Ryan Schoenfeld, Chief Executive Officer at The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, shared on LinkedIn:
“For a long time, the medical world tried to put chronic conditions into neat, separate categories. Cancer in one bucket, heart disease in another, neurodegeneration a third. But as our understanding deepens, it’s becoming increasingly clear how connected many disease processes are, and how many are driven by chronic, low-level inflammation.
A great new piece in The New York Times by Kim Tingley nails this shift. What stood out to me most was the spotlight on how aging immune cells (specifically macrophages) can stop doing their job clearing cellular waste and instead end up fueling tumor growth.
I was especially pleased to see the work of Miriam Merad featured in the piece. The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, the Samuel Waxman Institute for Aging and Cancer, the American Cancer Society, and the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) recently awarded Miriam, Vera Gorbunova, and Nicolas Vabreta grant for their work on a fundamental question: If we can restore the function of aging immune cells, can we improve cancer outcomes, or even prevent disease?
Their work is a great example of the kind of bold systems thinking that makes me optimistic about where cancer research is heading.
Check out the piece if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet!”
Other articles featuring Ryan Schoenfeld on OncoDaily.
