Overview 

Despite significant advances in modern cancer immunotherapy, metastasis remains the main cause of mortality for cancer patients.  Certain organs, such as the liver, appears capable to suppress immunotherapy response for stage IV cancer patients at liver lesion but also at their non-liver lesions.  The liver is one of the most common sites of metastasis for nearly all cancers, yet patients with liver metastasis often have decreased response to immunotherapy and the cause of this for type of immunotherapy resistance is unclear. We believe understanding and overcoming the potent widespread tumor-specific immunosuppressive mechanisms mediated by liver metastases is an urgent priority that will accelerate our progress towards providing durable cures for stage IV cancer patients, whether they are treated with checkpoint inhibitors, CAR T cells, or treatments that involve the immune system.  A core interest of our laboratory is designing next-generation cancer immunotherapeutics capable of reversing the tolerogenic organ-specific tumor microenvironments associated with metastatic solid tumors, focusing on using difficult-to-treat sites such as liver and bone metastases. Our lab studies novel approaches in preclinical models, combining multimodality therapeutic methods such as radiotherapy and surgery with immunotherapy to enhance the anti-tumor immune response. We further deploy patient-centered multiomic discovery and translational methodologies to help us ensure our findings are biologically impactful in the clinic and to rapidly bring our science to the bedside. The lab is committed to meeting these challenges through rigorous and innovative bench-to-bedside research, constantly encouraging the creativity and diversity of our approach to complex problems and nurturing the next generation of future cancer immunotherapy scientists.