The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy is an unprecedented collaboration among 300 of the country’s leading immunologists at six academic cancer centers, all dedicated to a single mission: harnessing the power of the immune system to fight — and cure — cancer.
By encouraging cooperation, data sharing, and industry partnership, the Parker Institute aims to eliminate the intellectual silos that stifle progress by giving researchers the incentive to work together on common goals.
MSK is one of six founding centers, along with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Penn Medicine; Stanford Medicine; the University of California, Los Angeles; and the University of California, San Francisco. Funding for the Parker Institute comes from a $250 million grant from the Parker Foundation, established by tech entrepreneur and philanthropist Sean Parker.
By providing the resources and central coordination needed to advance research objectives, the Parker Institute empowers its team of scientists to pursue their boldest research ambitions.
For more information on immunotherapy at MSK, click here.
Mission and Scope
The Parker Institute’s mission is to accelerate the development of breakthrough immune therapies capable of turning cancer into a curable disease.
It will work to achieve this goal by:
- Bringing together the best scientists, clinicians, and industry partners to build a smarter and more coordinated cancer immunotherapy research effort
- Building a better funding and research model that overcomes the logistical hurdles that can slow research breakthroughs, and invests more strategically in projects that have big potential
The Parker Institute provides its members with easy access to advanced bioinformatics, intellectual property, sequencing, immune monitoring, industry-owned drugs, cell manufacturing, genetic engineering, and clinical trials management.
An innovative funding model allows proceeds from commercialized products to feed back into laboratory support so that the effort is self-sustaining.
