Immunology Research
The immune system is the sum of all tissue, cellular and molecular elements that control the body’s response to self and foreign materials. Consisting of an innate and an adaptive immune response, both involving numerous cell types, the immune response is a highly regulated process. Research in the Immunology department is based on the principle that a comprehensive understanding of these many components and the interactions between them will reveal multiple opportunities to manipulate the immune system as a weapon against cancer and other maladies. Our faculty’s specific basic and translational immunology research interests include:
- T cell activation and regulation
- Mechanisms of tumor resistance to immune rejection
- Signal transduction in immune and inflammatory responses
- Cancer immunotherapy and checkpoint blockade
- T cell tolerance and function
- Inflammation and tumor immunology
- Mechanism of innate immune activation and regulation
- Development of vaccines
- Immune receptor signaling
- Adaptive cellular therapy
- Immune cell interactions in tissue and tumor microenvironment
The Immunology department is home to the highly innovative Immunotherapy Platform. Created in 2013 and directed by James Allison, Ph.D., and Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., the Immunotherapy Platform seeks to find reliable biomarkers that can be used to predict patients that are suitable for the different immunotherapies available and to establish a close collaboration with industry to find new reagents (e.g. new checkpoint inhibitors) that may be used as monotherapy or in combination to further improve overall survival of cancer patients.