Natividad Robert Fuentes, Assistant Professor, Department of Cancer Biology at UT MD Anderson, shared on LinkedIn:
“I’m honored to share that the Fuentes Lab has been selected for a V Scholar Grant from The V Foundation for Cancer Research to support our project, ‘Harnessing membrane dynamics to enhance antitumor immunity’.
This work is built around a central idea in our lab:
The plasma membrane is not just the outer boundary of a cell. It is an active signaling platform that can influence whether cancer-fighting T cells remain functional or become exhausted inside solid tumors.
With support from the V Foundation, our team will study how tumors alter T cell membrane organization, how these changes affect immune function, and how this knowledge may help guide stronger, more durable, and more accessible immune-based therapies for patients with cancer.
This award is especially meaningful because my late mentor, Cullen Taniguchi, was also a V Scholar. His mentorship shaped how I think about rigorous, patient-centered cancer research, and receiving support from the same foundation is something I do not take lightly.
I’m deeply grateful to the V Foundation for investing in this work, to UT MD Anderson for supporting our research environment, and to the mentors, collaborators, trainees, staff, friends, and family who helped make this possible.
I’m especially grateful to our project collaborators Jason M. Schenkel, Ryan Park, and David Swanson, whose expertise will help move this work forward.
Most importantly, this is a team effort. I’m proud of the Fuentes Lab and excited for the work ahead!”
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