WashU medical school receives $1.5M to advance Zika-based glioblastoma therapy toward human trials

The Robert and Helen Kleberg Foundation has awarded $1.5 million to Washington University’s School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. The funding will back glioblastoma research led by the school’s director of neuro-oncology Milan G. Chheda. The three-year research grant will advance a novel viral-based immunotherapy that repurposes the Zika virus to selectively target and destroy tumor cells while sparing healthy brain tissue. Building on earlier preclinical success in mice, the funding will enable key studies needed to launch a first-in-human clinical trial, aiming to improve outcomes for 12,000 U.S. patients diagnosed annually.