To allow more patients to benefit from immunotherapy, scientists must first map cancer immune evasion mechanisms. Dr. Jerby is applying a new approach to alter genes in melanoma cells, expose them to anti-cancer T cells or immunotherapy drugs, and then measure genome-wide responses in tens of thousands of single cells. Using computational approaches, she is modeling how different perturbations affect cancer cells and their ability to evade immune destruction. She integrates the resulting models with clinical single cell data of melanoma tumors to identify the key pathways and regulators of immunosuppression in melanoma patients. This computational-experimental system may provide a basis for the development of immunotherapies that enhance anti-cancer immune responses in melanoma patients.
To understand why only some patients respond to immunotherapy and to develop new and better immunotherapies we need to study not only the malignant cells, but also the interplay between the cancer cells and the immune cells. I am honored and grateful for the support of the CRI, and I hope that with this support I’ll be able to address these challenges and make meaningful discoveries.
Projects and Grants
Integrating CRISPR with single-cell RNA-sequencing to map the underlying circuits of immune evasion mechanisms in melanoma
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard | Melanoma | 2016
Let's spread the word about Immunotherapy! Click to share this page with your community.