2024 Kuni Foundation Grants
Congratulations to the following Department of Medicine members who received grants from the Kuni Foundation.
“The Pacific Northwest is a hub for bold, visionary cancer research, and we’re inspired by the inventive work happening at Fred Hutch and UW Medicine,” said Angela Hult, Kuni Foundation president. “We’re honored to help accelerate the impactful work of these cancer researchers and their exciting efforts to improve access and outcomes for underserved communities and yield new, effective treatments in service to a cure.”
This year’s grants bring the Kuni Foundation’s total support for Fred Hutch principal investigators working at Fred Hutch and UW Medicine to more than $17 million since 2020.
Adult oncology research
Drs. Shailender Bhatia, professor (Hematology and Oncology) and collaborators Lisa Tachiki, assistant professor, and Manoj Menon, associate professor (Hematology and Oncology) are testing a markedly lower-dose plus reduced-frequency strategy of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab, to potentially make the drug available to patients who would otherwise not have access to the drug. 
Dr. David Hockenbery, professor (Gastroenterology) and collaborators are unraveling a marsupial medical mystery. They are studying Tasmainian devils in hopes of developing a therapy that could one day make tumors disappear.
Cancer vaccine research
Dr. Denise Cecil, research scientist (Hematology and Oncology) is developing a vaccine for ovarian cancer prevention. The vaccine will target proteins that are found at high levels in STIC and ovarian cancers, helping train the immune system to create an immune response to eliminate them.
Dr. Mary (Nora) Disis, professor (Hematology and Oncology) is collaborating with Dr. Miqin Zhang (UW Institute of Nano-engineered Systems) to develop an advanced nanovaccine to combat breast cancer.
Dr. Shaveta Vinayak, associate professor (Hematology and Oncology) is addressing the unmet medical needs of patients with PD-L1–negative triple-negative metastatic breast cancer.