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Ira Mellman Outlines Vision for Cancer Immunotherapy in New Interview with Nature Reviews – PICI

PICI/LinkedIn

Jun 28, 2025, 15:30

Ira Mellman Outlines Vision for Cancer Immunotherapy in New Interview with Nature Reviews – PICI

Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy shared a post on LinkedIn:

“The first wave of immunotherapies changed the trajectory of cancer care. But at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, we believe the most transformative breakthroughs are still to come. In a new “Nature Reviews Drug Discovery” featured interview, PICI President of Research Ira Mellman, PhD, outlines a bold, forward-looking vision—one grounded in scientific rigor and built for long-term impact.

As Dr. Mellman puts it: “Why stop now, when we haven’t yet realized immunotherapy’s full potential?”

The article highlights several key opportunities ahead:

→ From treatment to cure: CAR T-cell therapy has shown curative potential in blood cancers. The next challenge is to bring that possibility to solid tumors.

→ Next-gen modalities: Personalized cancer vaccines are showing early promise, especially in the post-surgical setting, to prevent recurrence.

→ Smarter immune design: To outmaneuver the tumor microenvironment, we’ll need to engineer T cells with greater precision and resilience.

Achieving this future requires more than great ideas. It requires multi-dimensional support, deep collaboration and long-range vision—the foundation upon which PICI was built.

As Dr. Mellman notes,

“PICI has the people, the expertise, the commitment… to take this on as a long-term scientific, clinical and therapeutic goal.”

Read the full article, “Keeping the immuno-oncology flame burning,” for a powerful look at what’s next in cancer immunotherapy.”

Karen Knudsen, CEO of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, shared a post, adding:

“So pleased to have Ira Mellman join us at Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and help to generate the next wave of cancer cures.

Ira shares our vision to spark game changing discoveries, and accelerate potentially curative therapies to clinical testing through early stage company formation.”

Dr. Ira Mellman Joins the Parker Institute as President of Research

Ira Mellman