Care Discover Teach Departments
Andy Minn
Current Projects

1. Investigate how chronic inflammation and persistent interferon signaling alters local and systemic anti-tumor immunity
2. Discover immunotherapy resistance mechanisms driven by cellular adaptation to chronic inflammation
3. Understand mechanisms of inflammatory “memory” and how it impacts immune responses
4. Explore the role of chronic virus mimicry in immunotherapy response
5. Develop therapeutic strategies targeting immune dysfunction from chronic inflammation

Andy Minn

Professor
The Minn Lab investigates how cancers evolve under chronic inflammation and persistent immune pressure to acquire resistance to immunotherapies, with the goal of developing innovative therapies to restore anti-tumor immunity.
Minn Lab
Program Affiliations
Research

In the Minn Lab, we interrogate the intersection of chronic inflammation and interferon signalling, virus mimicry pathways, and immune checkpoint resistance in tumor cells — integrating cellular, molecular and translational approaches. Our goal is to convert mechanistic insights into new therapeutic combinations that potentiate anti-tumor immunity.

Biography

Andy Minn, MD, PhD is the inaugural Chair of MSK’s Immuno-Oncology Program, which was established in 2025. As a researcher, Dr. Minn has focused on understanding how long-term inflammation and the abnormal activation of antiviral pathways, such as interferon (IFN), and other inflammatory cascades impact cancer progression, treatment resistance, and immunotherapy response. He employs both experimental and translational strategies to drive discoveries from bench to bedside. His studies have led to several clinical trials.

Dr. Minn’s recent efforts have focused on finding different strategies to restore productive IFN signaling in cancer by using CAR-T cells, targeting key signaling hubs, and blocking persistent and maladaptive IFN and inflammatory signaling in cancer and immune cells with JAK inhibitors. He and his lab colleagues are seeking to improve immunotherapy by discovering, understanding, and targeting chronic IFN and other inflammatory pathways that drive suppressive tumor-immune system states, leading to relapse and therapy resistance.

Selected Publications: 

  • Mathew D, Marmarelis ME, Foley C, Bauml JM, Ye D, Ghinnagow R, Ngiow SF, Klapholz M, Jun S, Zhang Z, Zorc R, Davis CW, Diehn M, Giles JR, Huang AC, Hwang WT, Zhang NR, Schoenfeld AJ, Langer CJ, Wherry EJ, Minn AJ. Combined JAK Inhibition and PD-1 Immunotherapy for Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients. Science. 2024 Jun;384(6702):eadf1329. 
  • Memon D, Schoenfeld AJ, Ye D, Fromm G, Rizvi H, Zhang X, Keddar MR, Mathew D, Yoo KJ, Qiu J, Lihm J, Miriyala J, Sauter JL, Luo J, Chow A, Bhanot UK, McCarthy C, Vanderbilt CM, Liu C, Abu-Akeel M, Plodkowski AJ, McGranahan N, Łuksza M, Greenbaum BD, Merghoub T, Achour I, Barrett JC, Stewart R, Beltrao P, Schreiber TH, Minn AJ, Miller ML, Hellmann MD. Clinical and molecular features of acquired resistance to immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer Cell. 2024 Feb 12;42(2):209-224.e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2023.12.013
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