Grant: CIHR New Investigator

A certain immune cell type, killer T cells, play an important role in controlling chronic infections such as HIV and cancer. My group has discovered that certain killer T cells are genetically different in a very small percentage of people with HIV. These people have natural immunity that prevents disease progression to AIDS. The killer T cells continue to function at a high level and destroy HIV infected cells to ensure that the virus cannot reproduce to the extent of full blown AIDS. However, in most of people these cells become dysfunctional and unable to eliminate infected cells and tumor cells in the course of chronic infections and cancer. My research focuses on better understanding why these killer T cells become dysfunctional and how we can restore their functionality. I will be developing novel immunotherapy approaches to use person's immune system to fight back chronic infections and cancer. Until recently, most cancer immunotherapies did not work for most patients, or caused severe side effects. The dream of a successful cancer immunotherapy only came to life in the last few years. Science, one of the top scientific magazines named this new approach 'breakthrough of the year' for 2013. This breakthrough approach targets a way to re-start the immune system, using immune checkpoints' inhibitors. These immune checkpoints' inhibitors jump-start a patient's immune system to recognize and kill infected cells and tumors. They are game-changers for chronic infections and cancer. Using immune checkpoints' inhibitor therapy is revolutionizing cancer treatment by manipulating a person's immune system to fight their infected cells and cancer cells. I aim to understand how killer T cells become dysfunctional in the context of HIV and cancer in order to develop novel immunotherapy drugs. I will identify and develop novel immunotherapy approaches to target these immune checkpoints to allow killer T cells to stay protective and kill infected cells and cancer cells.