Milan G. Chheda, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Oncology at WashU Medicine and a brain tumor specialist at Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, has received a nearly $1.5 million grant from the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.
The three-year award will significantly advance a unique viral-based immunotherapy for glioblastoma, a lethal brain cancer that typically results in death within two years.
Chheda's research repurposes the Zika virus, which has been linked to neurological adverse events. Instead, Chheda and colleagues engineered and tested the virus to selectively target and destroy glioblastoma tumor cells while sparing healthy brain tissue. The virus has proven highly effective in mice, giving a powerful boost to an immunotherapy drug and training the immune system to surveil and prevent against recurrence. The Kleberg Foundation award is essential for sustaining momentum, allowing Chheda and his team to complete key work needed to transition to a first-in-human clinical trial. Chheda previously received a Kleberg Foundation grant in 2017 to support this work.
Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer. About 12,000 people are diagnosed each year in the U.S.
Chheda also is director of neuro-oncology at WashU Medicine and a physician-scientist and associate director at The Brain Tumor Center at Siteman.
