Austrian Scientists & Scholars
in North America

Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy

ASciNA invites you to our next virtual talk on Thursday, June 12, 2025, 6 – 7pm CEST

Abstract

Immune checkpoint blockade has revolutionized cancer treatment, offering long-term survival and cures for some patients. However, many patients do not respond to existing immunotherapies, including PD-1 pathway blockade, highlighting the need for new strategies to overcome resistance. A novel active-site phosphatase inhibitor, ABBV-CLS-484, currently in clinical trials (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04777994) for patients with advanced solid tumors, is the first of its kind to enter clinical evaluation for cancer immunotherapy. This inhibitor shows promise by inflaming the tumor microenvironment, boosting natural killer cell and CD8 T cell function, and reducing T cell exhaustion, potentially paving the way for new therapies targeting this important class of enzymes.

The Speaker

Christina Baumgartner is a Senior Principal Research Scientist in the Immuno-Oncology Discovery Research group at AbbVie, North Chicago, IL, USA. In 2024, Christina Baumgartner received the ASciNA Junior Principal Investigator Award for her extraordinary work.

Tina received her Master’s in Genetics from the University of Vienna and her PhD in Immunology from the Vienna University of Technology, Austria. She pursued post-doctoral training at Baxter BioScience in Austria which included research at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. She furthered her training at the Blood Research Institute in Milwaukee, WI. Prior to joining AbbVie in 2016, Tina held a Research Scientist position at the Blood Research Institute. Additionally, Tina is a lecturer of Immuno-Oncology at the IMC University of Applied Sciences in Krems, Austria.

She has authored and co-authored manuscripts in immunology and hemostasis research, is co-inventor on patents of immuno-oncology therapeutics, reviews for several scientific journals, and throughout her career received funding including the Austrian 2008 Erwin Schroedinger Abroad Postdoctoral Fellowship and the 2013 Novo Nordisk Access to Insight – Basic Research Grant. During her tenure at AbbVie, Tina received the AbbVie 2020 R&D President Award and was part of the AbbVie 2021 Outstanding Research Team Award for the discovery of novel immuno-oncology therapeutic agents.

With over two decades of experience in immunology and immuno-oncology research Tina has concentrated on exploring modulators of adaptive immune responses.

Date & Time

Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025

Time: 9 am PT / 12 pm ET / 18 Uhr CET

How to access the Zoom link:

  • On the event page, under “Location” click “Access Link” to get to the page with access to the Zoom link.
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  • Click on “go to my tickets”, sign into Eventbrite and click on “view links” – then click “open in zoom”.
  • The zoom link will go live 30 min. prior to the event.

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