Assistant Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Dennis Jones, PhD, has received a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Moonshot Scholar Award. Jones is one of 11 researchers nationally who will collectively receive more than $6 million in the first year of their research. 

Developed to help the White House Cancer Moonshot Initiative achieve the goal of inspiring and supporting world-class scientists from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups in the biomedical sciences, the award aims to advance cancer science and diversify the pool of early stage investigators and approaches to research funded by the NCI. 

Awarded $2.3 million in NCI funding for five years, Jones focuses on understanding how tumors impact the functionality of blood vessels, which are essential for cancer-fighting immune cells, such as T cells, to infiltrate tumors. His previous research found that losartan, a medication commonly used to treat high blood pressure, helped open blood vessels in breast tumors, allowing more T cells to reach—and potentially, attack—the cancer cells. The award will help him to explore how losartan affects blood vessels and T cell entry into tumors. He will also use experimental models of breast cancer to measure tumor growth after combining losartan with immunotherapy, a treatment that helps the body’s immune system fight cancer cells. 

His lab will examine breast cancer samples from the Black Women’s Health Study to explore if using losartan and other similar drugs is linked to changes in the tumor’s structure, such as reduced extracellular matrix buildup, which can help more T cells infiltrate the tumor. “If successful, our study could lead to repurposing losartan, an FDA-approved drug, to improve breast cancer treatment by enhancing T cell activity when combined with immunotherapy,” he said. 

A basic research scientist with expertise in vascular biology, cancer biology, and immunology, Jones earned his BS in biology from Morehouse College and his PhD in immune biology from Yale University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. 

The Cancer Moonshot Scholars program is supported by the White House’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative and aligns with NCI’s Equity and Inclusion Program and the NIH’s UNITE Initiative. The Center for Cancer Health Equity leads the Cancer Moonshot Scholars program, with active participation from a trans-NCI steering committee. NCI divisions with subject matter expertise manage the individual grant awards.