Winter 2025
Happy Holidays from the CICT!
We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has participated in our growth, discoveries, and community in 2025. As we wrap up our fourth year of the Center for Innovations in Cancer & Transplant (CICT), we are taking time to reflect on the past months, while also looking to and planning for the future. In the spirit of reflection and renewal, we are pleased to share highlights of our research, mentorship, education, and more.
CICT Research
We are excited to share that within the last six months, the CICT has published over 8 papers! A full list of publications can be found here. Alongside these recent publications, the CICT is advancing exciting research projects.
Drs. Andrew Portuguese (UW & Fred Hutch), Chris Blosser and team are leading a novel project studying the Tumor Microenvironment (TME) in Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorders (PTLD) to identify biomarkers associated with clinical outcomes. PTLD is the most common cause of cancer death after transplant for children and adults. Our findings will directly inform and strengthen an upcoming FDA grant submission, which is focused on defining the natural history of PTLD in pediatric and adult transplant populations and will result in a predictive model of treatment response.
Although most PTLD cases are associated to EBV infection, standardized EBV screening and management practices are lacking. Drs. Adam Bregman (University of Wisconsin), Potluri (University of Pennsylvania), and Blosser are preparing to survey U.S. pediatric and adult transplant providers on their EBV screening practices. This data will inform steps to standardize practice, possibly including the creation of an EMR-based EBV surveillance tool. This work may enable earlier detection of EBV infection, reduce the incidence of PTLD, and improve long-term outcomes for high-risk solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs).
While Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor (ICI) treatments have demonstrated strong efficacy in the general population, their safety and effectiveness among the immunosuppressed transplant population remain uncertain with the risks of toxicity, organ transplant rejection and failure. To help address this critical knowledge gap, Drs. Bhatia, Tachiki (Fred Hutch), and Blosser are evaluating the optimal dosing and frequency of ICI therapy in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with advanced skin cancers.
In parallel, the team with Dr. Gaoyuan Huang, UW Transplant Nephrology Fellow, is leading an analysis of clinical outcomes among KTRs treated with ICI for advanced skin cancers, as well as an investigation of how these outcomes may be associated with certain autoantibodies in collaboration with Dr. Aaron Ring (UW and Fred Hutch).
Mentorship
Mentoring the next generation of physicians and scientists remains a vital part of our work. This year, we have had the opportunity to involve and collaborate with three junior investigators on research projects.
Fatima Al-Shimari, 1st year medical student, is supporting the ICI in KTRs project on multiple levels. Her efforts are helping advance our understanding of ICI safety and outcomes in KTRs with advanced cancers.
Qing Gao, 2nd year MD-PhD student, is leading a project surveying anal cancer screening practices among U.S. SOTR providers. Despite the benefits of anal cancer screening in high-risk patient populations, such as SOTRs, there has been limited clinical implementation of screening practices. Qing’s work will further clarify current approaches, identify gaps, and inform future guidelines and standard screening implementation to improve early detection and care for transplant recipients.
Sami Elrazky, 1st year medical student, along with Felicia Che, and Dr. Blosser, are writing an invited book chapter related to pre- and post-transplant malignancy. This will contribute contemporary knowledge to the available resources aimed at improving care for kidney transplant patients.
CICT Bioregistry
Since establishing our patient-level registry to study organ transplant candidates and recipients with and without cancer, we have enrolled nearly 600 patients to date. If you are a transplant candidate or recipient - regardless of a history of cancer or not - and are interested in participating, please email cict@uw.edu for more information.
The Bioregistry is essential to answer many fundamental questions related to cancer and transplant. We look forward to enrolling more patients and collaborating with other investigators and institutions to expand the registry and catalyze high impact research in order to improve patients’ lives.
Life Lessons
In November, the CICT held its first Life Lessons webinar — a quarterly series featuring a CICT investigator and a patient sharing perspectives on cancer-related topics.
The inaugural session covered the History and Impact of the CICT and the Cancer & Organ Transplant Clinic, with presentations by Dr. Chris Blosser (CICT and COTC Director), Dr. Evan Hall (UW/Fred Hutch Medical Oncology), and Austin Cook, a kidney–pancreas transplant recipient and stage 4 cancer survivor. A recording of the webinar is available here.
We are excited to share that our second Life Lessons webinar will be held in January 2026! This session will focus on PTLD, including time for questions and feedback on our FDA grant proposal. Details will be shared via email and on our LinkedIn and Facebook pages-stay tuned!
Invitation to Support CICT
As we continue to care for patients and advance knowledge of cancers in high-risk transplant patients, we rely on the support of our community, including you. This summer, the CICT Obliteride Team KickIt, raised over $28,000. Others contributed throughout the year to CICT. This year has been an extra challenging year to obtain grant funding amid fewer funding opportunities. We have submitted 4 grant proposals this fall and will submit more in 2026. Thank you to everyone who generously donated in support of our work – now more than ever, we can’t do it without you!
This holiday season, we invite you to make a tax-deductible donation to CICT – perhaps in honor of a loved one living with cancer or transplant or in memory of someone.
To learn more about ways to give, please contact the CICT Team at cict@uw.edu. We accept donations of stock, personal checks, and/or other resources. You can also make a tax-deductible donation here: Make a Tax-Deductible Donation
In whatever way you choose to be involved, know that we are grateful for your support and will keep striving to improve patients’ lives. Thank you!
With Gratitude,
Chris Blosser & Felicia Che