{"669157":{"#nid":"669157","#data":{"type":"news","title":"BME Researchers Lead $24M Project Using mRNA to \u2018Turn On\u2019 Helpful Immune Responses","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPresident Joe Biden and the White House \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2023\/08\/23\/as-part-of-president-bidens-unity-agenda-biden-cancer-moonshot-announces-launch-of-arpa-hs-cureit-project-led-by-emory-university-to-develop-new-tools-to-strengthen-the-immune-syste\/\u0022\u003Eannounced $24 million in support Aug. 23\u003C\/a\u003E for a team led by Georgia Tech and Emory University biomedical engineers who want to use mRNA to unlock new treatments for cancer and other chronic diseases.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETheir project, called Curing the Uncurable via RNA-Encoded Immunogene Tuning (CUREIT), aims to use mRNA to essentially turn genes on or off in individual immune cells. The idea is to reverse the suppression or dysregulation of the immune system that is common in chronic diseases like cancer.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cBy combining mRNA-encoded antigens with gene modulation technology, we will be able to radically enhance specific immune responses,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Philip-Santangelo\u0022\u003EPhilip Santangelo\u003C\/a\u003E, the project\u2019s leader and a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cThis technology, which operates transiently without modifying DNA, can offer a potential breakthrough in treating cancers, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2023\/08\/bme-researchers-lead-24m-project-using-mrna-turn-helpful-immune-responses\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERead the full story on the College of Engineering website.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhilip Santangelo wants to build a toolbox of mRNA drugs to activate or shut off specific genes to help the immune system fight cancer and other disorders.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Philip Santangelo wants to build a toolbox of mRNA drugs to activate or shut off specific genes to help the immune system fight cancer and other disorders."}],"uid":"27446","created_gmt":"2023-08-24 18:22:26","changed_gmt":"2023-08-31 15:16:00","author":"Joshua Stewart","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671478":{"id":"671478","type":"image","title":"Philip Santangelo mRNA Gene Modulation","body":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers, from left, Lorena Chaves, Jose Assumpcao, and Philip Santangelo will be part of a collaborative effort to use mRNA drugs to enhance the body\u2019s immune response. Santangelo is leading the $24 million project supported by the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. (Photo: Jack Kearse\/Emory University)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1692814966","gmt_created":"2023-08-23 18:22:46","changed":"1692901366","gmt_changed":"2023-08-24 18:22:46","alt":"Emory researchers Lorena Chaves, Jose Assumpcao, and Philip Santangelo working at a hood in their lab. (Photo: Jack Kearse)","file":{"fid":"254547","name":"Philip-Santangelo-mRNA-Cancer-Gene-Modulation-ARPA-H.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/08\/24\/Philip-Santangelo-mRNA-Cancer-Gene-Modulation-ARPA-H.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/08\/24\/Philip-Santangelo-mRNA-Cancer-Gene-Modulation-ARPA-H.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":129479,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/08\/24\/Philip-Santangelo-mRNA-Cancer-Gene-Modulation-ARPA-H.jpg?itok=5pQcBoyQ"}}},"media_ids":["671478"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13850","name":"Philip Santangelo"},{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"985","name":"mRNA"},{"id":"191727","name":"mRNA therapies"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jstewart@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJoshua Stewart\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jstewart@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}