UCLA's Dr. Theodore Scott Nowicki Receives $100,000 Hero Grant to Advance Armed CAR-T Therapy for Pediatric Osteosarcoma
Key Insights
Dr. Theodore Scott Nowicki of UCLA has been awarded the $100,000 Hero Grant from MIB Agents (search) through the OutSmarting Osteosarcoma (search) program to develop a next-generation CAR-T cell therapy.
The novel "armed" CAR-T platform targets GD2 (search) on osteosarcoma (search) cells and is engineered to release TNF-alpha (search) only in the presence of tumor cells, enhancing anti-tumor response while improving safety.
The grant will fund expanded preclinical studies comparing the TNF-alpha (search)-armed GD2 (search) CAR-T cells against conventional GD2 CAR-T cells in laboratory and animal models.
Physician-scientist Theodore Scott Nowicki, MD, PhD, has been awarded the Hero Grant from MIB Agents (search) to advance a next-generation CAR-T cell therapy for osteosarcoma (search), the most common bone cancer in children and adolescents. The award, providing $100,000 — the highest funding level available through the OutSmarting Osteosarcoma program — will support preclinical development of an "armed" CAR-T platform designed to overcome the barriers that have limited the effectiveness of CAR-T therapies in solid tumors.
Nowicki, an assistant professor in the department of pediatrics hematology/oncology and microbiology, immunology, & molecular genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, is also a member of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center.
Addressing a Critical Unmet Need
While CAR-T cell therapies have demonstrated remarkable success in certain blood cancers, their efficacy against solid tumors such as osteosarcoma (search) has remained limited. The tumor microenvironment in solid tumors can suppress immune activity, restricting the ability of engineered T cells to eliminate cancer cells. For patients with relapsed or metastatic osteosarcoma, treatment options remain scarce and outcomes poor.
"Patients with relapsed or metastatic osteosarcoma (search) continue to face poor outcomes with limited treatment options," said Nowicki. "This funding will help us advance a promising new immunotherapy strategy that has the potential to improve outcomes while reducing reliance on toxic treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation."
A Novel Armed CAR-T Platform Targeting GD2 (search)
Nowicki's research focuses on a novel "armed" CAR-T platform that targets GD2 (search), a protein commonly found on osteosarcoma (search) cells. Beyond recognizing and attacking tumor cells, the engineered CAR-T cells are designed to release increased amounts of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha (search)), an immune-signaling molecule that strengthens the anti-tumor response and helps resist immune suppression within the tumor microenvironment.
A key safety feature of the approach is that TNF-alpha (search) secretion occurs only in the presence of tumor cells, which is expected to enhance the safety profile of the therapeutic product by limiting off-target immune activation.
Preclinical Development Path
The Hero Grant will support expanded preclinical studies evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the TNF-alpha (search)-armed GD2 (search) CAR-T cells in both laboratory and animal models of osteosarcoma (search), laying the groundwork for future clinical trials. The research team will conduct head-to-head comparisons between the engineered therapy and conventional GD2 CAR-T cells, while also investigating the mechanisms by which TNF-alpha enhances anti-tumor activity within the tumor microenvironment.
Additionally, the team will employ advanced molecular profiling technologies to better understand how the treatment influences interactions between cancer cells and the immune system, potentially revealing biomarkers of response and resistance that could inform future clinical development.
MIB Agents (search), the nonprofit organization behind the grant, is dedicated to improving outcomes for children and young adults with osteosarcoma (search), making this funding particularly aligned with the urgent need for innovative therapies in this underserved pediatric cancer population.