Moon Shot Platforms
Learn more about the platforms' infrastructure
Enables design of preclinical studies and clinical trials to evaluate novel immunotherapies as single treatments or combined with other drugs.
Leaders: Executive Director Jim Allison, Ph.D., chair, Immunology; Scientific Director Padmanee Sharma, M.D., professor, Genitourinary Medical Oncology
Cancer genomics laboratory
Provides rapid, high-quality genomic sequencing services and access to genomic data.
Leader: Kenna Shaw, Ph.D., executive director, and Maggi Morgan, scientific manager, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy; and Andy Futreal, Ph.D., professor, and Curtis Gumbs, scientific manager, Genomic Medicine; Jianhua "John" Zhang, Ph.D., associate director, Bioinformatics, Institute for Applied Cancer Science
Sifts through thousands of cancer-related proteins to find those useful for diagnosis and imaging or as targets for treatment.
Leader: Sam Hanash, M.D., Ph.D., director, the Red and Charline McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer
Develops and implements evidence-based programs in prevention, screening, early detection and survivorship.
Leaders: Ernest Hawk, M.D., vice president, Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences; Mark Moreno, vice president, Governmental Relations
Integrates MD Anderson’s information systems to improve patient outcomes with efficient, secure use of research and clinical data.
Leaders: Andy Futreal, Ph.D., professor, Genomic Medicine; Keith Perry, deputy chief information officer; Chris Belmont, vice president and chief information officer
APOLLO – Adaptive Patient-Oriented Longitudinal Learning and Optimization
Provides a framework to accelerate research-driven patient care by standardizing clinical workflows and sample collection, with a goal of capturing quality data systematically over time to enhance learning and improve outcomes.
Leaders: Andy Futreal, Ph.D., professor, Genomic Medicine, and Cynthia Powers, director, Ambulatory Work Standardization
Functions as an industrialized pharmacology unit to test the impact and tolerability of single drugs or combinations in appropriate preclinical models.
Leaders: Tim Heffernan, Ph.D., senior associate director, Target Discovery, and deputy head, Center for Co-Clinical Trials (CCCT); Joseph Marszalek, Ph.D., senior associate director, Target Validation
Institute for Applied Cancer Science
Applies scientific knowledge of factors that drive tumor formation and progression to develop small-molecule cancer therapies for specific cancer patients, targeting areas of unmet medical need.
Leader: Phil Jones, Ph.D., head of Drug Discovery, Institute for Applied Cancer Science
Applied Cell Therapy
Innovates, develops and implements novel cell-based immunotherapies, including customized T cells to attack cancer.
Leaders: Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D., professor, Pediatrics; Elizabeth Shpall, M.D., professor, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy; Cassian Yee, M.D., professor, Melanoma Medical Oncology
ORBIT – Oncology Research for Biologics and Immunotherapy Translation
Focuses on the rapid discovery and development of innovative monoclonal antibodies, targeted biologic drugs to treat cancer.
Leaders: Executive Director Carlo Toniatti, M.D., Ph.D.; Scientific Directors Jeffrey Molldrem, M.D., professor, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and Michael Curran, Ph.D., assistant professor, Immunology




















