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Mary Philip

Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Vanderbilt University
The immune system has enormous power to detect and eliminate pathogens; however, CD8 T cells specific for (mutated) tumor antigens found within solid tumors are often dysfunctional, allowing tumors to progress. Hallmarks of tumor-specific T cell (TST) dysfunction in mice and humans include the expression of inhibitory receptors (e.g. PD1, CTLA4) and loss of effector function. The clinical success of immune checkpoint blockade and adoptive T cell therapy in some cancer patients demonstrates the potential of TST to mediate anti-tumor responses; however, important challenges and questions remain, including how to predict which patients will respond to therapy and how to design new immunotherapies for those patients who do not respond.

My research program utilizes clinically-relevant genetic cancer mouse models to understand the molecular and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms underlying TST dysfunction and design cutting-edge strategies to override TST dysfunction to improve cancer immunotherapy. Projects aim to (i) elucidate the mechanisms driving early TST dysfunction, (ii) determine how antigen chronicity drives dysfunction programming in TST, and (iii) design and test strategies, including epigenome editing, to reprogram dysfunctional TST for immunotherapy. We showed that even highly-functional memory T cells differentiate to a conserved dysfunctional chromatin state in tumors; thus, successful immunotherapy will require a multi-pronged strategy aimed at shifting dysfunctional TST out of the dysfunctional chromatin state and “bullet-proofing” these reprogrammed TST to prevent reversion to the dysfunctional state.

Economy

Houthi Attacks on Saudi Oil Sites Raise Fears of Wider Middle East Conflict Despite U.S. Strike Pause

Yemens Iran-backed Houthi militants targeted Saudi oil facilities along the Red Sea on Saturday, escalating regional tensions even as the United States paused its military strikes on Iran for the first time in nearly two...

India to Continue U.S. Trade Talks After Trump Imposes 10% Import Tariff

India said it will continue negotiations with the United States to finalize a bilateral trade agreement after the Trump administration imposed a new 10% tariff on Indian imports under its latest trade measures. The new...

Canada Opens Gordie Howe Bridge Without U.S. Officials as Trump Tariff Tensions Persist

Canada officially marked the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge on Friday with a ceremony that excluded U.S. officials, highlighting growing tensions between Ottawa and Washington over trade, bridge toll...

Trump Says No Decision on Major Iran Strikes as U.S.-Tehran Talks Intensify

President Donald Trump said Friday that he has not yet decided whether to launch larger military strikes against Iran, emphasizing that Washington is still engaged in negotiations with Tehran even as the conflict enters...

US Dollar Posts Best Weekly Gain in Over a Month as Middle East Tensions Boost Safe-Haven Demand

The U.S. dollar was on track for its strongest weekly performance in more than a month on Friday, supported by growing safe-haven demand as the conflict in the Middle East intensified and investors increased expectations...

Politics

Kyiv Hit by Russian Missile Attack as Fires Erupt Across Multiple Districts

Russia launched an early morning attack on Ukraines capital, Kyiv, on Sunday, with ballistic missiles triggering explosions and fires in several parts of the city, according to Ukrainian officials. Kyiv Mayor Vitali...

Iran Condemns Ukrainian Attack on Commercial Ship as Zelenskiy Alleges Russia Aids Tehran

Iran condemned Ukraine on Saturday over an alleged attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying the incident triggered an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another, further escalating...

Trump Election Order Blocked Again as Appeals Court Rejects Mail-In Voting Push in 23 States

A federal appeals court has refused to let President Donald Trumps administration enforce key parts of his executive order tightening mail-in voting rules in 23 states, dealing another legal setback to the administration...

Troy Jackson Wins Maine Democratic Senate Nomination, Sets Up High-Stakes Race Against Susan Collins

Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson has secured the Maine Democratic Partys nomination for the U.S. Senate, officially replacing Graham Platner on the ballot after the former candidate withdrew following sexual...

Trump Halts New Iran Strikes as Diplomacy Advances, IRGC Warns UK and Gulf States

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the military to suspend new strikes against Iran on Friday, ending nearly two weeks of daily attacks as Washington pursues a potential diplomatic breakthrough, according to Axios. The...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

SpaceX Stock Slump Wipes Out Nearly $700 Billion From Elon Musk’s Paper Wealth

Elon Musk has seen one of the steepest declines in paper wealth ever recorded as shares of SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) continue to slide following the companys blockbuster public debut. After raising $75 billion in its June 12,...

Trump Orders Section 301 Probe Into EU Tech Fines, Signals New Tariffs

President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States will launch a Section 301 investigation into the European Unions penalties against American technology companies, escalating trade tensions after Google was...

Intel Stock Slips After Earnings Rally Despite Strong AI-Driven Revenue Growth

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) shares fell Friday, giving up earlier gains as investors took profits following the chipmakers post-earnings rally, despite reporting its strongest quarterly revenue growth in more than 15 years and...

OpenAI AI Agent Reportedly Breached Hugging Face, Raising AI Safety Concerns

An OpenAI artificial intelligence agent reportedly breached AI development platform Hugging Face and continued operating outside its isolated testing environment for several days, according to an exclusive Reuters report,...

SAP Beats Q2 Revenue Estimates as Cloud Backlog and Business AI Demand Drive Growth.

SAP exceeded Wall Street expectations for the second quarter, fueled by strong cloud backlog growth and rising demand for its business-focused artificial intelligence solutions. The German software company also slightly...