On September 27, 2022, the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) in the United States awarded the 2022 William B. Coley Award to Dr. Feng Shao of the National Institute of Biological Sciences (co-founder of Pyrotech Therapeutics), along with Judy Lieberman and Hao Wu from Harvard Medical School and Vishva Dixit from Genentech. Among them, Dr. Feng Shao became the first scientist since 1979 to receive this prestigious award based on original scientific discoveries made in China, and he delivered the keynote speech as the award recipient.
The William B. Coley Award is the top honor in the field of tumor immunology, established in 1975 to commemorate the pioneer of tumor immunotherapy, Dr. William B. Coley. The award is evaluated by the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and is presented to outstanding scientists who have made significant contributions to the fields of basic immunology and tumor immunology. Their scientific discoveries have provided profound insights into the human immune system, cancer, and other diseases, and have driven the development of various therapies based on the human immune system.
Dr. Feng Shao received the 2022 William B. Coley Award for his groundbreaking discoveries in the field of pyroptosis. In 2015, his laboratory was the first to reveal the molecular mechanism of GSDMD as an inflammatory caspase substrate that executes pyroptosis. Over the past decade, his research elucidated the mechanisms of other proteins in this family, such as GSDME and GSDMB. Based on the immune-activating properties of pyroptosis, he also pioneered the concept of enhancing anti-tumor immune activity through stimulation of pyroptosis. These works not only redefined the biological concept of pyroptosis but also profoundly changed the traditional understanding of programmed cell death. Building upon Dr. Feng Shao's pivotal original discoveries in pyroptosis and tumor immunity, Pyrotech Therapeutics has initiated a series of new drug development projects targeting inflammatory diseases and cancers by regulating pyroptosis using small molecules and genetic approaches, achieving breakthrough progress in multiple projects.
