Our Initiatives
Dr. Christopher French’s NUT carcinoma lab—Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Building Momentum for NUT Carcinoma Research with GEMM
At the time that Max was diagnosed with NUT carcinoma, research into this form of cancer was severely limited—there was no effective treatment, and only one dedicated research lab, led by Dr. Christopher French at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was tracking patients and studying the disease on a global scale.
The family learned firsthand about the challenges rare cancers face: lack of tissue samples, minimal research funding, underdiagnosis, and little interest from pharmaceutical companies due to the cancer’s rarity.
Determined to change this, the Max Vincze Foundation donated $100,000 in August 2021 to Dr. French’s lab. This funding was pivotal: it enabled the creation of a genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) specifically for NUT carcinoma research. The GEMM became a crucial resource, allowing researchers to study the disease in a living system that closely mimics human NUT carcinoma. This model was not only used to test promising new therapies, but was also shared with other leading research institutions, including UNC and Stanford, catalyzing broader scientific collaboration and accelerating the pace of discovery.
The project’s impact was immediate and significant. The GEMM led to new scientific insights, supported the publication of a peer-reviewed research paper, and provided a foundation for additional labs to begin investigating potential treatments for NUT carcinoma. By filling a critical gap in research tools, the Max Vincze Foundation’s early support helped spark a wave of new interest and investment in this previously neglected area of cancer research.
Why GEMM Is So Important for NUT Carcinoma Research
A genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) is a specially designed mouse in which scientists introduce the same genetic changes found in human cancers, in this case, the BRD4–NUT fusion that drives NUT carcinoma. GEMMs are vital for several reasons:
Faithful Disease Mimicry: GEMMs develop tumors that closely resemble human NUT carcinoma in their appearance, genetic makeup, and behavior—including how the cancer grows, spreads, and responds to therapies.
Testing New Treatments: Because GEMMs mimic human disease so well, researchers can use them to test new drugs and therapies in a realistic setting before moving to human trials. This allows scientists to see how a potential treatment affects both the tumor and the whole organism, including the immune system.
Understanding Disease Mechanisms: GEMMs enable researchers to study how NUT carcinoma starts, grows, and spreads at the molecular level, helping to uncover the biological processes that drive the disease and identify new targets for therapy.
Resource for Collaboration: Once developed, GEMMs can be shared with other research groups, multiplying their impact and fostering collaboration across institutions.
In summary, the GEMM funded by the Max Vincze Foundation provided a desperately needed tool that allowed researchers to make rapid progress in understanding and treating NUT carcinoma. It has become a cornerstone for ongoing and future research, offering hope for new treatments for this aggressive and rare cancer.
UNC, Personalized Immunotherapy Research Lab
Personalized Immunotherapy Research Lab
In February 2024, the Max Vincze Foundation continued its mission to accelerate rare cancer research by funding the Personalized Immunotherapy Research Lab (PIRL) at the University of North Carolina. PIRL, led by Dr. Benjamin Vincent, Dr. Alex Rubinsteyn, and Dr. Jared Weiss, is pioneering a new era in cancer treatment—one where therapies are as unique as each individual patient.
Their multidisciplinary team brings together expertise in immunology, genomics, oncology, and artificial intelligence to create personalized immunotherapies that harness the power of a patient’s own immune system to target cancer based on their specific genetic and molecular profile.
This partnership is more than just a financial contribution; it represents a shared vision for open science and rapid innovation. PIRL is deeply committed to transparency and collaboration, making their research software open source, their experimental data freely available, and their findings quickly accessible to the global scientific community.
This approach ensures that breakthroughs are not just confined to one lab but can be leveraged by researchers and clinicians worldwide, amplifying the impact of every discovery.
For NUT carcinoma PIRL is developing and testing innovative therapeutic strategies. Their work includes designing computational tools to identify tumor-specific mutations (neoantigens) that can be targeted by the immune system, developing new methods to predict and monitor immune responses, and initiating early-phase clinical trials to bring these personalized therapies to patients as quickly as possible.
The Max Vincze Foundation’s support of UNC’s PIRL has catalyzed cutting-edge research into personalized immunotherapies for NUT carcinoma and rare cancers, while championing open science to ensure that every advancement benefits the broader community and accelerates the path to new treatments.
The Gerald Crabtree Lab, Stanford University
Flipping the switch and making cancers self-destruct.
The Max Vincze Foundation’s third major initiative supports the innovative research of Dr. Gerald Crabtree at Stanford University, who is now applying his pioneering ideas to NUT carcinoma—a rare and aggressive cancer driven by the fusion of the NUTM1 and BRD4 genes.
Dr. Crabtree’s project is built on a simple but powerful concept: what if the very molecules that help cancer survive could be reprogrammed to trigger the cancer’s own self-destruction?
Dr. Crabtree and his team have designed unique molecules that act like a molecular “switch.” These molecules are engineered to link a cancer-driving protein—created by the BRD4-NUTM1 fusion—to another protein that can turn on the cell’s built-in self-destruct genes.
Normally, the BRD4-NUTM1 fusion protein silences these death pathways, making the cancer cells nearly immortal. But with Dr. Crabtree’s approach, the fusion protein is “hijacked” so it instead activates the cell’s own kill-switch, causing the cancer cell to die.
This strategy is highly targeted: it aims to affect only cancer cells carrying the BRD4-NUTM1 fusion, leaving healthy cells unharmed. The approach has shown promise in early laboratory experiments, where these engineered molecules successfully triggered cancer cell death and disrupted the cancer’s internal control systems.
Just as with the Max Vincze Foundation’s earlier support of Dana-Farber and UNC, this project is about more than one lab—it’s about creating new tools and knowledge that can be shared with the wider scientific community.
Dr. Crabtree’s work not only offers hope for new, precise treatments for NUT carcinoma, but also opens the door to similar strategies for other cancers driven by fusion genes.
The Max Vincze Foundation’s support of Dr. Crabtree’s research is fueling a bold new approach to treating NUT carcinoma: turning the cancer’s own survival mechanisms against it.
By developing molecules that flip the cancer’s internal switches from “grow” to “self-destruct,” this project aims to deliver targeted, effective therapies and advance the broader fight against rare and difficult-to-treat cancers.