Leveraging our expertise in immunology and cancer biology, we have been creating a cutting-edge translational immunology platform for biomarker discovery and immunotherapy development. Our research program focuses on: (i) dissecting the acidic tumor microenvironment using fluorescent nanotechnologies and multi-omic approaches to develop novel acid-resistant immunocytokines for cancer immunotherapy; (ii) utilizing a live tumor bank from the UT Southwestern Kidney Cancer SPORE to identify predictive biomarkers of resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and to design immunotherapy strategies for unresponsive patients; (iii) deploying tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and humanized tumorgraft mouse models with autologous immune systems to test novel immunotherapy approaches for localized drug delivery, improved efficacy, and reduced systemic toxicity.
The ultimate goal of our group is to develop innovative treatments with predictive biomarkers that enable personalized cancer immunotherapy, thereby optimizing outcomes for cancer patients.
