such as the CAR-T cells that saved Emma. And so, when HI3 launched in 2016 with a $20 million investment from a CU School of Medicine Transformational Research Funding Award—bolstered by significant contributions from visionary philanthropists—it had a head start in building a world-class team relentlessly focused on improving patient lives. Terry Fry, MD, a CAR-T cell therapy pioneer at the National Institutes of Health’s Center for Cancer Research, was an early, prominent hire. He’s now an HI3 director. “The investment in HI3 demonstrates, broadly and across the institution, a strong interest in leveraging a tremendous strength in immunology with potential therapeutic outlets,” Fry said. “It was very forward-thinking.” In addition to enabling strategic hiring of established as well as promising young researchers, HI3 has built out two shared resources aimed at smoothing the path from basic science to clinical studies. HI3’s Human Immune Monitoring Shared Resource offers sample processing, cell sorting and characterization, cutting-edge imagery and data analysis. The HI3 Translational Research Networking and Preclinical Models shared resource develops mouse models and provides human tissue for testing new therapies across basic, translational and clinical research.
Lia Gore, MD, head of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Children’s Hospital Colorado, compares the immune system to a seesaw. When it’s hampered or suppressed, cancers, AIDS and other problems can follow. On the other end, an overactive immune system can usher in allergies, asthma, macular degeneration, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other autoinflammatory or autoimmune disorders. The idea behind HI3 is to harness the immune system to help tackle all these conditions and more, while keeping the immune system in balance, she says.
HI3 is off to a strong start, staking its claim as a leader in a blossoming field with enormous potential to improve human health. But they’re just getting started, and while $20 million over five years is a substantial sum, Cambier estimates it will take more than twice that to achieve the HI3 vision. The stakes are high, says John J. Reilly, Jr., MD, the CU School of Medicine dean. “It’s a big deal for us. It represents a substantial investment on our part. We have a series of elements here that make us particularly well-positioned to be national leaders in the field,” Reilly said. “We have a lot riding on it, but we are in a position to succeed.”
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