Israel Cancer Research Fund and Cancer Research Institute Announce Co-Funding of Grant to Address Immunotherapy Resistance in Melanoma

Research led by Asaf Madi, PhD, of Tel Aviv University could make TIL therapy more reliable and durable for patients with advanced disease

NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) and the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) have partnered on a new award, the ICRF-CRI Immunotherapy Collaborative Project Grant, given to Dr. Asaf Madi, PhD, of Tel Aviv University. Dr. Madi was awarded $180,000 over a three-year period to support his research on refining tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy to predict response and overcome drug resistance in melanoma.

"We are honored to once again partner with CRI, a world-class immunotherapy research organization, on this cutting-edge project," said Alan Herman, ICRF's Executive Director. "There is a clear, unmet need for personalized treatments like TIL therapy, and Dr. Madi's research into adoptive cell transfer could offer new hope to melanoma patients in urgent need of better options."

Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) using TILs is a promising personalized immunotherapy for melanoma, shown to improve survival in advanced cases. However, many patients do not respond, and others develop resistance, limiting the long-term effectiveness of this approach. Dr. Madi's research aims to address these challenges by identifying predictive biomarkers, uncovering mechanisms of tumor resistance, and optimizing TIL selection and expansion to improve therapeutic outcomes.

Dr. Madi and his team are studying the gene circuits that program immune cells, controlling their differentiation, activation, and regulation. By examining how T cells behave in tumors, particularly following immunotherapy, they aim to determine why some T cells sustain anti-tumor activity while others become exhausted or suppressed. Insights from this work will guide the selection and engineering of more potent TIL populations capable of durable tumor targeting and generating long-term immune memory, reducing the risk of cancer recurrence.

"This collaboration reflects what progress in immunotherapy really looks like—bringing together partners, data, and discovery to tackle resistance head-on," said Alicia Zhou, PhD, CEO of CRI. "By understanding why some immune cells persist while others fail, Dr. Madi's work moves us closer to making personalized cell therapies like TILs more reliable, more durable, and more transformative for patients with melanoma."

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. In the U.S. alone, over 100,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and advanced melanoma can be resistant to standard treatments. Because it can spread quickly and evade therapies, developing new, effective treatments is critical to improve survival and offer hope to patients and their families worldwide. 

Dr. Asaf Madi earned his Ph.D. in computational immunology at Tel Aviv University in collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science, studying B cell and T cell repertoires. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute, focusing on T-cell differentiation and cancer immunology. Dr. Madi then returned to Tel Aviv University, where he is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology, leading a team that drives the development of novel anti-cancer therapies.

About Israel Cancer Research Fund
Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) supports the best and brightest scientists conducting groundbreaking cancer research in Israel. Since 1975, ICRF has invested over $100 million through nearly 3,000 grants to outstanding Israeli cancer researchers. Its work spans all types of cancer, and many awardees are responsible for major scientific advancements. For more information, visit www.icrfonline.org.

About Cancer Research Institute
Founded in 1953, the Cancer Research Institute is the world's leading nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fueling the discovery and development of immunotherapies for all cancers. For more information, visit cancerresearch.org.

ICRF: [email protected] 

CRI: [email protected] 

SOURCE Israel Cancer Research Fund