Cancer Vaccine Institute News

We are proud to announce that Dr. Nora Disis, Director of the UW Cancer Vaccine Institute (CVI) and Dr. Kiran Dhillon, Executive Director, have been selected to join the 2026 XPRIZE Global Visioneering Brain Trust in the Health domain. XPRIZE brings world-class innovators together to tackle humanity’s greatest challenges through large-scale competitions that drive real-world impact. Their goal is to optimize wellness, advance personalized medicine, and drive scientific break

Dr. Denise Cecil, CVI Principal Scientist. PC: AP Photos Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States, with diagnoses rising among adults under 55. In response, the Cancer Vaccine Institute (CVI) at UW Medicine is developing COLOVAC, a first-in-class vaccine designed to intercept colon cancer at its earliest stages, offering hope to those at the highest risk. Rising Colon Cancer Risk Colon cancer remains one of the most consequential cancers o

Photo Credits: Fred Hutch Dr. Natasha (Tasha) Hunter , Cancer Vaccine Institute Director of Clinical Trials, has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Athena Endowed Award for Excellence in Breast Cancer Research. The Athena Award was established to recognize an early career researcher making the greatest contribution during the past year toward advancing research to improve the prevention, detection, diagnosis and/or treatment of breast cancer. Read more about Dr. Hunte

The Cancer Vaccine Institute (CVI) is proud to share our 2025 Year in Review that highlights our research and achievements. We made remarkable progress last year, advancing vaccines in clinical trials, moving vaccines in our preclinical pipeline forward, and sharing our research with the community. We are especially grateful to our patients, scientists, clinicians, collaborators, staff, faculty, and supporters. Your ongoing partnership and scientific leadership accelerates re

The Cancer Vaccine Institute (CVI) took park in the 2025 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium from December 9-12, 2025, bringing our latest research to one of the world's leading forums for breast cancer science. Faculty members from the CVI presented four scientific posters with fellow collaborators, researchers, and scientists. Through these presentations, the CVI team highlighted recent discoveries in HER2-targeted vaccines, neoadjuvant immunotherapy, and findings from our