Dr. Adam Grippin is a radiation oncology physician and researcher dedicated to developing fast, safe mRNA-based treatments for brain tumors. His credentials include:
Adam Grippin, M.D., Ph.D.
Resident Physician
Radiation Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center
I didn’t start out in medicine. My first job was with a snack food company, figuring out how to make tortilla chips curl so bags looked fuller without adding more chips. Two weeks in, I realized I wanted more—something meaningful. I wanted to help people live longer, healthier lives.
That drive led me to medicine, where I joined the University of Florida’s Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program, a highly translational research program where groundbreaking immunotherapy was being evaluated in patients with brain tumors. There, I met an eight-year-old girl—let’s call her Julia—who had a recurring brain tumor and a big dream of becoming a scientist. After receiving our experimental cancer vaccine, her tumor shrunk. Her dream suddenly felt possible. That moment changed everything for me.
Over the next 10 years, I helped develop a messenger RNA (mRNA)-nanoparticle therapy using a patient’s own tumor RNA, to teach the immune system to fight brain tumors. I’ll never forget carrying our first vaccine dose to a golden retriever in a clinical trial that helped prove it was safe. Today, this same vaccine is being tested in human patients, including those with newly-diagnosed and recurrent adult glioblastoma, pediatric high-grade gliomas, and osteosarcoma.
In a surprising twist, I also discovered that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines seem to boost the effects of cancer immunotherapy. Patients who received the vaccine shortly before treatment lived nearly twice as long. We’ve since confirmed this in animal studies and are exploring how this could help even more people with tough-to-treat cancers.
Now, as a radiation oncology resident at MD Anderson Cancer Center, I’m working to bring fast, safe, ready-to-use mRNA treatments to patients who need them most.
Your advocacy is life-changing. Advocacy fuels research, ensures more success stories like Julia’s and gives families hope. Whether it’s pushing for funding or sharing new discoveries, advocacy helps move breakthroughs from the lab to the clinic faster. Every child should have the chance to grow up and chase their dreams. And with strong advocacy, we can continue to make that possible.
