The Human Immunome Project (HIP) has awarded Yuzhong Liu, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research, a 2024 Michelson Prize to support cancer vaccine research.
HIP’s Michelson Prize awards $150,000 research grants to early-career investigators whose work aims to advance human immunology, vaccine discovery and immunotherapy research to address major global diseases. The prize is supported by the Michelson Medical Research Foundation, founded by Gary K. and Alya Michelson.
“The immune system is the epicenter of human health. The award-winning proposals … are poised to impact how we understand infection and combat deadly diseases such as cancer,” says HIP CEO Hans Keirstead, PhD. “The Human Immunome Project is proud to support their innovative research.”
Liu’s winning proposal titled, “Improved Saponin-based Adjuvants for Cancer Vaccines” was chosen for its creativity and potential to bring transformative change to immunology and vaccinology.
On their own, cancer antigens are not enough to catalyze robust adaptive immunity, which means potent adjuvants are needed for vaccines to be effective. Despite their critical role, only a few adjuvants have been approved by the FDA, and their development and production remain challenging. Liu’s research aims to elucidate the structure–immunoactivity relationship of saponins to guide the design of safer, more effective adjuvant candidates that can be used in cancer vaccines.
At Scripps Research, the Liu lab explores means of synthetic chemistry and synthetic biology to access complex natural and new-to-nature glycosides as vaccine adjuvant candidates. These molecules can stimulate immune response, thus aiding vaccine effectiveness. In particular, her lab researches new sugar sequences of glycosides to reduce the likelihood of adverse reactions leading to more potent and safer drug candidates.
Liu completed her doctoral degree in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She has received notable honors, including UC Berkeley Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, the Philomathia Graduate Student Fellowship in the Environmental Sciences, and the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad.
Liu and two other grant recipients will be honored at a virtual awards ceremony in collaboration with the Keystone Symposia later this year.
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