To Die or Not to Die: Leveraging Immunogenic Cell Death in Cancer Therapeutics

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

2:30 PM-4:00 PM

BIOMED Seminar

Title:
To Die or Not to Die: Leveraging Immunogenic Cell Death in Cancer Therapeutics

Speaker:
Jenny Zilberberg, PhD
Consultant
Scientific Advisory Board Member
FIG Therapeutics, Inc.

Details:
Every day, millions of cells in our body die. These dying cells, or their cellular corpses, are engulfed by macrophages, part of the innate immune system, and generally do not trigger an immune response. In other words, they undergo silent cell death, maintaining whole-body homeostasis. In some cases, dead cells can even promote tolerance; in others, they can cause inflammation without generating a corresponding adaptive immune response. However, cancer cells can undergo a process known as immunogenic cell death (ICD), in which tumor-associated antigens and key co-stimulatory signals are released from dying cells, enabling activation of the adaptive immune system and systemic anti-tumor immunity. 

This talk will discuss the immunological processes required to fulfill the conditions necessary for ICD induction and illustrate its application in IGV-001, a personalized, autologous, cell-based immunotherapy designed to train the immune system to recognize and eliminate glioblastoma cells.

Biosketch:
Jenny Zilberberg, PhD, brings over 20 years of experience spanning academia and the biotechnology sector, with expertise in translational immunology and cancer immunotherapy. She previously served as Head of Research at Imvax, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, where she led preclinical and translational efforts for the Goldspire® immunotherapy platform and its lead product candidate, IGV-001, for newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Dr. Zilberberg currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of FIG Therapeutics, consults for CorriXR Therapeutics, and partners strategically with pre-seed and early-stage companies developing next-generation immunotherapeutic platforms. She will soon assume the role of VP of Scientific Strategy at Precision for Medicine.

Dr. Zilberberg received her MS and PhD in bioengineering from Penn State University and her BS in chemical engineering from Universidad Simón Bolívar, Venezuela. She is an inventor and holder of patents covering ex vivo culture platforms designed to study bone and bone marrow niches and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications. Her work has been supported by NIH funded grants focused on graft-versus-host disease and on developing New Approach Methodologies to investigate the tumor microenvironment of both solid and hematologic malignancies. Dr. Zilberberg previously held an Associate Member position at the Center for Discovery and Innovation, part of Hackensack Meridian Health, and adjunct faculty appointments in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Stevens Institute of Technology and the Georgetown University School of Medicine.

Contact Information

Carolyn Riley
cr63@drexel.edu