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First treatments for Cancer
Dr. Coley noticed that some cancer patients had remission of their tumors in a number of cases where they got acute bacterial infections. Dr. Coley injected live bacteria into a patient with an inoperable malignant tumor in order to bring about a virulent infection. The patient made a complete recovery, living another 26 years until a heart attack took his life. Dr. Coley made a safe and effective mixture of bacteria for treating cancer patients, known as Coley’s mixed bacterial toxins -
Start of CRI
With a grant of $2,000 from Nelson Rockefeller, Mrs. Nauts and her devoted friend Oliver R. Grace founded the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) in 1953. (https://www.cancerresearch.org/we-are-cri/about/cri-history) -
CRI changes
the Institute has undergone several important programmatic evolutions in response to (and often in anticipation of) developments in the field of cancer immunology. The first of these began in 1971, when the Institute appointed Lloyd J. Old, M.D., a prominent cancer immunologist, to be the Institute’s medical director. He set out at once to expand CRI’s scope, bringing many of the world’s most distinguished immunologists to the Institute’s Scientific Advisory Council. -
Postdocteral Fellowship Porgram
In 1971, the Institute established its Postdoctoral Fellowship Program to attract outstanding young scientists to immunology and train them in the best labs under the tutelage of skilled mentors. (https://www.cancerresearch.org/we-are-cri/about/cri-history) -
Becoming Executive Director
Mrs. Nauts became the Institute’s founding executive director and served tirelessly in that role until 1982, when she became the Institute’s director of science and medical communications. During that time, her efforts to educate the public and foster scientific discourse within the medical community gave the Cancer Research Institute international renown as a clearinghouse for cancer immunotherapy information. -
Investigator Award Program
This investment in the field grew an increasing population of cancer immunologists needing funding at more advanced stages of their careers. To meet this need, the Institute established in 1986 as a complement to its postdoctoral fellowships its Investigator Award Program, which provides funding to tenure track assistant professors who are making their first forays into independent research—a challenging period that can determine the course of a career for years to come. -
Investments
CRI’s decades of investments in immunology paid significant dividends in the 1990s. Armed with deeper knowledge of the immune system’s basic workings, scientists were able to create techniques for identifying cancer antigens suitable for testing in vaccines. https://www.cancerresearch.org/we-are-cri/about/cri-history) -
Annual International Cancer Immunotherapy Symposium
Meanwhile, in order to establish a more formal network of cancer immunology’s international talent base, the Institute initiated in 1994 its Annual International Cancer Immunotherapy Symposium. https://www.cancerresearch.org/we-are-cri/about/cri-history) -
Mrs.Naut's death
She remained actively involved in the Institute’s affairs until her death in January 2001, at the age of 93. As a result of Mrs. Nauts’ work and the efforts of those she inspired, cancer immunology now offers one of the most promising approaches to the understanding and control of cancer, while the Institute she founded is now regarded as a pioneer and leader in the cancer research arena. (https://www.cancerresearch.org/we-are-cri/about/cri-history) -
Think Tank
In 2010, the association renamed itself the Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium to better reflect the group's mission to advance the development of all cancer immunotherapies beyond just vaccines, and in 2015, further refined its scope to function as a "think-tank" devoted to addressing primarily industry-facing issues related to immunotherapy drug development. (https://www.cancerresearch.org/we-are-cri/about/cri-history)
