Dr. Chung is developing a new engineering approach to create intelligent and tenacious T cells with durable anti-tumor activity. Her aim is to create enhanced T cells that will infiltrate tumors, kill cancer cells, and persist long-term to prevent recurrence. Dr. Chung will use cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary approaches, including bioinformatics, protein and genetic engineering, and tumor immunology, to design a synthetic T cell differentiation pathway. This T cell reprogramming platform has the potential to transform cellular immunotherapies (such as CAR T) into "smarter" cells that target cancer with persistence and enhanced potency.
Damon Runyon Researchers
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Hokyung K. Chung, PhD
Project title: "Next generation adoptive cell therapy: SMARTER T cells for enhanced and durable anti-tumor immunity"
Institution: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Award Program: Fellow
Sponsor(s) / Mentor(s): Susan M. Kaech, PhD
Cancer Type: All Cancers
Research Area: Biomedical Engineering