Hua Wang (RBTE), a professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and his research group are passionate about developing novel – but simple – solutions to not only improve the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies, but also to look ahead to clinical translation.

The Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) is reshaping its core leadership team, including three transitions in leadership positions by IGB members.

These changes reflect the institute’s continued evolution and build upon its history of research and education excellence. The new positions also underscore the CCIL’s strong commitment to leadership development and the growth of some of the institute’s most visionary members. Each new appointee contributed significantly to CCIL research, education, and outreach initiatives.

An Illinois research team led by scientist Hua Wang (RBTE), a professor of materials science and engineering, has developed a biomaterial for T cell immunotherapy that can stimulate and expand function T cells in the body.

Several days following the Federal Drug Administration’s approval of a new cancer drug, Erik Nelson (ACPP) was still processing the news.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet that this is actually happening,” he said from his breast cancer research lab in Burrill Hall. “This is why I get up every morning: to hopefully impact a patient's life.”

The pivotal role of microRNA in diagnosing and monitoring cancer is well known by today’s researchers. “There have been a lot of studies in recent years linking the presence and concentration of specific microRNA sequences to clinical outcomes for people with advanced prostate cancer,” said Brian Cunningham (CGD leader/MMG), a professor of electrical and computer engineering and a program leader at the Cancer Center at Illinois.