Hi-TIDe : Tumor microenvironment & biomarker discovery

Our main research interest is to gain a deep understanding of the tumor-intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms that promote or dampen anti-tumor T cell immunity.

• We gain a deep understanding of the molecular states of human TILs (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes) and the tumor microenvironment at stages of tumor escape or tumor rejection using systems approaches. We study tumors at the steady state but also following T cell therapy and other immunotherapies.
• We unveil fundamental molecular mechanisms driving T cell dysfunction in tumors at the steady state.
• We characterize tumor and stroma-driven exclusion mechanisms of TILs. 
• We define how genomic alterations (ie homologous recombination repair deficiency, HRD) and tumor heterogeneity regulate TIL inflammation status of tumors.

The lab employs orthogonal approaches to discovery, including single cell proteomic, transcriptional and epigenetic interrogation, advanced high dimensional microscopy, topologically referenced transcriptional profiling, 3D tumor organoids and histocultures, mouse models and computational tools.