My research career has focused on immune activation through co-stimulatory activation, e.g. 4-1BB, OX40, CD40, and other novel costimulatory molecules, and immune gene therapy. Our lab is a pioneer in this field and owns the patent on adenoviral gene delivery for cancer therapy in conjunction with suicide gene and cytokines or immune co-stimulatory activation.
My lab was one of the first to identify a novel cell population with immune suppressive mechanisms. I, along with several tumor immunologists, subsequently designated this population as myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC). Our lab has investigated the mechanisms of MDSC and tumor associated macrophage (TAM) mediated immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment.
We were the first group to publish a seminal paper reporting that monocytic MDSC can activate the Treg population in the tumor microenvironment, thereby establishing an immune suppressive environment. We have investigated MDSC development, accumulation, migration and Treg stability and conversion in the tumor microenvironment and further validate our findings in clinical cancer patients.