Tumor Immunology Postdoctoral Research Fellow

A Research Associate position is available in Dr. Li Lily Wang’s laboratory, in the department of Translational Hematology Oncology Research (THOR), https://www.lerner.ccf.org/translational-hematology-oncology/wang/   in the Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH. The Wang laboratory is engaging in cross-disciplinary studies by collaborating with basic and clinical researchers from LRI /CCF and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, affiliated with Case Western Reserve University.

Immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies have revolutionized the field of Cancer Immunotherapy. The Wang laboratory is among the first groups to demonstrate that the immune-checkpoint protein “V domain Immunoglobulin Suppressor of T cell Activation” (VISTA) is a promising target for cancer immunotherapy (1 – 5). Current projects are multi-disciplinary and involve elucidating the epigenetic and metabolic regulations by novel inhibitory receptor LRIG1, a novel VISTA-binding inhibitory receptor that plays a critical role in impairing tumor-associated cytotoxic T cells or the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. Additional projects investigate the role of VISTA in promoting the metabolism, differentiation, and function of tumor-associated macrophages and myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). These projects have a balanced basic and clinical research aspects and provide excellent training opportunities for translational researchers.

We seek talented and committed candidates with a recent PhD and with research training and experience in Biochemistry, Cell Biology, and Immunology to join our team. Interested candidates should submit CV, a statement of research interests in a cover letter, and three references to Dr. Li Lily Wang, wangl9@ccf.org.

References:

1.  Le Mercier I, Chen W, Lines JL, Day M, Li J, Sergent P, Noelle RJ, Wang L (2014) VISTA regulates the development of protective anti-tumor immunity. Cancer Research, 74:1933-1944. PMC4116689
2. Xu W, Tạ MH, Malarkannan S, Wang L (2018) Review: The structure, expression, and function of immune-checkpoint protein VISTA as a critical regulator of anti-tumor immunity, autoimmunity, and inflammation. Cellular & Molecular Immunology. 2018 May 15(5):438-446 PMC6068175
3. Xu W, Dong J, Zheng Y, Zhou J, Yuan Y, Ta H, Miller H, Olson M, Rajasekaran K, Ernstoff M, Wang D, Malarkannan S, Wang L (2019) Immune checkpoint protein VISTA regulates antitumor immunity by controlling myeloid cell-mediated inflammation and immunosuppression. Cancer Immunology Research  PubMed PMID:31340983; NIHMSID:NIHMS1535762
4. Zhang K, Zakeri A, Alban T, Dong J, Ta HM, Zalavadia AH, Branicky A, Zhao H, Juric I, Husich H, Parthasarathy PB, Rupani A, Drazba JA, Chakraborty AA, Ching-Cheng Huang S, Chan T, Avril S, Wang LL. VISTA promotes the metabolism and differentiation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells by STAT3 and polyamine-dependent mechanisms. Cell Reports 2024 Jan 3;43(1):113661. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113661. PMID: 38175754.
5. Hieu Minh Ta, Dia Roy, Keman Zhang, Tyler Alban, Ivan Juric, Juan Dong, Sachin Patnaik, Cassandra Gilmour, Amin Zakeri, Prerana B Parthasarathy, Amit Rupani, Yee Peng Phoon, Brian Gastman, Timothy Chan, Li Lily Wang. LRIG1 engages ligand VISTA and impairs tumor-specific CD8+ T cell responses. Science Immunology,  2024 May 17;9(95) PMID: 38758807 DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adi7418