Stanford University
Showing 1-5 of 5 Results
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Ansuman Satpathy
Associate Professor of Pathology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur lab works at the interface of immunology, cancer biology, and genomics to study cellular and molecular mechanisms of the immune response to cancer. In particular, we are leveraging high-throughput genomic technologies to understand the dynamics of the tumor-specific T cell response to cancer antigens and immunotherapies (checkpoint blockade, CAR-T cells, and others). We are also interested in understanding the impact of immuno-editing on the heterogeneity and clonal evolution of cancer.
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Liora Schultz
Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Hematology & Oncology
BioI am currently postdoctoral research fellow pursuing immunotherapy research in the oncology department at Stanford University. My clinical training as a pediatric hematology oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center highlighted the desperate need for novel therapeutic options for a subtype of aggressive pediatric leukemia, Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Despite our best standard of care for AML, long term survival rates range from 50-60% with an unacceptably high relapse rate of 40%. The urgent need for novel treatments inspired me to pursue a research project in adoptive immunotherapy, genetically modifying Tcells to express artificial T cell receptors, termed chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), that target AML specific antigens. In parallel to my clinical training, I constructed an AML specific CAR and demonstrated its ability to redirect T cell function mediating eradication of AML cells. As the field of CAR therapy rapidly advances, novel methods to optimize this therapeutic modality are imperative. To this end, supported by research demonstrating superior antitumor function of naïve derived effector T cells compared to central memory derived effector T cells, I am investigating whether preferential modification of naïve T cells to express CARs will generate a T cell subpopulation with increased efficacy. Consolidating my clinical and research experiences within highly academic institutes allows me to synthesize my pursuit of scientific rigor and commitment to the field of oncology, with a mission to achieve productive research and translatable results.
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Judith Shizuru
Professor of Medicine (Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsTransplantation of defined populations of allogeneic hematopoietic cells. Specifically, the way in which hematopoietic cell grafts alter antigen specific immune responses to allo-, auto- and viral antigens. The cellular and molecular basis of resistance to engraftment of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells.
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Melody Smith, MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy)
BioDr. Smith is a board-certified, fellowship-trained medical oncologist and hematologist. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Blood & Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy.
She is also a physician-scientist who conducts extensive research. As a medical student, she completed a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Clinical Research Training (now, the Medical Research Scholars) Program. Subsequently, following her clinical fellowship, she was a post-doctoral researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The research in her lab focuses on investigations of the biology of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to improve the efficacy and safety of this therapy (1) by investigating donor (Nature Medicine, 2017) and off-the-shelf CAR T cells in mouse models and (2) by assessing mechanisms for the impact of the intestinal microbiome on CAR T cell response (Nature Medicine, 2022).
Dr. Smith presents the findings of her research at regional, national, and international conferences. Further, she has co-authored articles on topics within the field of cancer immunology, including cancer immunotherapy, stem cell transplantation, and CAR T cell therapy. Her work has appeared in journals, among others Nature, Nature Immunology, Nature Medicine, Blood, and Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. She serves a peer reviewer for publications in journals, such as NEJM Evidence, Science Advances, Blood, Cancer Cell, and Molecular Therapy. She also has contributed to chapters in books, including Pocket Oncology, Current Concepts and Controversies in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, and Advanced Concepts in Human Immunology: Prospects for Disease Control.
She has earned numerous honors; the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and several other professional organizations have recognized her achievements as a clinician, researcher, and scholar.
Dr. Smith is a member of the ASH Committee on Emerging Gene and Cell Therapies and the ASH Committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Additionally, she serves on committees within the institution and professional organizations focused on promoting diversity among hematology and cell therapy specialists. -
John B. Sunwoo, MD
Edward C. and Amy H. Sewall Professor in the School of Medicine and Professor, by courtesy, of Dermatology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy laboratory is focused on two primary areas of research: (1) the immune response to head and neck cancer and to a tumorigenic population of cells within these malignancies called cancer stem cells; (2) the developmental programs of a special lymphocyte population involved in innate immunity called natural killer (NK) cells; and (3) intra-tumor and inter-tumor heterogeneity.
