Conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) are specialized antigen presenting cells (APC) that can efficiently induce anti-tumor T cell responses. In particular these cells are functionally adapted for the cross-priming of CD8+ T cells and in facilitating CD4+ T cell mediated help, necessary for induction of robust anti-tumor immunity. These cDC1s populations are essential for vaccination responses and additionally for the therapeutic efficacy of immunotherapies including immune checkpoint blockade. Ross investigates how mRNA vaccine and therapeutic strategies can be utilized to better harness these cell types for cancer immunotherapy approaches. This work utilizes a recently established pipeline in our laboratory for the generation and quality control of mRNA lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccines, complemented by advanced flow cytometry and RNA sequencing techniques for comprehensive immune response profiling
