Research Focus 1: T Cell Repertoire and Cancer Immunotherapy
Cancer immunotherapy, exemplified by immune checkpoint blockades, has held out the promise of harnessing a patient’s own T cells to attack cancer cells. Despite its clinical success in certain cancers, some cancers with low tumor mutation burden are resistant to this therapy. Here we employ smart biomaterial systems to reverse the anergy of tumor-infiltrating T cells recognizing self-antigens. This strategy has potential as a novel pathway for cancer immunotherapy, which may act alone or synergize with checkpoint blockades to amplify broad anti-tumor T cell responses.
Example: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 May 25; 118(21): e2016168118.
Research Focus 2: Germinal Center and Vaccine Development
Vaccines are one of the most important tools for supporting public health. The ideal vaccine-induced protection is often believed to be achieved with robust, durable, and broad antibody responses. However, antibody responses elicited by currently licensed vaccines often lack robust cross-reactivity and are short-lived, making them less effective against ever-mutating viruses such as influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Here we develop novel nanoparticle-based adjuvants to boost germinal center responses to elicit durable antibody responses targeting both dominant and subdominant viral epitopes for designing effective vaccines against highly variable and mutable viruses.
Example: Nat Mater. 2023 Mar;22(3):380-390.
Research Focus 3: Modeling Immunity In Vitro
The past few decades have witnessed remarkable growth in the field of immunotherapy for combating human diseases. However, the differences in immune receptor expression across different species and the lack of consideration for interindividual immune variations, including age, sex, immune history and microbial environment in preclinical studies have hindered the successful translations of discoveries from animal models to humans. Here we aim to utilize engineered human organoids and organ-on chip models to understand tumor-immune interactions and vaccine-elicited adaptive immune response for further advancing the development of cancer immunotherapies and vaccines against infectious diseases.
Example: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 May 25; 118(21): e2016168118. Nat Mater. 2023 Mar;22(3):380-390
