Cancer immunotherapy — NIH Funding Overview
Reviewed by Dr. Meng ZhaoLast reviewed June 9, 2026Data refreshed September 5, 2026Editorial standards
Cancer immunotherapy has become the largest single category of translational cancer research at NIH, encompassing checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cell therapies (CAR-T, TCR-T, TIL), cancer vaccines, oncolytic viruses, and combination strategies. NCI is the primary funder, with substantial NIAID and NHLBI activity in CAR-T and T-cell biology.
Funding snapshot
Award data on this page reflects a snapshot of NIH RePORTER records last refreshed on September 5, 2026. For live numbers, use the interactive trends view.
Why this matters now
Following the FDA approvals of pembrolizumab (2014), CAR-T therapies (2017–present), and TIL therapy (2024), NIH has reorganized significant fractions of its translational portfolio toward mechanism-of-resistance research, biomarker discovery, and rare-tumor application. The Cancer Moonshot reauthorization in 2023 reinforced this direction.
How NIH funds this area
NCI mechanisms commonly seen in this space include R01, R37 (MERIT), U01 (cooperative), P01 (program project), SPORE (P50), and U54 (specialized centers). The data below shows awards mentioning cancer immunotherapy across all NIH institutes.
How to use this funding brief
Use this page to decide whether a proposal is primarily about immune mechanism, therapeutic platform, resistance, biomarker selection, or a specific tumor. That distinction changes whether broad NCI programs, disease-focused portfolios, or center mechanisms are the most useful comparison set.
Official source: National Cancer Institute: Immunotherapy to Treat Cancer
Search tactics
- Search "CAR-T" or "checkpoint inhibitor" for technique-specific subsets.
- Combine with tumor types ("pancreatic cancer immunotherapy", "glioblastoma immunotherapy") to find disease-focused labs.
- P50 SPORE searches surface cancer center programs that include immunotherapy projects.
What the data shows
- Funding peaked in FY2025 at $461M. The FY2025 total of $461M is +42% versus FY2021.
- The number of awards fell about 3% in FY2025 even as total dollars grew — funding is concentrating in fewer, larger awards.
- About 80% of FY2026 dollars so far are non-Type-1 award actions, including competing renewals, supplements, non-competing continuations, and institutional changes. This is a descriptive record mix, not a measure of renewal activity alone.
- The average FY2025 award was $623K, and R01 was the most common mechanism in the recent window.
Editorial read
Awards that explicitly mention cancer immunotherapy grew faster than almost any oncology category we track — up roughly 42% from FY2021 to FY2025 — but the absolute total understates the field, because much checkpoint, CAR-T, and vaccine work is indexed under tumor-specific language instead. Treat this page as the visible tip of a larger NCI translational portfolio, and pair it with tumor-type searches before sizing the opportunity.
Yearly NIH Awards for Cancer immunotherapy
Counts and total funding per fiscal year from NIH RePORTER. Recent fiscal years may understate final totals because of reporting lag.
| Fiscal Year | Project Count | Total Funding | Avg Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 665 | $324,791,215 | $488,408 |
| FY2022 | 734 | $405,211,247 | $552,059 |
| FY2023 | 778 | $441,905,160 | $568,001 |
| FY2024 | 764 | $430,096,276 | $562,953 |
| FY2025 | 739 | $460,582,551 | $623,251 |
| FY2026 | 504 | $319,545,555 | $634,019 |
Open the full interactive trends view for Cancer immunotherapy →
Top NIH Institutes (last 90 days)
Which NIH institutes funded the most Immunotherapy projects in the most recent 90-day window.
| Institute | Awards (90d) | Funding (90d) |
|---|---|---|
| NIH | 231 | $164,079,553 |
Common Activity Codes (last 90 days)
Which grant mechanisms (R01, R21, U01, P30, etc.) appeared most often for Immunotherapy in the recent period.
Most Active Institutions (last 90 days)
Universities and research organizations with the most Immunotherapy awards in the most recent 90-day window.
- UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH — 9 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR — 9 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO — 8 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA — 8 awards
- JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY — 7 awards
- STANFORD UNIVERSITY — 6 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO — 6 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — 6 awards
Recently Awarded Cancer immunotherapy Grants
Twelve most recent awards mentioning Immunotherapy, drawn from NIH RePORTER. Click through to Find PIs for the full investigator search.
Specialized Center of Research Excellence on Sex Differences in Autoimmunity
5U54AR085970-02PAUL UTZ · STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CA · $1,476,236 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · U54ComponentAutoimmune diseases comprise a large set of disorders that together afflict almost 50 million Americans; four out of five patients with autoimmunity are women. The mission of the Specialized Center of Research Excellence on Sex Differences in Autoimmunity (SCORE-X) is to serve as a national resource in understanding sex as a biological variable in…
Reprogramming Exosomes for Novel Immunotherapy of Triple Negative Breast Cancer
5R01CA276240-04Yong Zhang · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, CA · $513,250 · awarded Aug 26, 2026 · R01Abstract Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for approximately 15-20% of breast cancers and is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Given little efficacy for existing therapeutic regimens against a significant number of TNBC patients and continuously developed resistance of TNBC cells to chemotherapy, novel treatment strategies with…
Aire-expressing macrophages as novel mediators of tumor immune evasion
5R37CA304094-02James Gardner · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, CA · $677,249 · awarded Aug 25, 2026 · R37Project Summary/Abstract Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of cancer, but many malignancies remain resistant to these interventions. Defining novel mechanisms by which tumors evade immune responses is therefore of critical importance. While extensive work has focused on effector and regulatory T-cell populations in tumors and their roles in the…
ePACE: automation platforms for adaptable and scalable continuous evolution of biomolecules with therapeutic potential
7R01EB027793-08Ahmad Khalil · BROAD INSTITUTE, INC., MA · $1,056,155 · awarded Aug 24, 2026 · R01PROJECT SUMMARY The recent development of continuous directed evolution (CDE) methods has made it increasingly possible to generate biomolecules with radically altered or even new functions capable of addressing unmet needs in medicine, biotechnology, and synthetic biology. By transforming the traditional stepwise process of classical directed evolution…
Development of ST2 Nanobodies for Colorectal Cancer Immunotherapy
1R01CA307209-01KEVIN VAN DER JEUGHT · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, FL · $614,453 · awarded Aug 24, 2026 · R01Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, affecting both women and men. Advances in screening and treatment methods have increased the survival rate significantly, especially when targeting early stages of the disease. Unfortunately, once metastasis occurs, the therapeutic success rate significantly drops. A breakthrough treatment…
Cancer Center Support Grant
5P30CA047904-38JOHN BYRD · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH, PA · $5,995,559 · awarded Aug 20, 2026 · P30The UPMC Hillman Cancer Center (HCC) at University of Pittsburgh is a matrix cancer center, currently led by Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH who has served as Interim Director of HCC since January 2025. With funding from the National Cancer Institute and other peer- and non-peer-reviewed sources, HCC conducts impactful basic, clinical/translational, and…
A Mechanoimmunological Basis for Metastatic Site Preference
4R01CA286566-03Morgan Huse · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH, NY · $1,674,101 · awarded Aug 19, 2026 · R01Summary Antitumor immunosurveillance by cytotoxic lymphocytes is generally conceived as a biochemical process in which tumor specific markers are recognized by activating receptors on the lymphocyte surface. We have found, however, that cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells also respond to the mechanical properties of cancer cells, preferentially…
Postnatal and Prenatal Therapeutic Base Editing for Metabolic Diseases
3U19NS132301-04S1William Peranteau · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA, PA · $5,455,342 · awarded Aug 19, 2026 · U19PROJECT SUMMARY The potential for the development of novel therapeutic modalities has energized the genome editing field since it first emerged in the 1990s and especially since the demonstration of programmable genome editing with CRISPR-Cas9 by multiple groups in 2012. There has been substantial progress with ex vivo therapeutic applications of genome…
Immunosurveillance of breast glands with oncogenic germline mutations
4UH3CA290300-03Shadmehr Demehri · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, MA · $892,792 · awarded Aug 18, 2026 · UH3Project Summary/Abstract The overarching goal of the proposed research is to realize the immune system's potential for breast cancer prevention in BRCA mutation carriers. Immunotherapeutic agents have proven effective in treating metastatic cancers by reinvigorating the antitumor immune responses that develop during cancer progression and metastasis. In…
Targeting microbial triggers of gammopathy for immunoprevention
4UH3CA290302-03MADHAV DHODAPKAR · FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER, WA · $850,868 · awarded Aug 18, 2026 · UH3Abstract: Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell tumor preceded by a defined preneoplastic state termed as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Strategies to effectively intercept/prevent clinical malignancy remain an unmet need and are the focus of this application. Changes in microbial communities have been extensively…
Decoding GSDMD Pore Clustering as a Novel Checkpoint Regulating Pyroptosis
1R21AI202554-01Shilong Yang · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, MA · $267,000 · awarded Aug 17, 2026 · R21Abstract Pyroptosis is a lytic and inflammatory form of programmed cell death that plays a critical role in host defense, infection control, and cancer immunity. Gasdermin D (GSDMD) is the central effector of pyroptosis, forming plasma membrane pores that release proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Although the structural basis of pore…
Identifying new immunotherapeutic targets for endocrine autoimmunity.
3U19AI181729-03S1Maureen Su · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES, CA · $250,000 · awarded Aug 17, 2026 · U19PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT (OVERALL) Autoimmune endocrinopathies include a number of conditions in which the immune system destroys healthy hormone-producing tissues. These conditions affect a large number of Americans, many of them female, but have not yet been the focus of ACE studies in the past. Moreover, unlike most other autoimmune conditions,…
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