Projects

We have shown that microbiota-specific T cells are required for microbiota-dependent anti-tumor immunity in colorectal cancer. Now we hope to take things a step further and understand how the local microbiota impacts T cells from the naive to the terminally exhausted.

The gut microbiota is necessary for immunotherapy response in cancer, but how is it controlled? One of the key drivers of microbial makeup and diversity is environmental factors like diet. We are interested in understanding how dietary interventions could reprogram the gut microbiome to improve immunotherapy responses in cancer while limiting adverse events.

The gut microbiota dramatically impacts melanoma patient response to current immunotherapies. However, how or why this occurs as well as whether this occurs at other distant tumor sites is unknown. Also, how does this shake out when we look at patients instead of our well-controlled laboratory mice?

Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are known positive prognostic factors across many cancer types. However, we don’t fully understand 1) how these form or 2) how they benefit an anti-tumor response. We are uncovering the initial signals required for lymphangiogenesis and TLS formation after exposure to bacterial antigens in hopes of developing new therapies to drive TLS maturation in cancer.

Regulatory T cells represent a major barrier to effective anti-tumor immunity and immunotherapeutic response. However, they are also required to curb overactive immune responses and autoimmunity. We hope to leverage microbiota-specific Treg cells in cancer to maximize anti-tumor immunity while minimizing immune related adverse events during therapy.