Wattenberg Lab

Investigating and leveraging myeloid cell – tumor interactions for cancer therapy.

Our Research

The major goal of our research program is to therapeutically leverage myeloid cell functions for cancer treatment. Towards this effort, we study pancreatic cancer, which is a prototype of resistance to conventional cancer immunotherapy. Pancreatic cancer excludes cytotoxic T cells, and instead shows infiltration by immunosuppressive myeloid cells. Myeloid cells, heterogenous cells of the innate immune system, are pliable and possess the capacity for both tumor-supporting and tumoricidal functions. Yet, how to reprogram myeloid cells or use myeloid cell functions to control cancer remains ill-defined. By integrating multi-omics analyses of samples from patients with pancreatic cancer, transgenic mouse modeling of cancer and CRISPR-Cas9 engineering of primary myeloid cells and tumor cells, we aim to (i) define strategies to leverage tumoricidal myeloid cell functions for cancer therapy, and (ii) identify tumor-intrinsic mechanisms of resistance to myeloid cell cytotoxic programs. In doing so, we hope to inform the design of novel clinical trials and ultimately improve outcomes for patients with cancer.

Our Team

We are currently recruiting for multiple positions, including laboratory technicians, graduate and undergraduate students, post-doctoral researchers and clinical fellows. We seek potential team members with broad interests and experience in cancer immunology, innate immune system biology, tumor genetics, animal modeling, functional genomics and computational biology.

Our Partners

Team science is integral to successful biomedical research. We are always interested and available to discuss collaborative opportunities with partners in academia and industry.