WASHINGTON, D.C. — Project Purple has awarded funding to researchers at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center through its Research Recovery Support Grant, a special initiative designed to sustain critical pancreatic cancer research that has faced unexpected federal research funding disruptions.
The grant provides $375,000 over two years to support this exciting pancreatic cancer research project.
Georgetown University is one of several institutions receiving support through this initiative, along with the University of Cincinnati and Weill Cornell Medicine.
“Our goal is to keep the science moving. In the current environment where grant funding was cut by the federal government, which funds 80% of cancer research within the U.S.,” says Dino Verreli, CEO and founder of Project Purple. “One of our biggest goals is to have the greatest impact with every program, and we feel this is the way we can have the greatest impact with our research program in order to keep making progress.”
Advancing Pancreatic Cancer Research at Georgetown
The grant from Project Purple is funding a research study titled Combination Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, which explores new strategies to address one of the biggest challenges in pancreatic cancer: the disease’s resistance to standard therapies.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), one of the most common and aggressive forms of pancreatic cancer, is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States by 2030. Current treatments, including modern immunotherapies, often fail to produce lasting results, and researchers at Georgetown Lombardi are committed to changing this.
To support Project Purple’s mission of advancing the careers of early-career-stage investigators, this work will be led by Marwa Afifi, BDS, MDS, PhD, an assistant professor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi. She will be assisted in the research by Selime Arslan, a Tumor Biology PhD student in Georgetown’s School of Medicine. They are conducting their research in the lab of Louis M. Weiner, MD, director of Georgetown Lombardi. Together, the team is investigating a novel combination therapy approach designed to help the immune system better recognize and destroy pancreatic tumors.
One reason pancreatic cancer is so difficult to treat is that tumors often build a dense, scar-like barrier that blocks immune cells from reaching the cancer. To overcome this challenge, the Georgetown Lombardi team is studying what researchers describe as a “one-two punch” strategy that combines immune-based therapies with targeted treatments.
The first part of this approach involves BXCL701, a drug designed to weaken the tumor’s p
The strategy combines BXCL701, a drug aimed at disrupting the tumor’s protective microenvironment, with PD-1–based immunotherapy to promote immune recognition.
The researchers will also examine how these immune-boosting therapies work alongside KRAS inhibitors, drugs that target mutations in the KRAS gene. KRAS normally acts like an “on/off” switch that tells cells when to grow and divide. But when the gene becomes mutated, as it does in the vast majority of pancreatic cancers, the switch becomes stuck in the “on” position, driving uncontrolled cell growth. While newer KRAS-targeted drugs can help turn this signal off, some cancer cells often survive treatment and later cause the disease to return.
Using advanced mapping technologies, the team will study tumor samples from both mouse models and patient tumor samples to better understand how immune cells move into and interact with pancreatic tumors after treatment. They will also investigate whether combining these immune-based therapies with KRAS inhibitors can eliminate the cancer cells that typically survive treatment and lead to recurrence.
If successful, this research could help make immunotherapy more effective for pancreatic cancer, strengthen the impact of emerging KRAS-targeted therapies, and ultimately lead to new combination treatments that better overcome treatment resistance and improve outcomes for patients.
Marwa Afifi, BDS, MDS, PhD
Leading the way on this study is Dr. Afifi, an Assistant Professor at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Department of Oncology at Georgetown University School of Medicine. A clinical pathologist by training, she is an emerging leader in spatial biology and tumor immunology, bringing a unique perspective to the challenge of treating desmoplastic, or highly fibrotic, solid tumors.
Dr. Afifi’s research is focused on unraveling the complex mechanics of the tumor microenvironment that lead to immune exclusion in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Her work integrates advanced spatial proteomic and transcriptomic analyses to identify “stromal checkpoints,” physical and molecular barriers, such as periductal fibroblast density, that prevent immune cells from reaching malignant targets. By engineering immune cells to overcome these dense extracellular matrices and leveraging mechanobiological insights, her laboratory aims to develop precision immunotherapies that can penetrate and effectively treat resistant cancers.
Having completed significant postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Afifi has been recognized for her innovative approach to mapping the cellular landscape of premalignancies and advancing our understanding of how tumor architecture dictates therapeutic response.
Project Purple Supports Research That Moves the Field Forward
Founded in 2010, Project Purple is committed to creating a world without pancreatic cancer while improving care and outcomes for patients and families. The organization has funded more than $5.5 million in pancreatic cancer research, supporting projects that span early detection, curative treatment, technological advancements, and more.
For this round of Project Purple’s research investments, the organization focused on supporting Early-Stage Investigators (ESIs), helping emerging scientists sustain momentum and establish independent research programs during the critical early years of their careers.
With guidance from the organization’s Multi-Disciplinary Research Committee, Project Purple identifies and supports innovative research initiatives that have the potential to advance the understanding, detection, and treatment of pancreatic cancer. Project Purple is proud to support Georgetown’s work, advancing both groundbreaking science and the careers of early-stage investigators who are shaping the future of pancreatic cancer research.
“Every grant we award represents hope for researchers, for patients, and for families affected by pancreatic cancer,” Verrelli adds. “We’re proud to help ensure these projects continue to move the field forward.”
In addition to research, Project Purple has awarded more than $1.5 million in patient aid, allowing over 1,500 patients & families to focus on treatment and care rather than financial stress.
To learn more about Project Purple, visit projectpurple.org/about.
For media inquiries, contact info@projectpurple.org.
