My research focuses on developing novel and specific immunotherapies against human cancers. My projects have followed two paths: 1. Cancer vaccines and 2. Therapeutic TCR mimic antibodies (mAbs). We have successfully delivered several peptide-based cancer vaccines into human clinical trials for leukemia and mesothelioma. We discovered the first fully human TCR-mimic mAb specific for the WT1 peptide/HLA-A0201complex, ESK1 (Science Translational Medicine, 2013, Nature Biotechnology, 2015). We have now developed a series of TCR mimic mAbs specific for other important cancer targets, including PRAME and Foxp3. If this approach proves successful in a clinical setting, it would be an important innovation in the fast-emerging area of cancer immunotherapy, because it combines the best features of TCR recognition and versatilities of mAb therapies.

I am multilingual and enjoy travel. I am interested in history, mystery books, and movies. Science sometimes involves history—sometimes it is like a mystery! As a result, I enjoy my work and look forward to seeing how my personal movie script unfolds.