Stephen T. Ferris, PhD

While much progress has been made in understanding cancer immune responses, natural killer T (NKT) cells remain understudied. These immune cells act as a bridge between innate and adaptive immunity, rapidly responding to targets through their distinctive receptor. This receptor recognizes lipid molecules, but we currently do not know what tumor lipids can activate NKTs or how NKTs help the immune system attack tumors. Dr. Ferris will investigate how NKTs are involved in the cancer immune response, with the goal of defining how NKT cells are activated by tumor lipids and what those lipids are. This research not only seeks to expand our understanding of fundamental immunological processes but also holds potential to develop immunotherapies to target multiple cancer types using NKT cells.