Prize winner’s research reprograms tumor cells to trigger antitumor immunity
Cancer immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T cells, have revolutionized cancer treatment and significantly improved long-term patient outcomes. However, these therapies tend to only work on a minority of patients due to tumor progression, heterogeneity and immune evasion.
Overcoming these challenges will require innovative strategies that can elicit long-lasting and broadly effective immune responses for all patients.
For his work towards developing a novel cancer immunotherapy that turns tumors into their own vaccines, Fábio Rosa has received the 2026 BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize for Innovation. The prize aims to recognize scientists who conduct research at the intersection of the life sciences and entrepreneurship.
“Advances in immunotherapy have transformed treatment and prognosis for some cancers. Dr. Rosa's work has enabled genetic reprogramming of various cancer cell types such that these cells activate the immune system and bring about their own destruction,” writes Michael Funk, senior editor at Science. “Using tools from gene therapy, his team is now working on therapeutic treatments that can achieve this reprogramming inside patients in order to eliminate costly and slow cell culture steps and thus expand availability and efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.”
In his winning essay published April 2 in Science, Rosa introduces a new approach of in vivo immune cell reprogramming, showing that tumors themselves can be converted into antigen-presenting cells that trigger powerful immune attacks from within.
“Cancer cells are very good at hiding from the immune system, and what we aim to do is change that behavior,” said Rosa. “Instead of trying only to attack the tumor from the outside, we give cancer cells new instructions so they start acting like immune cells that alert the body to danger.”
Some cells can be reprogrammed to take on entirely new identities. Although this approach has been widely explored in regenerative medicine to produce cell types like neurons, heart cells, liver cells and macrophages, its ability to reprogram cells into cells that orchestrate immune responses has remained largely untapped.
To address this gap, Rosa and his colleagues pioneered cell reprogramming approaches to generate rare and functionally specialized immune cells from unrelated, easily accessible cell types.
The team discovered that a specific trio of transcription factors —proteins that regulate gene expression in a cell —reprogram ordinary cells into conventional type 1 dendritic cells, orcDC1, which are crucial to initiate anti-tumor immunity. These reprogrammed cells not only adopted the identity and behavior of key immune sentinels but also triggered powerful anti-tumor responses in living systems, demonstrating that cancers can be re-engineered from within to provoke their own destruction.
“Many patients do not respond to immunotherapies due to insufficient immune activation within tumors. Our approach addresses this by inducing antigen presentation directly in the tumor microenvironment,” said Rosa.
In animal models, this approach reprogrammed tumor cells in place, increased T-cell infiltration, expanded tumor-reactive T cells, and led to complete tumor regression, especially when combined with existing checkpoint blockade immunotherapies.
“We are in a period of real progress in cancer treatment, where targeting the immune system can drive long-term benefit and even cures for some patients,” Rosa said. “The goal now is to extend this benefit to more patients, ideally making these outcomes the norm rather than the exception.”
According to the researchers, achieving this will require continued scientific innovation, but also supportive healthcare systems, forward-looking policies, and active patient participation in research and clinical trials.
“Ultimately, turning breakthroughs into real treatments depends not only on what we discover in the lab, but on how effectively we can translate and deliver these advances to patients, and we all have a part to play in making that happen,” said Rosa.
Currently, Rosa and his team at Asgard Therapeutics at are aiming to submit a clinical trial application in 2027 to bring their therapy to the clinic.
"The level of innovation among this year’s finalists is truly outstanding. They are not just pushing the boundaries of science, but they are turning breakthrough ideas into solutions with real impact,” said Jens Nielsen, chief executive officer at BioInnovation Institute. “This is exactly the kind of entrepreneurial thinking BII exists to support, driving meaningful change to the benefit of both human and planetary health."
FINALISTS
James Byrne is a 2026 finalist for his essay, “Physical gas entrapment as a platform for therapeutic gas delivery.” Byrne received his B.S. in biomedical engineering from the University of Texas and an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. After completing his residency in radiation oncology at the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program and postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he started his laboratory in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Iowa in 2021. His laboratory focuses on translational engineering to develop technologies that improve cancer therapies and reduce treatment burden for patients.
Elias Sayour is a finalist for his essay, “Engineering mRNA to overcome cancer evolution.” Sayour received an undergraduate degree from Fordham University and an M.D. from the University at Buffalo. After completing his postdoctoral oncology training and Ph.D. at Duke University, he started his laboratory at the University of Florida in 2016–2017. His research focuses on the development of mRNA cancer vaccines designed for both universal and personalized immunotherapy.
