Dr. Glenn Dranoff served as a Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, the Leader of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Program in Cancer Immunology, and the Principal Investigator of the Harvard Immunology Training Grant for Pre-doctoral Students in Cancer Immunology. He developed a basic and translational research program to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the generation of anti-tumor immunity. Work in his laboratory helped identify: the key roles of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in protective immunity, immunoregulation, and pulmonary homeostasis; mechanisms of tumor-promoting inflammation and tumor immune escape; and MHC class I related protein-A (MICA), milk fat globule-EGF8 (MFG-E8), melanoma inhibitor of apoptosis protein (ML-IAP), and angiogenic cytokines as targets for immunotherapy. Research in his laboratory gave rise to multiple clinical protocols at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute that helped define the biologic activity of several cancer immunotherapies in patients with solid or hematologic malignancies; these investigations helped provide the foundation for the FDA approvals of the first therapeutic cancer vaccine and the first monoclonal antibody that blocks negative immune regulation.
From 2015-2023 Dr. Dranoff established and led the Department of Immuno-oncology and Hematology Research at the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research. The department provided research expertise for: the health authority approvals of Kymriah® (CD19 CAR T cell) for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and follicular lymphoma; registrational-intent trials of an anti-TIM-3 mAb for high-risk myelodysplasia and acute myelogenous leukemia; registrational-intent trials of an anti-IL-1β mAb for nonsmall cell lung carcinoma; registrational-intent trials of an anti-PD-1 mAb for melanoma; and clinical investigation of an anti-TGF-β mAb for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma and colorectal carcinoma. The department devised a novel method for CAR T cell manufacturing that preserves T cell stemness and enhances scalability (T-CHARGE®), which is currently in clinical testing for DLBCL, ALL, multiple myeloma, and non-malignant B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. The department contributed to the creation and current clinical evaluation of a novel cereblon based low molecular weight glue degrader for the transcription factor Helios, which plays key roles in attenuating tumor immunity through Tregs and effector T cell exhaustion. The department contributed to the discovery of WIZ as a novel negative regulator of fetal globin expression and the development of a novel cereblon based low molecular weight WIZ glue degrader for the treatment of sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. Multiple additional first-in-class therapeutic programs, which have not yet been disclosed, are in early-stage clinical testing or approaching development candidate selection.
Dr. Dranoff received the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology, the Eli Lilly Biochemistry Award in Gene Therapy, and the Stohler Scholarship of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He was elected to the Academy of Cancer Immunology, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the American Association of Physicians, the European Academy of Tumor Immunology, and the Osler Interurban Clinical Club. Dr. Dranoff also served as the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Immunology Research.