Dr. Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and Kristen Dahlgren, Founder of the Cancer Vaccine Coalition (CVC), share their insights into a new strategic partnership between Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and Cancer Vaccine Coalition, aimed at accelerating the development and accessibility of cancer vaccines.
"I love the idea of kicking cancer's ass. It's what I get up every day to do." In this powerful and eye-opening episode, Dr. Karen E. Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, joins Joelle Kaufman to reveal how we're finally turning the body's own immune system into cancer's worst enemy.
As cancer therapeutics enter a new era driven increasingly by immunotherapy, the need for well-trained clinical investigators has never been greater. Dr. Knudsen shares insights into the Parker Institute’s strategy to fund bold, game-changing science, curate discoveries across the development pipeline, and ensure innovative therapies reach clinical testing.
Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, believes the central problem in cancer drug development is not discovery, but a broken “translational middle.”
I think the American dream is about possibilities: the concept that you can be from anywhere, you can be anyone, and decide that your passion is science or engineering and there’s nothing that can get in your way toward that goal. The only obstacle is yourself.
We’re very excited about everything that’s going to be presented at ASCO, including our 50-plus abstracts from our PICI investigators across the country. When I look at ASCO 2026 in totality, I see a number of key themes emerging. One is moving beyond single breakthroughs and toward rational combination strategies, especially with immunotherapy continuing to come through strongly.
In this interview with Pharmacy Times, Karen Knudsen, PhD, MBA, CEO of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, discusses the evolving role of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab (Keytruda; Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC) in desmoplastic melanoma and what it could mean for multidisciplinary cancer care.
In this interview, we explore: Her early scientific foundation - from yeast genetics to DNA damage and cell-cycle research ✓ Team-building across urology, oncology, radiation oncology & pathology to How PICI identifies breakthrough ideas and turns them into companies and clinical trials ✓ The mentors who shaped her
The panel includes: The Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jay Bhattachacharya, the National Cancer Institute Director Dr. Anthony Letai, the CEO of The Parker Institute For Cancer Immunotherapy, Dr. Karen E. Knudsen, Former Associate Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Peter Pitts and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who is pressing the FDA to clear his cancer drug Anktiva out of the clinical trial phase.
