Paul Sondel, MD, PhD, principal investigator and professor, Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplant, and Amy Erbe-Gurel, PhD, co-principal investigator, Department of Human Oncology, and senior scientist in the Sondel Lab, were recently awarded a grant from the Cancer Research Institute as part of the Clinic and Laboratory Integration (CLIP) Program. This two-year, $200,000 grant supports their project “Modulation of MHC expression via epigenetic regulation to enhance T cell response to immunotherapy in melanoma.” It will allow the team to investigate the relationship between major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules on tumor and immune responses in melanoma to determine the barriers within the tumor microenvironment that are influencing not only the response but also the generation of adaptive immunity. The information gathered should help in the design of improved combination strategies that enable more effective MHC-directed T cell responses to eradicate the cancer in patients not responsive to current immune checkpoint inhibitors therapy, particularly those patients with aberrant MHC expression.