USC Researchers Win NEMO Prize for Innovative Cancer Treatments

This year’s NEMO Prize recipients are tackling significant challenges in pediatric brain tumors and hard-to-treat leukemia through innovative medical and engineering collaborations at the University of Southern California (USC). The awards, announced on November 24, 2025, highlight the intersection of technology and medicine, showcasing groundbreaking research aimed at improving treatment outcomes for patients facing these formidable diseases.

Launched in 2023 thanks to a generous gift from Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky, the NEMO Prize is designed to support collaborative projects between the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the university’s health sciences schools. Shelly Nemirovsky, a USC trustee and 1985 alumna, emphasized the importance of private funding in today’s financial landscape, stating, “In a moment where university budgets are tighter than ever, funding from private sources for smart ideas in their nascent stages is critical.”

The NEMO Prize is highly selective, focusing on innovative projects that typically do not qualify for federal funding and are not yet ready for private investment. According to Steven D. Shapiro, Senior Vice President for Health Affairs at USC, “The therapies initiated through these awards have the potential to cure two terrible diseases with notoriously low survival rates.”

Innovative Approaches to Leukemia Treatment

The first project focuses on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rapidly progressing disease with a high recurrence rate. Researchers Keyue Shen, an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at USC Viterbi, and Yali Dou, a Professor in the Department of Medicine and Cancer Biology at the Keck School of Medicine, are employing artificial intelligence to develop predictive biomarkers for AML therapies.

Shen and Dou have identified that leukemia cells exhibit unique metabolic profiles that change under treatment stress. By analyzing these profiles, they aim to create a predictive biomarker that could enable clinicians to tailor therapies more effectively. Dou explained, “AML is a disease that affects older patients very aggressively. Patients often don’t have very good drug response and cannot tolerate intensive chemotherapy. That’s why precision therapy is needed to treat AML patients.”

This research represents a significant advancement in the field, as it will potentially be the first instance of AI-based analysis of metabolic signatures extracted from single-cell images to predict therapeutic responses in AML patients. The collaboration with the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center is expected to facilitate the translation of this technology to human patients.

Targeting Pediatric Brain Tumors

The second project aims to address high-grade gliomas (HGG), a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children, with a dismal five-year survival rate of only 20%. The research team, comprising Yingxiao Wang, Chair of the Biomedical Engineering Department at USC Viterbi; Longwei Liu, Assistant Professor at USC Viterbi; and Sarah Richman, an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine, is merging molecular engineering techniques with CAR T cell therapy to improve treatment efficacy for young patients.

CAR T cell immunotherapy has shown promise in treating certain leukemias, prompting interest in its application for pediatric HGG patients. The researchers acknowledge the need for more potent CAR T cells while minimizing toxicity to surrounding healthy tissue. Richman’s lab is investigating ways to enhance the effectiveness of CAR T cells specifically for brain tumors.

The team’s innovative approach employs ultrasound technology to control CAR T cells, thereby increasing treatment efficacy while reducing the risk of toxicity. Wang noted, “Ultrasound-controlled CAR T can contain the therapy to the local tumor region and wouldn’t cause toxicity outside the tumor.” Their goal is to initiate treatment for their first brain tumor patient within five years, potentially expanding this therapy to other cancers.

Both research teams emphasize the significance of the NEMO Prize in facilitating their work. As Liu remarked, “The NEMO Prize will be critical for us to test the idea we want to implement to demonstrate feasibility and obtain more support from other funding agencies to move the project towards eventual clinical trials.”

The NEMO Prize not only underscores the potential of collaborative research but also reflects USC’s commitment to fostering partnerships between engineering and medicine. Shelly Nemirovsky highlighted the importance of this collaboration, stating, “The NEMO Prize focuses on collaboration between engineering and medicine because it’s in that intersection where anything is possible.”

As the award-winning teams begin to advance their research, they look forward to the possibilities that lie ahead, fueled by the university’s infrastructure for collaboration and the financial support of the NEMO Prize.