Andrew Dudley, PhD
Andrew Dudley, PhD, a professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, has been awarded a $2.7 million NIH grant for a project titled “Targeting the vasculature to enhance anti-tumor immunity.” This renewal award extends the project’s continuous funding into its 16th year.
Tumor blood vessels facilitate the entry of anti-tumor immune cells into the tumor microenvironment. However, abnormalities in these vessels can hinder immune cell access, leading to inadequate responses to cancer immunotherapy. Surprisingly, the Dudley lab discovered that targeting the epigenetic gene silencer DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) can modify tumor-associated blood vessels in a manner that enhances immunotherapy responses. This suggests that epigenetic reprogramming of the tumor vasculature could ultimately improve the efficacy of immunotherapy and bolster tumor immune surveillance.
Dr. Dudley’s project aims to inform the development of vascular-directed approaches that can enhance the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies or reduce the required dose of immunotherapy for a favorable and sustained response. This approach could potentially alleviate the toxicities associated with immunotherapy in patients fighting cancer.
Collaborators on the project include Melanie Rutkowski, PhD, and Craig Slingluff, MD, both at UVA.
Originally posted in UVA Medicine in Motion News on July 1, 2025 by daf4a@virginia.edu