Dr. Lou is honored alongside Emma Weston-Dimery, his patient, underscoring Intima’s impact on global health
NEW YORK and CAMBRIDGE, England, Feb. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Intima Bioscience, a clinical stage oncology company focused on curative intent in solid tumor cancer, today announced that Emil Lou, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine at the Masonic Cancer Center of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and Emma Weston-Dimery have been named to the 2026 TIME100 Health, a list recognizing the 100 most influential individuals in global health. Dr. Lou is the Principal Investigator for Intima’s first-in-human clinical trial targeting CISH, a novel immune checkpoint. Weston-Dimery is a young woman with no evidence of disease after participating in Intima’s clinical trial for metastatic Stage 4 colorectal cancer in 2023.
“It is an honor to be recognized as part of this year’s TIME100 Health,” said Dr. Lou. “In partnership with Intima Bioscience, we are developing an investigational immunotherapy that programs patients’ own T cells to mount a more effective anti-tumor response, offering a potential new path for patients whose cancer doesn’t respond to existing treatments. As advanced colorectal cancer rates continue to rise globally, particularly among young adults, we believe traditionally undruggable intracellular checkpoint targets like CISH now have dramatic anti-cancer potential. We look forward to continuing our work in evaluating the potential of CISH checkpoint inhibition and will soon advance an oral small molecule drug into human clinical trials to address this significant unmet medical need.”
“I was diagnosed with colon cancer at 23 and spent more than a decade cycling through treatments as the disease continued to progress,” said Weston-Dimery. “By the time I enrolled in Dr. Lou’s clinical trial in 2023, I had very few options left. Today, I’m cancer-free. I’m deeply thankful to Dr. Lou, the Intima Bioscience team, and everyone who stood by me and the other trial participants along the way. It’s an honor to be recognized by TIME100 Health.”
Data from Intima first-in-human study using CRISPR knockout of the intracellular immune checkpoint CISH in T cells administered to patients with metastatic colorectal cancer was presented at the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in May 2025. This dataset consisted of 12 patients who had received multiple lines of therapy, including standard-of-care chemotherapy and biologic agents. Weston-Dimery, a patient with young adult/early onset Stage IV colorectal cancer resistant to multiple lines of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, was treated in this trial and developed a clinical complete response which is ongoing after more than three years. This seminal clinical trial provided a critical proof-of-concept of the anti-cancer activity of the CISH immune checkpoint. Intima is now developing an oral molecular glue which will be advanced into human clinical trials to allow for broad-based democratized access to CISH anti-cancer biology.
In addition to the Lancet Oncology publication describing these clinical data, Intima has recently published a new peer-reviewed manuscript in a Nature journal entitled “CISH, a key intracellular checkpoint, in comparison and combination to existing and emerging cancer immune checkpoints”.
The 2026 TIME100 Health spotlights the 100 most influential leaders in health this year. As the global order has shifted, these titans, innovators, leaders, pioneers, and catalysts have pushed new ideas – from gene therapies to regulatory agencies – ahead to build healthier populations around the world.
The full 2026 TIME100 Health list will appear in the February 23, 2026, print issue of TIME and at time.com/time100health.
About CISH
The cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein CISH is an intracellular cancer immune checkpoint that functions as a negative modulator of T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling and cancer neoantigen recognition. CISH negatively regulates antigen-specific cytokine release and T cell expansion via its capacity to bind PLC-γ1, a proximal mediator of TCR complex signaling. Inhibition of CISH in T cells is believed to help overcome immune evasion regardless of tumor type or PD-L1 expression.
About Intima Bioscience
Intima Bioscience is a clinical stage oncology company focused on curative intent in solid tumor cancer. Intima is developing a novel small molecule platform for targeting the immune checkpoint CISH in patients with solid tumor cancers. By advancing a mechanism of action for a promising, yet traditionally undruggable target, Intima seeks to democratize the promise of immunotherapy to patients suffering from cancer. https://www.intimabioscience.com/
Company Contact
info@intimabioscience.com
Media Contact
IntimaBioscience@edelmansmithfield.com
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SOURCE Intima Bioscience
