Dr. Alejandro Villagra has received a new NIH R01 grant entitled "Development of selective HDAC6 inhibitors to improve cancer immunotherapy”, with a total funding amount of $3,024,000 for five years. The objective of this grant is to develop and test novel epigenetic drugs with the capacity of reshaping antitumor immune responses. In particular, his research will focus on novel HDAC inhibitors to control the function, differentiation, and polarization of macrophages and other key immune cells present in the tumor microenvironment.