Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

Parent institution	Parker Foundation
Founder	Sean Parker
Established	April 13, 2016;9 years ago (2016-04-13)
Mission	Accelerate the development of breakthrough immune therapies to turn all cancers into curable diseases.
Focus	Cancer immunotherapy
President	Karen E. Knudsen
Key people	Ira Mellman
Location	1 Letterman Drive, Suite D3500 , San Francisco , California , United States
Website	www.parkerici.org

The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) is an American program focused on the acceleration of cancer immunotherapy located in San Francisco. The institute includes over 40 laboratories from several key cancer centers, Weill Cornell, Stanford Medicine, Gladstone Institute, UCLA, University of Pennsylvania, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. ^[1]

History

The institute was established in 2016 through the Parker Foundation by a $250 million grant from Sean Parker. ^[2] The institute was originally focused around three key areas of research, modification of T-cells, boosting the patient response to immunotherapy drugs, and research on novel targets. Jeffrey Bluestone was the inaugural president of the institute. ^[3]

Structure

PICI uses an organizational model to tie funding and science together. The PICI Network includes a number of cancer research centers. The PICI network involves:

• Stanford Medicine
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, San Francisco
• University of Pennsylvania
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Gladstone Institutes
• Weill Cornell Medicine

References

1. Tinker, Roni Selig,Ben (April 14, 2016). "Can Silicon Valley cure cancer?". CNN.
2. Eunjung, Ariana (April 13, 2016). "$250 million, 300 scientists and 40 labs: Sean Parker's revolutionary project to 'solve' cancer". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
3. "Sean Parker sets up $250 million cancer immunotherapy collaboration".