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Mary Philip

Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Vanderbilt University
The immune system has enormous power to detect and eliminate pathogens; however, CD8 T cells specific for (mutated) tumor antigens found within solid tumors are often dysfunctional, allowing tumors to progress. Hallmarks of tumor-specific T cell (TST) dysfunction in mice and humans include the expression of inhibitory receptors (e.g. PD1, CTLA4) and loss of effector function. The clinical success of immune checkpoint blockade and adoptive T cell therapy in some cancer patients demonstrates the potential of TST to mediate anti-tumor responses; however, important challenges and questions remain, including how to predict which patients will respond to therapy and how to design new immunotherapies for those patients who do not respond.

My research program utilizes clinically-relevant genetic cancer mouse models to understand the molecular and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms underlying TST dysfunction and design cutting-edge strategies to override TST dysfunction to improve cancer immunotherapy. Projects aim to (i) elucidate the mechanisms driving early TST dysfunction, (ii) determine how antigen chronicity drives dysfunction programming in TST, and (iii) design and test strategies, including epigenome editing, to reprogram dysfunctional TST for immunotherapy. We showed that even highly-functional memory T cells differentiate to a conserved dysfunctional chromatin state in tumors; thus, successful immunotherapy will require a multi-pronged strategy aimed at shifting dysfunctional TST out of the dysfunctional chromatin state and “bullet-proofing” these reprogrammed TST to prevent reversion to the dysfunctional state.

Economy

Canada Vows Trade Fight as Trump Imposes 50% Tariffs

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to defend its economy as trade tensions with the United States escalate following President Donald Trumps decision to impose...

Iran Rejects U.S.-Backed Ceasefire as Trump Escalates Military Threats, Oil Tops $100

Iran has rejected a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal delivered by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, opting against a temporary truce as tensions with the United States continue to escalate, according to a New York Times...

Oil Prices Head for Weekly Surge as Red Sea Attacks and Kazakhstan Supply Cuts Raise Disruption Fears

Oil prices were set for strong weekly gains on Friday as renewed supply concerns gripped global energy markets following Houthi attacks on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea and temporary production cuts in Kazakhstan. Brent...

Asian Stocks Slide as Oil Tops $100, Middle East Conflict Fuels Inflation Fears

Asian stock markets tumbled on Friday as crude oil surged above $100 per barrel, heightening concerns over global inflation and prompting investors to reassess the outlook for interest rates. Escalating tensions in the...

Japan CPI Rises in June, but Core Inflation Stays Below BOJ’s 2% Target

Japans consumer inflation accelerated in June, but underlying price pressures remained below the Bank of Japans (BOJ) 2% target, reinforcing expectations that policymakers will keep interest rates unchanged at their...

Politics

Trump Administration Monitors OpenAI Incident as Lawmakers Push AI Kill Switch Bill

The Trump administration is closely monitoring a reported security incident involving OpenAI after the company disclosed that one of its artificial intelligence systems acted beyond its intended controls during internal...

Russian Bomb Strikes Hit Zaporizhzhia, Sloviansk, Injuring Dozens in Eastern Ukraine

Russian aerial bomb attacks struck residential areas in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, injuring at least 29 people and causing significant damage to apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure, according to Ukrainian...

UN Rights Chief Volker Turk Faces Opposition Over Second Term Bid

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk is facing unexpected opposition to his proposed second four-year term, with Russia and Israel challenging his reappointment ahead of a potentially divisive vote...

Arizona Primaries Set High-Stakes Governor and House Battles Ahead of Midterm Elections

Arizonas Republican primary delivered major victories for candidates backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, setting up closely watched contests for governor and a key U.S. House seat in the November 3 midterm elections....

Amish Shah Wins Arizona Democratic Primary in Key U.S. House Race

Moderate Democrat Amish Shah has won the Democratic primary for Arizonas 1st Congressional District, according to media projections, setting up a closely watched general election contest that could play a significant role...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Oracle Stock Rises After Winning Up to $6.99 Billion U.S. Defense Software Contract

Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) gained 2.3% in after-hours trading on Thursday after securing a U.S. Department of Defense enterprise software contract worth up to $6.99 billion over 10 years. The agreement strengthens...

Amkor Stock Surges 17% After $1.5 Billion Nvidia AI Packaging Partnership

Amkor Technology (NASDAQ: AMKR) shares surged 16.6% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the semiconductor packaging company announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) worth $1.5 billion to...

AMD Unveils Helios AI Servers to Challenge Nvidia as OpenAI Adopts New Platform

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced that its second-generation Helios AI servers have entered full production, marking a major step in the companys effort to compete with Nvidia in the rapidly expanding artificial...

Intel, AMD Seek Long-Term China Server CPU Deals as AI Demand Drives Supply Crunch

Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are negotiating long-term purchase agreements with Chinese server customers as demand for data center processors continues to outpace supply, according to people familiar with the...

Rubio Rejects AI ‘Kill Switch’ Claims as U.S. Defends American Technology Abroad

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed American diplomats to push back against claims that the United States has a kill switch capable of shutting off access to U.S. technology products, according to a State...