Daniel E. Speiser, M.D., CLIP Investigator Universite de Lausanne (Switzerland)

Cancer immunotherapy is based on the principle that T cells can destroy cancer cells, and that enhancing T cell activity may benefit patients. Dr. Speiser’s work is exploring this by analyzing animal models and patients. While some T cells are functional and fight cancer productively, others are frequently “exhausted” and only weakly active or inactive. Dr. Speiser and his team have discovered important underlying reasons, and now they’re examining molecules known as transcription factors, which control gene expression in T cells. Specifically, he’s characterizing how transcription factors affect T cells and their ability to eliminate tumors in mice and patients. This knowledge could then be used to improve immunotherapy approaches that target these pathways and should provide increased benefits to cancer patients.

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