Sanford Burnham Prebys

03/08/2026

Postdocs play a critical role in biomedical research, bringing fresh ideas, new perspectives and energy to the lab every day. We’re grateful for the contributions these scientists make to advancing discovery and improving human health.

Today we’re highlighting several women scientists featured in Sanford Burnham Prebys’ Postdoc Profile series.

Explore the series:
https://sbpdiscovery.org/education/postdoctoral-training/postdoc-profiles/

In recognition of International Women’s Day, we’re proud to celebrate the many women across our community who help advance science every day, from postdocs and research staff to technicians and administrators.
Featuring L to R: Dana Mamriev • Huijie Huang • Arailym Sarsembayeva • Kelly Yichen Li • Alexandra Houser • Meenakshi Sudhakaran

03/02/2026

Thank you to The San Diego Union-Tribune for helping share the story of Sanford Burnham Prebys as we mark 50 years of biomedical discovery and impact.
For five decades, our mission has remained clear: translating science into health.

The La Jolla-based research institute continues its founding principle of collaboration across multiple fields

02/19/2026

This year marks 50 years of Sanford Burnham Prebys. 🎉🎉🎉
Our interactive timeline traces the discoveries, milestones and philanthropy that have guided the Institute’s evolution from its founding to today. Visionary donors and dedicated scientists have driven progress that improves human health.

Explore the anniversary timeline to see the breakthroughs and generosity that made this impact possible and continue to fuel what comes next.

Take a look back — and ahead: https://sbpdiscovery50.org/timeline/

02/18/2026

Wonderful to see Hudson H. Freeze, PhD, featured at the 2026 CDG Scientific & Family Conference — a reflection of his lifelong commitment to the CDG community.

💚🎤 2026 CDG Scientific & Family Conference Speaker Series #6:

We are honored to feature Dr. Hudson H. Freeze, PhD, Director of the Human Genetics Program and Professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.

Dr. Freeze is a globally recognized pioneer in Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDG) research and has been instrumental in identifying and characterizing many known CDG subtypes. For over four decades, his work has advanced our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying glycosylation disorders and opened the door to potential therapeutic strategies.

A dedicated collaborator, educator, and long-standing Medical Advisory member of CDG CARE, Dr. Freeze continues to shape the scientific foundation that drives progress across the CDG community.

✨ Join us April 24–26, 2026 in Orlando to learn from leaders like Dr. Freeze. Register today:
🔗 https://cdgcare.org/2026-cdg-scientific-family-conference/

02/10/2026

What do medieval plant poisons have to do with modern diabetes treatments?

In the latest episode of the Discovery Dialogues Podcast, hosts Ani Deshpande and Pamela Itkin-Ansari explore how nature’s chemical defenses became some of medicine’s most important therapies.|

From ancient remedies to today’s blockbuster drug Metformin, this conversation traces how scientists learned to harness compounds plants evolved to deter predators and turn them into lifesaving treatments.

Featuring insights from surgeon and writer Ambarish Satwik, endocrinologist David Nathan, and longevity researcher Nir Barzilai.

It’s a fascinating look at how discovery often begins in unexpected places.
🎧 Listen to Episode 6 of Discovery Dialogues:
▶️ Youtube: https://youtu.be/7Gq94-0wnNA?si=-MTsqoFj2o1AJ21H
🟢🎵 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6A9cSVDLR9RPLMQ0e7zcRE
🍎🎙️Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e6-medicines-from-plant-poisons/id1803647450?i=1000746169232
and wherever you get your podcasts!

02/06/2026

As part of the 50th anniversary of Sanford Burnham Prebys, we asked our faculty a simple question:
What challenge in science do you most want to resolve?
We start with Lukas Chavez, PhD, who shares the scientific problem that drives his work and the bigger question behind the research in his lab.
Explore the series and the thinking shaping the next 50 years of discovery.
https://sbpdiscovery50.org/big-questions/

02/04/2026

Cells operate on rules not vibes, including when on the precipice of persisting or perishing. Yet, with prior research methods, scientists studying this phenomenon had to infer how cells choose to sustain themselves or self-destruct based on the output of their protein factories.

While much more advanced than a pundit’s vibe check, these analyses were constrained by the inability to account for the activity of these proteins after their construction.

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute recently published results of a study demonstrating a new approach for measuring their activity. The researchers also revealed a more complicated picture in which protein activation cannot always be presumed by protein production.
https://sbpdiscovery.org/press/metallic-markers-make-direct-measurement-of-protein-activity-possible/

01/30/2026

Advancing Together: 50 Years of Sanford Burnham Prebys
For 50 years, bold ideas, dedicated scientists, and a shared commitment to discovery have shaped who we are today. Join us as we celebrate this milestone year and look ahead to the next 50.
Learn more: https://sbpdiscovery50.org

01/08/2026

Neuroinflammation is a hidden driver of many brain diseases — and a major challenge in neuroscience. Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute—working with biophysics technology company Fareon and biotechnology company Inapill—are exploring a new magnetic therapy approach that could change how these conditions are treated.

Learn more about this promising research:
🔗 https://sbpdiscovery.org/press/new-magnetic-therapy-could-transform-treatment-of-neuroinflammation-a-hidden-driver-of-brain-disease/

The study was published in iScience.

Neuroinflammation is the body's response to injury, infection, toxins, or autoimmune dysfunction in the brain and spinal cord. Institute researchers —working with biophysics technology company Fareon and biotechnology company Inapill—describe a new form of magnetic therapy that demonstrated anti...

12/03/2025

New research from Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, and an international team of collaborators is shedding light on the biology behind Alexander disease—a rare and devastating neurodegenerative disorder.

In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers uncovered a surprising new role for a ropelike structural protein that helps maintain the shape and integrity of our cells.

Their work shows that this protein is essential for keeping mitochondria—the energy-producing “power plants” of our cells—healthy and balanced. When the gene that encodes this protein mutates, it disrupts the delicate cycle of mitochondrial splitting and merging. This imbalance may help explain why Alexander disease leads to progressive damage in the brain and nervous system.
https://sbpdiscovery.org/press/structural-support-protein-takes-center-stage-in-maintaining-mitochondria/

11/29/2025

👉Application Deadline is December 1, 2025!👈
With state-of-the-art technology, an entrepreneurial mindset and a highly personalized program, the Sanford Burnham Prebsy Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is dedicated to educating the next generation of outstanding biomedical scientists who will drive future cutting-edge basic and translational research.
Learn more at https://sbpdiscovery.org/education/graduate-school/

11/19/2025

In a new study published November 7, 2025, in Cancer Research, Cosimo Commisso, PhD, the deputy director of the institute’s cancer center and a professor in the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program and his colleagues advanced the possibility of age-based pancreatic cancer treatment by investigating how aging affects cancer cells and the environment surrounding them.

The research team began by comparing the progression of pancreatic cancer in mice that were about two months old and mice that were more than a year and a half old. The cancer cells implanted into the mice were genetically identical, yet the older mice had faster-growing tumors and more cancer cells spreading into other tissues to form metastases.

“It was clear to us that aging was accelerating cancer progression as the primary tumors were larger, and the metastases were larger,” said Priyanka Gupta, PhD, a staff scientist in the Commisso lab and lead author of the manuscript. “It shows the limitations of using young mice to test drugs and model diseases that mostly affect older patients.”

The scientists hypothesized that the change was due to aging altering the tumor microenvironment, the neighborhood of immune cells, connective tissue, blood vessels and a sea of proteins and carbohydrates that cancer cells hijack to avoid the immune system and support their growth.

The researchers began comparing the tumor microenvironment differences by studying gene expression in each group. Nearly 550 genes were either more or less expressed in the tumors of the young and older mice. The older mice’s gene expression indicated a decline in the function of T cells, one of the immune system’s primary tools for detecting and eliminating cancer cells. There also were fewer T cells found in the tumors of older mice.

This finding fit with the result of a follow-up experiment showing that the tumors in older mice featured more collagen, characteristic of a stiff tumor microenvironment that serves as a barrier blocking the entry of T cells.

“The presence of collagen is indicative of fibrosis near the tumors, which we found also was present in data from human patients with pancreatic cancer,” said Commisso. “We know that fibrosis is a driver of tumor progression and makes it harder to deliver drugs across different tumor types, including pancreatic cancer.”

The scientists also discovered that aging was associated with the remodeling of the jelly-like substance between cells called the extracellular matrix. This remodeling contributes to a more fibrotic tumor microenvironment, presenting further obstacles to T cells and promoting tumor metastasis.

“We then asked if it was possible to reverse this remodeling by restoring some of the characteristics in the tumor microenvironment of the older mice to what we observed in their younger counterparts,” said Gupta.

To test this, the scientists turned to cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF), support cells surrounding the tumor that provide nutrition in the form of metabolites as well as growth signals. After implanting CAFs from young and older mice along with cancer cells, the researchers observed the effects on tumor growth and metastasis.

“In the older mice, we saw a revitalization of the tumor microenvironment when implanted with the young CAFs,” said Commisso. “It reversed the metastasis that we saw in the older animals.”

In the future, it may be possible to trigger this revitalization in human patients using a drug or gene therapy. This could slow down the progression of the disease and make tumors more susceptible to other treatments, including immunotherapies that rely on the immune system breaking through a more porous tumor microenvironment.

“This study supports the paradigm shift I believe we need in the field of pancreatic cancer,” said Commisso.

“If we take a more patient-centered approach, we can use preclinical models that factor in age to better reflect who bears the biggest burden of this disease. And that will give us a better shot at discovering and developing therapeutics that get through clinical trials and FDA approval because they work in the patients that most need them.”

https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/doi/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-25-1904/767195/The-Aging-Microenvironment-is-a-Determinant-of