Ali Zamat wins F31 fellowship

Ali was awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award – i.e., the F31 fellowship – by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health to sponsor his project entitled “Focused ultrasound control of intratumoral NKG2DL BTE production by CAR T cells to potentiate epitope spread.” Congrats to Ali!

Summary | To enhance CAR T cells for solid tumors, potent immunomodulators such as cytokines or bispecific T cell engagers (BTEs) can be co-infused. However, systemic delivery of these agents breaches self-tolerance resulting in numerous immune related adverse effects. This proposal seeks to use focused ultrasound to non- invasively control the intratumoral production of BTEs by thermal sensitive CAR T cells to enhance anti-tumor activity and elucidate mechanisms of epitope spread by investigating DC priming of endogenous T cells.