Raphael Nemenoff, PhD

Specialty

Lung cancer and immunotherapy

Prerequisites

College biology, and some immunology would be helpful.

Number of openings

1

Program Description

My laboratory is focused on understanding the cross-talk between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment that mediate response to immunotherapy. We are using an innovative orthotopic mouse model of lung cancer in which lung cancer cells are directly implanted into the lungs of syngeneic mice. These cells form primary tumors and will metastasize to distant organs. In this model we can use genetic approaches to engineer cancer cells or knockout mice to address specific pathways in the microenvironment. Most recently, we have examined pathways that mediate immune evasion of tumors in this model. Our studies have defined alterations in signaling pathways and antigen presentation which are critical in determining the response of these tumor to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Our laboratory provides an opportunity for studying cancer immunology using state-of-the art techniques to examine the complex interplay of cell types in cancer progression.​