NCI Awards Pinho Grant
Friday, August 14, 2026
The National Cancer Institute awarded an R21 grant of $412,249 to University of Illinois Cancer Center member Sandra Pinho, PhD, to support research aimed at identifying new leukemia immunotherapy targets and improving outcomes in stem cell transplantation.
Cancer cells avoid being killed by the body’s immune system by exploiting immune checkpoints. Previous studies by the Pinho Lab identified Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM1) as an immune checkpoint, also known as a "do-not-eat-me" signal.
Her research project (#1R21CA306039-01A1), “Identification of Novel Innate Immune Checkpoint Receptors,” seeks to identify the unknown VCAM1 receptor(s) on phagocytic immune cells, which engulf and eliminate abnormal cells, and learn their role in immune unresponsiveness in leukemia and mismatched stem cell transplantation.
First, the Pinho Lab will focus on identifying the VCAM1 receptor that promotes immune tolerance and leukemia evasion, and on validating their findings in mouse and human models of leukemia. Then, they will examine whether disrupting VCAM1 receptor signaling enhances the immune elimination of myeloid and lymphoid leukemia cells, as well as how this pathway influences outcomes following mismatched hematopoietic stem transplantation.
Part of the Cancer Biology Research Program at the Cancer Center, she is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). The Cancer Center is part of UIC and its academic health system, UI Health.
