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Smita K Nair

Professor in Surgery
Surgery, Surgical Sciences
Box 103035 Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
Room 1077, MSRB-2, 106 Research Drive, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Grants


Duke Research Training Program in Surgical Oncology

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

Advanced Immunobiology Traning Program for Surgeons

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2029

Epigenetic Programming of T Cells for Enhanced Cellular Immunotherapy

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

A single shot therapy will accelerate the elimination of breast cancer

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by United States Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity · 2024 - 2028

Innate Antiviral Signals for Cancer Immunotherapy

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke · 2018 - 2028

Resolving Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Recombinant Poliovirus Immunotherapy

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Cancer Institute · 2023 - 2028

University Training Program in Biomolecular and Tissue Engineering

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1994 - 2027

Beyond tumor staging: measuring immune status at initial diagnosis to detect and prevent melanoma recurrence

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2023 - 2026

The frequency and function of Type 3 Innate Lymphoid Cells regulates the melanoma tumor microenvironment

FellowshipPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2026

Synergestic microglial activation and tumor cell killing for improved GBM response

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke · 2021 - 2025

Training Program in Bioinformatics at the Intersection of Cancer Immunology and Microbiome

ResearchTraining Faculty · Awarded by National Cancer Institute · 2020 - 2025

PVSRIPO in melanoma

ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Cancer Institute · 2020 - 2025

Regional Oncolytic Poliovirus Immunotherapy for Breast Cancer

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2016 - 2024

Molecular and Immunologic Characterization of In-Transit Melanoma

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Melanoma Research Alliance · 2021 - 2024

Plasmonic nanoparticle-mediated immunotherapy to treat metastatic cancer

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2024

Enhancing immunotherapy by triggering ferroptosis

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2021 - 2024

BATF3+ Dendritic Cells for the Treatment of Malignant Gliomas

ResearchMentor · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2020 - 2022

Translational Research in Surgical Oncology

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2002 - 2022

Oncolytic Polovirus, Immunotoxin, and Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy of Gliomas

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2015 - 2022

Mitigating inflammation using nucleic acid scavengers to prevent breast cancer metastasis

FellowshipPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Cancer Center · 2020 - 2022

Is Low Tumor Mutational Burden Predictive of Response to Oncolytic Polio Virus Therapy in Recurrent Glioblastoma?

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2022

CCL3 as a Developmental Therapeutic to Enhance Brain Tumor Therapy

ResearchInvestigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2016 - 2021

CA191146: Long-acting PEG-like conjugates of an immune checkpoint inhibitor and a selective cytokine for combination immunotherapy

ResearchCo-Mentor · Awarded by United States Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity · 2020 - 2021

Utilizing Nucleic Acid Binding Polymers to Ameliorate Inflammation-driven Metastatic Progression in Breast Cancer

FellowshipMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2021

Cancer Immunotherapy Through Intratumoral Activation of Recall Responses

FellowshipCo-Sponsor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2021

Targeting DAMP-induced inflammation to prevent metastasis

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2016 - 2020

Therapeutic targeting of B7-H3 to reverse prostate cancer treatment resistance.

ResearchPartnering PI · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2016 - 2020

Therapeutic Targeting of B7-H3 to Reverse Prostate Cancer Treatment Resistance

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2016 - 2020

Melanoma-mediated Dendritic Cell Tolerization and Immune Evasion

ResearchCo-Mentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2015 - 2020

Metabolic Reprogramming of Dendritic Cell-based Cancer Vaccines to Enhance Anti-Tumor Immunity

ResearchMentor · Awarded by Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy · 2016 - 2020

3D Biology Signatures defined by Nanostring Max System

EquipmentMajor User · Awarded by North Carolina Biotechnology Center · 2018 - 2019

Brain Tumor Targeting Using Tumor-Specific Neuroimmunology

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2014 - 2018

A clinically-relevant anti-CD27 agonist antibody as a vaccine adjuvant for brain tumor immunotherapy

FellowshipCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2016 - 2017

Novel Immune Modulating Cellular Vaccine for Prostate Cancer Immunotherapy

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2013 - 2017

Enhancing dendritic cell migration to drive potent anti-tumor immune responses

FellowshipMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2017

Using Aptamer Coated Nanoparticles Encapsulating Prostate Tumor Antigen Encoding mRNA to Target Dendritic Cells In Vivo

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2012 - 2015

RNA aptamers as cell surface receptor agonists and siRNA delivery agents

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2009 - 2014

Cancer Immunotherapy w/In-Situ Maturated Dendritic cells

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2003 - 2007

Cancer Immunotherapy Targeting Endothelial Antigens

ResearchClinical Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2003 - 2006

Tumor RNA Transfected Dendritic Cell Vaccines

ResearchResearch Associate · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2000 - 2005

Immunotherapy With Peptide Pulsed Dendritic Cells

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1996 - 1999

External Relationships


  • Istari Oncology
  • NanoVenari Technologies LLC
  • Vimana Inc

This faculty member (or a member of their immediate family) has reported outside activities with the companies, institutions, or organizations listed above. This information is available to institutional leadership and, when appropriate, management plans are in place to address potential conflicts of interest.