Research
Objective
The overall objective of my research is to identify and exploit novel drug targets that enables the immune system to efficiently eradicate cancer cells, and to translate those innovation into novel clinical strategies.
Immuno-oncological treatment methods can greatly improve the survival of cancer patients, but unfortunately only a fraction of patients generally respond to currently used drugs. At the same time, the number of molecules that are used as immuno-oncological drug targets is still very limited. By identifying and exploiting novel targets, we can extend this exciting toolbox and enable more patients to benefit from novel treatment options.
Transcriptomic pipeline
We have established a distinctive pipeline for transcriptomic studies down to single-cell level of tumour-infiltrating immune cells using RNA sequencing, as well as for bioinformatical analysis of the data to pinpoint novel potential cell surface drug targets on specific immune cells. We employ this pipeline to identify novel targets on for example T-cells and on cells that regulate T-cell activity, such as myeloid cells. Furthermore, we explore immune and cancer cell targets in order to combine both cancer immunotherapy and radiation treatment. Through an extensive network of national and international collaborators we explore these cells in several different cancer indications, including acute myeloid leukaemia, bladder cancer and lung cancer.
Technologies
The research is based on a number of advanced technologies, including multicolour flow cytometry and cell sorting, in vitro cell assays, single cell RNA sequencing and advanced bioinformatical analysis.
The research is part of CREATE Health (link to CREATE Health), directed by Prof. Carl Borrebaeck, and is based on collaborations with for example Professor George Coukos (director of the Swiss Cancer Center, Lausanne), Professor Dough Hanahan (Swiss Cancer Center, Lausanne), Professor Thoas Fioretos, Medical Doctor (Division of Clinical Genetics, Lund University), Professor Fredrik Liedberg, Medical Doctor and Professor Mattias Höglund (Department of Clinical Sciences Lund), Professor Malin Lindstedt (Department of Immunotechnology, Lund University) and Alligator Biosciences AB (Lund).
Projects
Specific projects include:
- Novel immune cell targets for efficient treatment of AML (link to project)
- Novel immuno-oncological strategies based on studies in bladder cancer (link to project)
- New strategies for combining radiation and cancer immunotherapy (link to project)