Dr. Pramod Srivastava works with colleagues to uncover innovative solutions that may one day end the scourage of cancer.

Believing that each tumor is unique, Dr. Srivastava has developed individualized vaccines of purified heat shock proteins taken from each patient's tumor. This vaccine alerts the body's immune system to attack the invading cancer, without harming healthy cells. More traditional cancer therapies, chemotherapy and radiation, kill healthy cells along with cancer cells, often with seriously debilitating side effects.

"I have been examining heat shock proteins and their role in the immune system for years," says Dr. Srivastava. "These proteins are the oldest, most common molecules in all cells. Each time I think that the outlines of their role have become clear, the view turns on me, as in a kaleidoscope, and an entirely new view unfolds. These views have kept me mesmerized for the better part of my scientific life," he noted.

Dr. Srivastava's work is aligned with a new strategic plan developed by the University of Connecticut Health Center. The new plan focuses on cutting-edge research and medical care in select areas of health science, thereby building on specific areas of strength to create signature programs. The areas of focus are brain and human behavior, genetics/immunology and cancer, bone biology and musculoskeletal disease, and health in Connecticut. The continued development of Dr. Srivastava's vaccine is a cornerstone of the cancer component of the Health Center's vision.

Dr. Srivastava is the scientific founder of Antigenics Inc., a New York-based corporation that develops and tests his individualized vaccines. Through such corporate partnerships, the University is transferring discoveries made by faculty researchers to the private sector, where the new developments can be turned into commercial products and services.

If it is successful in clinical trials and wins the approval of federal regulators, Dr. Srivastava's vaccine could herald a new era of medicine, an era in which therapies are tailored to each cancer patient.