Moon Shot Platforms

Immunotherapy

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

Proteomics

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

Cancer prevention and control

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

Big data

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

Center for Co-Clinical Trials

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