Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) is an American non-profit research collaboration based in San Francisco, California. It was founded by Napster and Facebook co-founder Sean Parker.

In April 2016, Sean Parker announced $250 million in funding to establish the PICI as a consortium to unite leading cancer researchers around the United States.¹⁾ The funds initially went to over 300 scientists at 40 laboratories, situated across six institutions: University of Stanford, the University of California San Francisco, University of California Los Angeles, the University of Pennsylvania, MD Anderson Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Starting in 2016, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy scientists funded a clinical trial to test T-cells engineered using CRISPR gene-editing technology.²⁾ The trial was the first in the United States to test CRISPR-modified cells in humans.³⁾ The trial is led by the University of Pennsylvania and is also conducted at University of California San Francisco and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The Institute is also collaborating with MD Anderson and Seres Therapeutics to launch a microbiome-cancer immunotherapy clinical trial for advanced melanoma patients.⁴⁾

PICI's research network is composed of:⁵⁾

• City of Hope
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
• Gladstone Institutes
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Institute for Systems Biology
• MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Stanford University School of Medicine
• University of California Los Angeles
• University of California San Francisco
• University of Pennsylvania
• Washington University School of Medicine

Corporate and foundation partners include:⁶⁾