The week before its 11th annual cycling event to end cancer, Pelotonia made a stunning announcement: the organization pledged a record-setting $102,265,000 gift to the OSUCCC – James to create the Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology (PIIO). The PIIO will focus on immuno-oncology, which harnesses the body’s immune system to prevent and treat cancer and to improve survivorship.
The largest-ever gift to Ohio State’s cancer center not only charts a new course for cancer research, but it shines a spotlight on Pelotonia and its dedicated community of riders and supporters, who together are utilizing the power of grassroots fundraising to embolden researchers in the fight against cancer. Indeed, the “2,265” within the gift total honors the number of individuals who rode in the 2009 inaugural Pelotonia.
Ohio State president Michael V. Drake, MD, announced the gift during a July 26 celebration, where Pelotonia president and chief executive officer Doug Ulman looked toward a new future for cancer research. “This institute will change and save thousands and thousands of lives. It’s the reason we ride. It’s the reason we raise money. It’s the reason this community has come together for more than a decade to significantly reduce the impact that this disease has on all of our lives,” said Ulman.
Immuno-oncology is largely considered to be the next frontier of cancer therapy and prevention, with enormous potential for discovery. It is poised to take its place along with the current standards of treatment, including surgery, radiation and systemic therapies like hormonal and chemotherapy, said The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center director Raphael Pollock, MD, PhD, who also spoke at the celebratory event.
Unlike the other treatment approaches, “The immunotherapeutic approach seeks to harness the body’s own immune defense against cancer rather than bringing something from the outside in that might directly attack the cancer itself,” Pollock said. “We anticipate these modalities will be combined in the majority of patients, working effectively to complement each other’s strengths while downplaying the weaknesses and toxicities.”
Cancer survivor Christine Sander credits that mixed-modality approach with saving her life. When the mother of two young children at first struggled to get basic information about her diagnosis from another health provider, she recalls telling her husband, “I think I’m dying, and there’s no one to help. I don’t know who to go to.” She was connected to OSUCCC – James hematologist Robert Baiocchi, MD, PhD, who told her, "We’re going to get you back to your happy life.”
With a combination of chemotherapy and an immunotherapy drug called rituximab discovered through immuno-oncology research, Sander is now a survivor and a Pelotonia rider – having raised almost $11,000 over the past four years. As she shared her story with the crowd at the PIIO gift celebration, she found it difficult to express the meaning Pelotonia has had for her. “It’s hard to find words to describe what Pelotonia has become in my life,” Sander said, adding that the gift announcement “has motivated me even more to continue to do my part.”
Thanks to Sander and the thousands of riders and volunteers who have participated in Pelotonia, the PIIO will position the OSUCCC – James to pioneer more treatments like the one that saved her life. World-renowned physician-scientist Zihai Li, MD, PhD, has been recruited as founding director of the PIIO, and the OSUCCC – James expects to add 32 faculty over the next five years to work within it and in collaboration with researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
The Pelotonia gift, along with a $35 million commitment from the OSUCCC – James, will also enable multi-phase laboratory renovations, creating advanced cellular laboratory facilities, immune-monitoring and discovery platforms, immunogenomics, systems immunology, and other research areas for start-up initiatives and national collaborations with other academic centers and industry partners. The OSUCCC – James will use $65 million of the pledged $102 million to directly support the PIIO, while the balance will continue to support well-established initiatives, including Pelotonia Fellowships, Idea Grants, statewide research initiatives and equipment purchases.
Meet PIIO Founding Director Zihai Li, MD, PhD
World-renowned immuno-oncology clinician and researcher Zihai Li, MD, PhD, came to Ohio State from the Medical University of South Carolina, where he was a tenured professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, and co-leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the Hollings Cancer Center. He is an elected member of The American Society for Clinical Investigation and The Association of American Physicians, and his research is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Li’s leadership in basic and clinical immunology research, including prevention and survivorship, will help the PIIO become a world-class institute.
During the Pelotonia gift celebration, Dr. Li said the investment will “put us on course for major, major advances in immunotherapies – therapies that will empower the body’s own defense mechanism, the immune system, to fight cancer.”
“This is an entirely new paradigm of cancer medicine,” Li added, noting that, “We are closer than ever before toward Pelotonia’s one goal of ending cancer and our cancer center’s shared vision of creating a cancer-free world.”