A partnership to develop cancer vaccines

For 10 years, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy has been launching novel research aimed at ending cancer.

Earlier this year, the Parker Institute (PICI) added the Cancer Vaccine Coalition to the organization. Leaders from both groups say they are hoping to speed progress in the development of cancer vaccines.

Dr. Karen Knudsen, the CEO of PICI, tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that there was a great deal of synergy between the two organizations.

“There was a convergent evolution of the Parker Institute and the Cancer Vaccine Coalition starting to double down in the area of therapeutic vaccines,” Knudsen says. “That was happening at a strategy level with both of our organizations.”

She adds, “It started off with, here's what we want to do. We want more patients to benefit from science. How do we do more together?”

The Cancer Vaccine Coalition, a nonprofit organization, was founded by Kristen Dahlgren, a longtime journalist with NBC News and a breast cancer survivor. With the partnership, Dahlgren also serves as the chief external affairs officer of PICI.

“It just really makes sense for us to work together, now that cancer vaccines have been named as one of the top scientific priorities,” Dahlgren says.

The federal government is investing more resources in cancer vaccines. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced a $200 million public-private partnership to study cancer vaccines.

Science matching aspiration

The Parker Institute is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Since its founding a decade ago, the institute has not been looking to make incremental gains in knowledge about cancer. PICI sees its mission as being a catalyst for high-risk, high-reward studies that can lead to cures.

“I think where we have gained significant credibility in industry and in the biotech sector is our ability to pick a winner coming out of the laboratory and saying, we've got 100 great ideas. We're going to move the ones forward that we think could have the greatest impact and the shortest time to patient impact,” Knudsen says.

With the work in cancer vaccines, PICI is looking to find ways to develop therapies to prevent survivors from having a recurrence of cancer.

Knudsen sees tantalizing potential in progress on cancer immunotherapies.

“The science is matching the aspiration, and the concept of being able to now take our investigators and the science that's around them and bring best-in-class cancer therapeutics forward was a goal, and we set that as one of our major scientific priorities moving forward,” she says.

Knudsen took over as PICI’s CEO in March 2025. She previously served as the CEO of the American Cancer Society and also held leadership roles at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia.

“One of my goals is to enhance the resourcing and ability to fund more transformative cancer science that can become a therapeutic,” Knudsen says.

PICI had already committed to investing more in cancer therapeutic vaccine research even before the integration of the Cancer Vaccine Coalition. Now, Dahlgren is helping bring in people who hadn’t previously been on PICI’s radar.

“I believe this to my core, once people truly understand, including elected officials, what cancer therapeutic vaccines are, I don't think there's one person who will be against it,” Knudsen says. “It is simply training your own body to see a cancer and eliminate it, and if that's going to prevent someone from having a cancer recurrence, I don't know one person in the world who would say no to that.”

Knudsen points to advances in AI and MRNA technology as key developments in cancer vaccine research.

“The science is ready to scale so that we can conduct more of these kinds of studies,” Knudsen says. “MRNA technology is letting us do more and be nimble, create these quickly. And the perspective of having prevention of recurrence as an initial clinical signal is a really, really strong way to look at whether or not they could change the course of disease. I expect that in the next five years, all of this will result in cancer vaccines being used earlier and earlier in disease course.”

Dr. Jennifer Litton, a breast medical oncologist and the chief clinical research officer for the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, talked about the potential of cancer vaccines in an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive® earlier this year. After some skepticism about cancer vaccines, Litton pointed to promising research.

“We've had some really intriguing vaccine work,” Litton said. “Because it's not just screening and finding things early. But if we can even prevent them, I think that would be one of the biggest game-changers.”

‘This is the moment’

Dahlgren views the work in cancer vaccines through her own experience as a cancer survivor.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. She went through radiation, chemotherapy and surgery and is healthy today.

But Dahlgren, like most cancer survivors, worries about facing cancer again. And that’s why she views developing vaccines as imperative.

“There's not really much for recurrence prevention,” Dahlgren says.

“It seems like this is the moment when we can do this,” she adds. “And we've got the federal government embracing cancer vaccines as well, with this $200 million public private partnership, and so I just think everything coming together is going to make such a huge difference for patients around the world.”

Dahlgren says she’s seen a turnaround in investors’ perspectives of cancer vaccine research.

When she began the coalition, she said some investors were leery of cancer vaccines due to earlier studies that didn’t pan out. Now, she sees more enthusiasm.

“I think there's such momentum,” she says. “I think we're beginning to see investors talking about it, which is really exciting …. I've noticed an incredible change in how people are looking at this and embracing this.”

When Dahlgren began exploring the idea of having the Cancer Vaccine Coalition join PICI, she says some asked her if she wanted to give up something she had built. But Dahlgren says she doesn’t view becoming part of PICI that way.

“This isn't giving up anything,” Dahlgren says. “This is expanding it and accelerating it.”

“It was just a no-brainer that we're better together,” she says.

Dahlgren talks about the need for greater understanding of tumors and the immune system.

“There's still a lot of questions and research that needs to be done, and that's why we exist,” Dahlgren says. “We have so much better understanding of cancer, what it's going to take to have those cures, and we're pursuing this with everything we've got, and we're growing and supporting more and more researchers. And I just think it's an exciting time to be a part of this.”