon with inflammation versus dysplasia (abnormal cellular changes). DMBT1 is a protein with roles in mucosal immune defense and epithelial cell differentiation.
In a mouse model, the researchers found that expression of DMBT1 increases in normal absorptive colon cells exposed to C. diff, but that its expression is reduced in dysplastic areas compared to normal adjacent tissues.
Immunofluorescence studies confirmed that DMBT1 protein was downregulated in dysplastic regions from three mouse models of colonic tumorigenesis and in colorectal precancerous adenomas from human samples. Using mouse and human organoids, the researchers implicated WNT signaling in the downregulation of DMBT1 mRNA and protein.
The findings suggest that loss of DMBT1 could be a mechanistic link between bacterial infection and colorectal cancer development. Further studies will explore how DMBT1 might function to limit tumorigenesis.
Emily Green, a graduate student in the Molecular Pathology and Immunology program, is the first author of the study. Collaborators at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine contributed to the study. The research was supported by grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs (BX005699, BX002943) and the National Institutes of Health (P30DK058404, P30CA068485, R00CA230192, P50CA236733).
The growing number of pediatric and adolescent patients with cancer at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt will soon have access to expanded and upgraded space for outpatient cancer infusion treatments and clinic visits, as well as updated inpatient space — a project made possible through the generous support of individuals and businesses in the community.
The expansion and renovation, part of a philanthropic initiative, “A Campaign Against Childhood Cancer,” will also help support research and training efforts.
“When the opportunity arose to envision a space dedicated entirely to clinical care for pediatric and adolescent cancer, allowing us to accommodate even more patients and families in a more age-appropriate way, philanthropic supporters truly rallied around Monroe Carell to meet this critical need and make this vision a reality,” said Meg Rush, MD, MMHC, President of Monroe Carell. “We are so very grateful to the many individuals, families and businesses in the community who gave generously to support our children and families through this project.”
Currently, outpatient infusion happens in two large rooms on the sixth floor of Monroe Carell’s Doctors’ Office Tower (DOT), with patients of all ages seated side by side in recliners. The renovation will provide private infusion rooms and dedicated, tailored space for young children, teenagers and young adults, all of whom have different needs. Some infusion rooms will have partitions that can be lowered when patients want to interact with each other.
“We see somewhere between 250 to 300 new patients with cancer each year, and we have about 13,000 provider visits each year,” said Debra Friedman, MD, MS, director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and holder of the E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Pediatric Oncology.
“To put that into perspective, when I came here in 2008, we saw 90 (new patients each year), and we have been in the same space since then. The timing is right to expand to accommodate our growing community and patient population.”
Two years ago, Monroe Carell had a record number of visits in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, with last year’s number being about the same.
The new outpatient space will occupy the entire sixth floor of the DOT — currently it inhabits a little less than half of that floor, with the remaining half occupied by other specialties who have relocated to the eighth floor.
This current renovation is the final of a three-phase expansion that also included moving the pediatric primary care clinic from DOT to a newly constructed clinic space at Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks and renovating the eighth floor of DOT to prepare for the move of medical specialties.
ICEE machine in Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Besides the side-by-side infusion chairs, the prior outpatient space on the sixth floor of DOT had three private infusion rooms and 10 exam rooms for clinic visits.
The renovations will include 25 individual infusion spaces, with two rooms set up for patients who are getting partial exchanges of blood cells (apheresis), and 25 exam rooms.
“With each of the patients in their own infusion area, there will no longer be a young adult seated next to a 2-year-old. They’ll each have their own space but will have the ability to walk around the infusion area if they want to,” Friedman said.
“On the other hand, if there are siblings getting infusions at the same time, or kids who have become friendly with each other and want to hang out while they are getting infusions, the partition can come down so they can talk to and see each other.”
There will also be a designated consult room and a designated room where Child Life Services can meet with patients, or where patients can watch a movie or play with toys while they are getting infusions. An expanded nutrition area will be incorporated in the space with snacks and an ICEE machine.
“The new area is really patient- and family-centric and also allows us to be much more efficient in our clinic. Our growing number of patients won’t be waiting so long to be seen because we have more exam rooms to seat them,” Friedman said.
Patients and families were instrumental in planning the new space, she noted.
“We listened to what they told us. We met with them to ask if we were going to redesign this space, what would be important to them. We did this when we created the teen lounge on the sixth floor of the inpatient unit,” Friedman said. “When we talked about individual infusion rooms, we heard from several parents that they often scheduled infusions on the same day as a friend so the kids could sit next to each other and talk. Individual infusion rooms would take that away, so designing some of the rooms with the glass partition was a direct response to what we heard from multiple patients and their families.”
Lighting and decor were also chosen based on patient and family recommendations.
In addition to the outpatient space, the 31 existing rooms on 6A and 6B of the pediatric hematology/oncology area of the hospital are currently being renovated. The rooms are being updated with renovated cabinetry and an updated sleeping area for parents. There will be brighter lighting and updated hallways. Wallpaper is being removed, and the flooring will be uniform throughout.
“It will be a brighter, more modern and positive environment for our patients and families, particularly for those who have repeated visits or long inpatient visits,” Friedman said.
Many patients with cancer treated at Monroe Carell are participating in clinical trials where tests and imaging are required. The new DOT space will provide more room to accommodate this.
Part of the community’s philanthropy will also support research and training initiatives, developing the next generation of leaders who will contribute to the overall field — ultimately improving outcomes for all patients.
“All of the advances we have made in treating children with cancer have come from discovery brought to patients,” Friedman said. “Donor support allows us to have funds to further ongoing research led by faculty here at Monroe Carell and to recruit new faculty who contribute to our research, educational and patient care missions.”
Allison DeMarcus, who co-chaired this campaign with Kailey Hand, said she hopes the renovation will help both patients and their families deal with a cancer diagnosis. DeMarcus and Hand are both Monroe Carell Advisory Board members and longtime supporters of the hospital and its programs. DeMarcus is former chair of the board.
“We are thrilled that Monroe Carell will be able to offer children with cancer this renovated and expanded space for their clinic visits and infusions,” DeMarcus said. “The children treated here already receive the best care available, but they deserve to receive those treatments in a space that is as comfortable and inviting as we can possibly make it for them. It’s unbelievably hard for families to go through the experience of a child having cancer, but due to the generosity of individuals and businesses in our community, we will soon be able to offer this wonderful space as one small thing we can provide to make their experience a little easier and a little brighter.”
Friedman said the new space will be a win for everyone.
“Providing care in an atmosphere that’s more spacious and bright affects everyone’s morale — the patients, their families, and our staff and faculty. Our donors recognized that, and also the cost of those renovations, and were very generous so we were able to really do this well for our patients and families.”
Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center are set to play a pivotal role at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025, co-organizing a methods workshop that highlights the integration of computational pathology, artificial intelligence (AI) and spatial multiomics to advance cancer research and precision oncology.
The workshop, “Integrating Computational Pathology, AI, and Spatial Multi-Omics in 2D and 3D,” will take place April 26 from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.It will be co-chaired by Tae Hyun Hwang, PhD (VUMC), Linghua Wang, MD, PhD (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), and Mingyao Li, PhD (University of Pennsylvania). This session will provide a deep dive into how AI-driven 3D spatial molecular and multimodal approaches are transforming the landscape of oncology research and clinical applications.
Hwang, a national leader in AI-driven oncology research and director of AI Research in the Section of Surgical Sciences at VUMC, is the founding director of VUMC’s Molecular AI Initiative. He will present a talk titled “AI-Driven 3D Spatial Mapping of the Tumor Immune Microenvironment for Precision Oncology,” based on novel technologies his lab is utilizing and developing, integrating advanced holotomography with AI-driven spatial sorting and molecular profiling techniques.
Tae Hyun Hwang, PhD
Hwang co-leads the National Cancer Institute Pre-Gastric Cancer Human Tumor Atlas Network and serves as an executive committee member of the Center for Computational Systems Biology at Vanderbilt University. His research focuses on leveraging AI and machine learning coupled with innovative experimental approaches to analyze 3D and 4D tumor ecosystems at single-cell and subcellular resolutions, integrating spatial molecular data to reveal key mechanisms of cancer progression, immune interactions and therapeutic response. This cutting-edge approach aims to enhance early detection, refine treatment strategies, advance therapeutic development and propel next-generation precision medicine.
As part of Vanderbilt’s Molecular AI Initiative, Hwang and his team are pioneering holotomography-based 3D reconstructions of tumor tissue samples, integrating AI-driven spatial molecular profiling for advanced characterization of cancer biology. This work is at the forefront of predicting disease progression and therapeutic response, ultimately informing the future of cancer treatment.
Through this workshop, VUMC continues to assert itself as a global leader in AI-driven precision oncology, fostering collaborations with leading cancer research institutions and pushing the boundaries of AI-powered cancer diagnostics and therapeutic innovations. For more information, please visit the AACR Annual Meeting Website or contact Hwang at taehyun.hwang@vumc.org.
Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy infusions benefitted from a virtual reality experience that took them on tours of the canals of Venice, Italy; the Taj Mahal in Agra, India; and the Amazon River in Ecuador.
The distraction therapy decreased their pain and stress levels by statistically significant measures, according to a study by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers published in the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. The patients also exhibited lower heart rates, reported high satisfaction with virtual reality and experienced no feelings of cybersickness.
The responses of the patients were compared with those in a control group who engaged in the typical activities of chemotherapy patients, such as watching television, reading or talking with appointment companions.
The patients in the virtual reality arm of the study had a median heart rate of 71 compared to 75 for the control group. When asked to report pain and stress levels on a 10-point scale, patients in the virtual reality arm reported a range of 0-5 for stress compared to 0-10 for those in the control group. The overall estimated difference for stress was 1.5 points, while the difference for pain was 0.7.
Heather Murray, left, and Cody Stubblefield, RN. (All photos submitted)
“The advances in virtual reality technology over the last 10 years has made it more useful than ever in providing a diversionary tool for patients experiencing pain or anxiety,” said Cody Stansel, MSN, RN, NE-BC, administrative director of nursing at Vanderbilt-Ingram, the study’s corresponding author.
The authors noted that although the effectiveness of virtual reality has been demonstrated among diverse patient populations, few studies exist evaluating it for adult cancer patients.
They also noted that improvements in virtual reality technology had rendered early research obsolete. The Vanderbilt-Ingram study evaluated 90 patients with 45 experiencing virtual reality distraction therapy and 45 in the control group. The age range was 20-82 for the patients.
The virtual reality experience lasted 12 minutes. The research team received no funding support for the study, but the headsets were loaned from Vanderbilt University. The 90 participants in the study were recruited and evaluated from November 2021 through December 2023.
Nurses can easily incorporate virtual reality as a distraction therapy because the headsets are “widely accessible, relatively affordable and simple to use,” the authors stated.
Other authors are Alexander McLeod; Shubham Gulati, MS; Catherine Ivory, PhD, NI-BC, NEA-BC; Mary Dietrich, PhD, MS; Heather Murray; Nathan Zang; Krish Shah; Hari Patel; Kristin Pegram, RN, OCN; and Wendy Howell, MSN, RN, OCN.
An ambitious project led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators aims to use artificial intelligence technologies to generate antibody therapies against any antigen target of interest.
VUMC has been awarded up to $30 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to build a massive antibody-antigen atlas, develop AI-based algorithms to engineer antigen-specific antibodies, and apply the AI technology to identify and develop potential therapeutic antibodies.
ARPA-H is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that supports transformative high-risk, high-reward research to drive biomedical and health breakthroughs to benefit everyone.
Ivelin Georgiev, PhD
“Over the last few decades, monoclonal antibodies have started playing an important therapeutic role in a wide range of disease settings, but we’re just scratching the surface. Monoclonal antibody discovery has the potential to impact a lot of different diseases where currently there are no therapeutics,” said Ivelin Georgiev, PhD, professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Computational Microbiology and Immunology, and the project principal investigator.
Traditional methods for antibody discovery are limited by inefficiency, high costs and fail rates, logistical hurdles, long turnaround times and limited scalability, Georgiev said.
“What we’re proposing to do is going to address all of these big bottlenecks with the traditional antibody discovery process and make it a more democratized process — where you can figure out what your antigen target is and have a good chance of generating a monoclonal antibody therapeutic against that target in a very effective and efficient way,” said Georgiev, who is also professor of Biomedical Informatics, Computer Science, and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
Antibodies are part of our immune system. They are proteins produced by white blood cells (B cells) that bind to and inactivate antigens — targets on viruses, bacteria and even our own cells. Antibodies are effective as preventive and therapeutic treatments against viruses, cancers, autoimmune disorders and other diseases.
To identify a candidate therapeutic antibody, researchers generally screen and test thousands of antibodies against an antigen target, looking for the “needle in the haystack” that binds to and neutralizes the target. The traditional discovery process requires specific types of biological samples. For example, to find antibodies against an infectious disease pathogen, blood samples from people or animal models exposed to the pathogen are required. And then, if the pathogen mutates, a therapeutic antibody may become ineffective.
“With a computational approach, you’re no longer dependent on access to biological samples or multiple screening cycles,” Georgiev said. “You can simulate variants and generate antibodies ahead of time before the variants arise.”
Georgiev and his colleagues are engaged in three tasks as they work toward developing computational approaches for antibody discovery:
Generation of an antibody-antigen atlas of unprecedented size and variety
Development of AI-based algorithms for extracting information from the antibody-antigen atlas and engineering antigen-specific antibodies
Proof-of-concept studies to apply the AI technology to identify antibody candidates against antigen targets of biomedical interest
For the first task, the researchers are using a technology they developed called LIBRA seq (Linking B-cell Receptor to Antigen specificity through sequencing) that enables high-throughput mapping of antibody-antigen interactions for many antigens and B cells at the same time.
“For computational methods to work, we need to have a lot of data,” Georgiev said. “The scale of data that’s available for antibodies and antigens is lower than in other fields, which has been one of the limiting factors when it comes to developing AI approaches.
“If we train algorithms on the data that exists currently — much of it is for SARS-CoV-2, flu and HIV — the algorithms may be accurate for these targets, but they are less likely to be successful in extrapolating to a new target. We need to train them with a more diverse set of antigen targets, which is where LIBRA-seq comes into play.”
The investigators aim for the atlas to include hundreds of thousands — and potentially over 1 million — antibody-antigen pairs, compared to approximately 15,000 pairs currently available from published data, providing an unparalleled resource for researchers worldwide.
The team is already moving forward on the second task of building computational models, which they will improve as they populate the antibody-antigen atlas. For the third task, they will apply the AI technology to develop antibodies against cancer antigens and bacterial, viral and autoimmune targets. They will select one candidate antibody for preclinical development up to and including IND (investigational new drug) application.
“Our project will be providing a platform that can be used for a variety of different diseases, not just the specific targets we’re interested in,” Georgiev said. “Our team has spent many years trying to discover antibodies against a variety of indications, and it’s such an inefficient process with a lot of failure. If we can help change that, that’s going to be huge — not just for us, but for the entire field and for people with diseases where antibody therapies can make a difference.
“It’s going to be hard. It’s not an easy problem, but I think we have a good foundation for it, and we’ll do the best we can to make it work.”
Collaborators on the project are: Ben Ho Park, MD, PhD, Sarah Croessmann, PhD, Eric Skaar, PhD, MPH, Maria Hadjifrangiskou, PhD, and Jeremy Goettel, PhD, at VUMC; Tedd Ross, PhD, and Giuseppe Sautto, PhD, at Cleveland Clinic; and Maria del Pilar Quintana Varon, PhD, and Lars Hviid, PhD, at the University of Copenhagen. The Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation, a catalyst for advancing translational research to market, has engaged with and supported the Georgiev team.
Vanderbilt University and VUMC shared resources that are critical to the project are: VANTAGE (Vanderbilt Technologies for Advanced Genomics), ACCRE (Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education), and FCSR (Flow Cytometry Shared Resource). Wheeler Bio will participate in IND-enabling studies, cell line development and manufacturing activities.
The Nashville Predators hosted a special night Feb. 27 for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, as it was the second and final Hockey Fights Cancer night of the 2024-25 season.
Each year the Nashville Predators Foundation hosts two nights to benefit pediatric cancer awareness and research efforts at Monroe Carell through the 365 Pediatric Cancer Fund presented by Twice Daily. For more than a decade, the Predators have supported Monroe Carell with more than $4 million in donations and in-kind contributions.
As part of the evening, 7-year-old Arlo, a Monroe Carell patient ambassador, and his twin brother, Luca, joined in the game experience as the Nashville Predators took on the Winnipeg Jets. Ambassadors are on the ice with the team during starting lineups, drop the puck and take part in other special game day activities. Arlo was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in December 2023 and went into remission in early 2024.
“We are tremendously grateful for the unwavering commitment of the Nashville Predators and the 365 Pediatric Cancer Fund to make a difference in the lives of pediatric cancer patients and to help advance critical cancer research that improves outcomes for children,” said Meg Rush, MD, MMHC, President of Monroe Carell. “It is a true joy and honor to see our community come together twice a year for Hockey Fights Cancer nights to celebrate our pediatric cancer patients while also raising awareness around childhood cancers and our programming that truly offers hope and healing.”
The Predators also partnered with musician and cancer survivor Harry Hudson and his charity, Hey I’m Here For You, to sell merchandise at the game. Proceeds from the sales benefited the 365 Fund as well as the Teen Cancer Lounge at Monroe Carell.
Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, founding director of the Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology and a pioneer in immune and cancer cell metabolism research, this summer will begin a new chapter in his career at the University of Chicago.
University officials announced March 3 that Rathmell has been named chair of the Ben May Department for Cancer Research and director of the Ludwig Center at the University of Chicago, effective July 1.
Rathmell currently holds the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Immunobiology and is professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
“Dr. Rathmell’s impact on immunology and cancer metabolism research at Vanderbilt has been remarkable,” said Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President for Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“His leadership in building an immunology community, advancing translational research and mentoring the next generation of scientists has left a legacy,” said Pietenpol, who holds the Brock Family Directorship in Career Development. “While we will greatly miss his leadership at Vanderbilt, we know his impact will expand in these prestigious roles at the University of Chicago and the Ludwig Center.”
The Ludwig Center at the University of Chicago, one of six Ludwig Centers nationwide, is focused on finding ways to stop the spread of cancer.
Rathmell earned his PhD in immunology from Stanford University, did postdoctoral work in immunology and cancer biology at the University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania, and was on the faculty at Duke University before coming to Vanderbilt in 2015.
As director of the Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology, he has led growth in basic science and translational immunology at Vanderbilt, with an emphasis on the research of immune-related diseases and building an immunology community.
A co-leader of the Host-Tumor Interactions Program in the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Rathmell helped define the metabolic mechanisms that control inflammatory diseases and cancer.
He also led initiatives, as associate director of the Molecular Pathology and Immunology PhD Program and of the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation, to strengthen basic science immunology education and position Vanderbilt as a leader in immunology research.
Rathmell said he is looking forward to working in collaboration with the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center to advance understanding of the tumor microenvironment and the role that immunity plays in cancer growth and response to therapy.
Many Medicare patients with advanced cancer receive potentially aggressive treatment at the expense of supportive care, according to a study that analyzed Medicare records.
The study, published Feb. 21 in JAMA Health Forum, examined the quality of end-of-life care among 33,744 Medicare decedents. The study involved patients of diverse ethnic backgrounds age 66 or older who died from breast, prostate, pancreatic or lung cancers.
Overall, claims records showed that 45% of the patients experienced potentially aggressive care (such as multiple acute care visits within days of death), while there was a low receipt of supportive care, such as palliative, hospice and advanced care planning in the last six months of life. While hospice care spiked to more than 70% during the month that death occurred, over 16% of patients spent less than three days in hospice care. Moreover, receipt of advanced care planning and palliative care remained below 25%.
“Care at end-of-life continues to favor overtreatment despite considerable efforts to raise awareness about the harms of aggressive treatment in the last decade,” said Youngmin Kwon, PhD, a research fellow with the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Access to supportive care varied among demographic groups. Patients who were older, non-Hispanic white, had longer survival durations, or lived in rural areas, as well as areas with lower socioeconomic levels, were less likely to receive supportive care.
“For dying patients and their caregivers, hospice is often considered the gold standard of end-of-life that can holistically manage care needs,” the authors noted. “The fact that a considerable portion did not use hospice care at all or entered into hospice care within three days of death suggests the potential benefits of hospice care were not realized for many patients.”
The findings underscore the need for multifaceted efforts to optimize the quality of end-of-life care for cancer patients.
“Having clear and honest communication between patients, their caregivers and providers regarding disease prognosis and advanced planning is crucial,” said Kwon. “At the same time, policies to increase access to supportive care and ensure an adequate workforce of palliative care providers are necessary to address structural barriers to high-quality care.”
