Current Research

My research is focused on understanding the immunobiology of human solid tumors and develop molecular biomarkers for prediction of response or resistance to therapies. In particular, my group has been actively evaluating the role of diverse immune evasion pathways used by human lung malignancies including immune co-inhibitory/stimulatory ligands and receptors, tolerogenic enzymes, immune suppressive cells, antigen presenting/processing machinery, metabolic alterations in the tumor microenvironment and oncogenic intracellular signaling. More recent and future scientific interests include the evaluation and clinical impact of tumor immune heterogeneity and editing.

The studies used for my research include novel quantitative immunoprofiling strategies, high throughput genomics from tumor and immune cells; and basic cell and molecular biology approaches. In particular, my group has pioneered the development of in situ multispectral/multiplex fluorescence imaging to interrogate the tumor immune microenvironment with spatial resolution. Ongoing work includes also the integration of new platforms for high order tissue biomolecule detection based on mass spectrometry and analyte barcoding systems.