How do cancer cells survive almost no matter what we throw at them? How do they outsmart us, the body, and their environment? When and how do they acquire their advantages over the immune system and other defense mechanisms the body surveys all the time?
These are the kind of questions that keep Huda Salman, MD, and her colleagues up at night.
At the Brown Center for Immunotherapy, Dr. Salman leads a team of physicians and scientists determined to defeat cancer using the body’s innate defenses—and pioneer the use of this powerful technology in other debilitating conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
And working with leaders from private industry, we’re also developing new ways to make this highly specialized therapy accessible to larger numbers of patients.
The opportunity we have here is completely different. This is about building an immunotherapy program that doesn’t just involve one discipline, but all tumors.
Huda Salman, MD — Executive Director, Brown Center for Immunotherapy
Research at the Brown Center focuses on multiple myeloma and triple negative breast cancer, two conditions notoriously resistant to standard treatments.
Faculty are also mining the potential of using immunotherapies in treating and even preventing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Immunotherapy investigations are often in concert with the IU Precision Health Initiative, a statewide challenge that precisely analyzes the genetic, developmental, behavioral, and environmental factors that shape an individual’s health.
The Cell, Gene & Immune Therapy scientific pillar of the initiative is led by renowned researchers and Brown Center members Kenneth G. Cornetta, MD, and Emily Hopewell, PhD, MT.
Immunotherapy represents one of the most promising advances in recent decades, if not in the entire history of medicine.
Jay L. Hess, MD, PhD, MHSA — Dean, IU School of Medicine
The Brown Center for Immunotherapy was established in December 2016 with a $30 million gift from Indianapolis entrepreneur and IU School of Medicine alumnus Don Brown.
Meet Don BrownDonor support is crucial to advancing discoveries that will have the most meaningful impact on life-changing immunotherapies. You can help us make it happen.
Brown Center for Immunotherapy
980 W. Walnut St., Walther Hall
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Phone: (317) 278-6969
Email: iubrown@iu.edu
