Kirane Receives 2024 SCI Innovation Award

August 19, 2024

Dr. Amanda Kirane’s proposal, “Functional Oncology Mapping (FuncOMap) to deliver cutting-edge biomarkers for precision immunotherapy application,” was selected for funding as one of the Stanford Cancer Institute’s October 2024 SCI Innovation Awards.

“While groundbreaking advances have been made in melanoma treatment, a significant number of patients still do not respond to first-line therapy or risk severe side effects from treatment,” said Kirane. ”The lack of clinically predictive biomarkers to facilitate therapeutic selection is a frustrating challenge that we have aimed to explore in a way that diverges from conventional protein or gene analyses.”

Kirane has been collaborating with Professor Banafshé Larijani, Director of the Centre for Therapeutic Innovation at the University of Bath and creator of FuncOmap. FuncOmap measures functional immune checkpoint interactions using time-resolved FRET technology. Kirane plans to marry Larijani's novel quantitative imaging assay with advanced multiplex spatial biology. Thanks to an Equipment Seed Grant earlier this year, Kirane was able to purchase a COMET to facilitate her research.

“By unveiling the intricate molecular signaling dynamics of divergent cellular neighborhoods contributing to therapy responses, we expect this first-in-kind innovative approach to redefine precision immunotherapeutic application,” said Kirane. “This type of technical and computational approach to understanding cellular signaling in complex, whole-tissue multicellular environments will have biologic implications beyond melanoma with a potential future role in many cancers, inflammatory diseases, and immune related phenomena.”

Kirane is an assistant professor in the Division of General Surgery’s surgical oncology section.

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As the Director of Communications for Stanford Surgery, Rachel Baker tells the stories of her department's faculty, staff, and trainees. With the help of an amazing team of content creators, she produces and curates original articles, photos, videos, graphics, and even podcasts.She works personally with each division, center, program, and lab within her purview to define their audience and reach their goals while maintaining a consistent brand voice. She hosts quarterly professional development workshops open to all AEM web authors--please email her if you'd like to join! She also offers both 1:1 and group education to faculty and residents on a variety of topics including media training, using social media to advantage, and presentation refinement. Rachel holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism with a focus on photography from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. A transplant from the DC-area, she still misses foliage and argyle but has happily adopted the official NorCal hobbies of visiting wineries, hiking local trails, and eating avocado.

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