March 23, 2021

Scripps Research receives inaugural grant from The Conrad Prebys Foundation for scientific research and education The grant will support Scripps Research's high-impact projects in cancer immunotherapy, pandemic response and educational outreach.

March 23, 2021

LA JOLLA, CA As part of its inaugural competitive grant cycle, The Conrad Prebys Foundation will support Scripps Research's efforts in biomedical research and higher education, providing over $3 million in grant funding across three transformational, multiyear projects.

Part of the grant will advance the novel cancer immunotherapy technology being developed at Calibr, the drug discovery division of Scripps Research. The switchable CAR-T cell cancer therapy program, headed by Travis Young, PhD, and currently being tested in a phase 1 clinical trial, leverages patients' own immune cells to treat cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. The therapy puts the therapeutic cells under control of a molecular switch that seeks to mitigate potentially life-threatening side effects that have hampered the use of cell therapies to date.

The grant will directly support the team's goal of creating an off-the-shelf cell therapy that can be derived from healthy donors and used to benefit patients whose immune system has been weakened by years of chemotherapies, a significant unmet medical need.

Additionally, the foundation will enable Scripps Research's ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding will support scientists led by Kristian Andersen, PhD, harnessing computational techniques to monitor the incidence of new viral mutations and track local outbreak events, the data from which will be openly shared to help guide public health response.

In parallel, the foundation's support will boost efforts by Calibr to generate improved antiviral medicines. By investigating drug combinations that target distinct viral mechanisms, scientists led by Arnab Chatterjee, PhD, seek to develop potent therapeutic compounds that can be used to broadly treat and prevent SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses.

The grant funding will also support Scripps Research's continued mission to educate the next generation in particular, students from underserved communities. Facilitated by the Skaggs Graduate School for Chemical and Biological Sciences and headed by Dawn Eastmond, PhD, current graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will provide high-quality science lessons to elementary and middle school students in the San Diego Unified School District. The partnership aims to improve attitudes toward science, increase scientific understanding and inspire students to pursue meaningful careers in STEM.

The efforts of Scripps Research join over 100 other projects granted by the foundation across the San Diego area. The selection process of the grants has come at a unique time in history and the awarded applicants reflect a balance between focus areas of personal interest to Conrad Prebys including visual and performing arts, higher education, medical research, health care, youth development and animal conservation and the urgent needs of these communities, which have been upended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The past year has highlighted the imperative behind-the-scenes work that researchers are conducting to ensure we have the insights, treatments and medicine we need to keep communities healthy, says Erin Decker, director of grantmaking at The Conrad Prebys Foundation. The foundation is honored to have a role in ensuring these meaningful research projects have the resources needed to fuel future solutions in medical care.

The Conrad Prebys Foundation was established by real estate entrepreneur Conrad Prebys to perpetuate his commitment to philanthropic endeavors. The Conrad Prebys Foundation inspires transformational change by funding projects in alignment with Conrad Prebys' legacy interests and continuing his efforts that spark meaningful advancement in communities.

Institute News

LINK:	https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2021/20210323-preby...
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