Stephanie A. Gaglione, PhD

Cancer immunotherapies can be engineered to direct T cells against specific tumor antigens, but many challenging cancers lack viable targets. Recent advances suggest that an understudied source of antigens can generate strong immune responses. These cryptic antigens originate from unusual and noncoding parts of viruses and tumor genomes and may be shared between patients. Dr. Gaglione will apply cutting-edge tools to comprehensively profile the antigen landscape of virally-driven cancers, mapping which antigens are presented to the immune system and which trigger tumor-specific immune responses. This work will reveal new, potentially shared targets for T cell-based therapies, including engineered T cells and cancer vaccines. Beyond virally-driven cancers, these approaches may help identify therapeutic targets and mechanisms in other diseases with T cell involvement. Dr. Gaglione received her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, her MSc from the University of Oxford, Oxford, and her BASc from the University of Toronto, Toronto.