Vinod Balachandran

Vinod Balachandran led groundbreaking clinical research demonstrating that mRNA neoantigen vaccines can generate robust T cell responses in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, a cancer type historically considered immunologically cold. His Phase 1 trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering showed that individualized mRNA vaccines extended recurrence-free survival in some pancreatic cancer patients. He identified novel neoantigens in pancreatic tumors that had not been previously targeted. His work has opened new avenues for immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer.