The main themes of research in my laboratory are angiogenesis, immuno-oncology, Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP), and development of oncolytic, anti-angiogenic and immuno-activating peptides for therapeutic applications. We conduct both computational and experimental studies. Our QSP studies use spatial transcriptomics of tumors and build cohorts of virtual patients and digital twins to conduct virtual clinical trials and identify biomarkers.
The Cahan Lab is a hybrid computational/experimental group that invents computational tools that distill omics data down to specific, testable hypotheses in the contexts of stem cell biology, developmental biology, and cell engineering. Most of our computational efforts are ‘single cell’ or spatial in nature, and thus this central part of our research fits with the ‘Single-cell/Spatial Transcriptomics’ theme of TTEC. Examples of computational platforms that we have created are 1. machine learning tools that measure the extent to which engineered cell populations reflect their natural counterparts, and 2. algorithms that predict the impact of cellular perturbations on cell engineered fidelity. Both of these applications can help to create and evaluate iPSC-derived disease models, which is another TTEC theme. Finally, we use these and other tools to uncover how cell lineages of the synovial joint emerge during development with the long term goal of leveraging this knowledge to engineer cells for regenerative medicine. This long-term goal aligns well with TTEC’s Tissue Engineering & Biomaterials Pillar and Healthy Aging theme.
Immunotherapy relies on the manipulation of the immune system to induce a potent and durable attack on diseased cells. T cells play an integral role in this by directing immune responses against infected or cancerous cells. My laboratory uses biomaterials to induce natural T cell responses for personalized cancer immunotherapy. This includes development of nanoparticle-based artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPC) that activate tumor-specific T cells targeting multiple tumor-specific targets. These tumor-specific T cells can be reintroduced in a process called adoptive cell transfer (ACT), resulting in persistent anti-tumor activity with immunologic memory. With recent advances the our lab has made aAPC that can also be used to transfer genetic material, such as CAR constructs to T cells. Additionally, using biocompatible platforms, we have synthesized an artificial lymph node (aLN) capable of activating T cells in vivo.
Collectively, our interests’ and tools are synergistic with the “Foundational Pillars” and “Cross-Cutting” themes in TTEC’s strategic plan for “Adaptive Therapeutics”, which make him an excellent fit for TTEC.