Pierre Guermonprez and Maria Semitekolou, winners in the 13th Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation call for proposals

Every year, the Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) Foundation awards funding to several scientists to support and facilitate their work in the field of cancer immunotherapy. It supports four types of research through its calls for proposals: basic research, clinical and translational research, pediatric oncology, and public health and healthcare systems.

This year, the BMS Foundation selected seven winners in the "Basic research" call for proposals, including Pierre Guermonprez, Head of the Dendritic Cells and Adaptive Immunity Unit, and Maria Semitekolou, a postdoctoral fellow in the same unit. The call for proposals involves projects lasting for up to two years aimed at developing knowledge in cancer immunotherapy and/or improving treatment for patients receiving immunotherapy.

The prize was awarded yesterday, Thursday September 26, at the Institut Pasteur, at a ceremony attended by Caroline Demangel, Head of the Department of Immunology at the Institut Pasteur, and Prof. Véronique Minard Colin from the Gustave Roussy Institute, representing the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation.

The award was given to Pierre Guermonprez for his project on the development of novel therapeutic strategies to tackle lung cancers that do not respond to current cancer treatments. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality and morbidity worldwide. Dendritic cells are the sentinels of the immune system that, when stimulated effectively, activate T cells to fight tumors. The laboratory has identified a population of dendritic cells associated with the epithelium that are recruited during the development of lung cancer and are characterized by an immature state. Based on this discovery, the proposed project presents activation of dendritic cells as an avenue that could be explored to activate antitumor immunity and overcome resistance to immunotherapy.

The 2025 call for proposals will open in January – feel free to contact the philanthropy team for more information: mecenat@pasteur.fr

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