My laboratory focuses on exploring the immune response to cancer. We have developed vaccines to gangliosides 1 to 3 and to mutated Ras 4, which have been translated in to the clinical. After preclinical testing, my lab then produces vaccine for clinical trials and analyzes the antibody and T cell responses from patients in these clinical trials to determine the level of immune response generated. The results of these studies guide further clinical development of the vaccines.

Recently, research in my laboratory has focused on antigen-specific NKT cells. The vast majority of research done on NKT has relied on NKT cells stimulated by á-galactosyl ceramide, a glycolipid from marine sponges but not present in mamalian cells. áGal-Cer stimulates most NKT cells and is recognized by most T cell receptors on NKT but is clearly not the natural ligand of these cells. Among the few antigen-specific NKT cells described, the vast majority recognized glycolipids on prokaryotes or yeast. My laboratory was the first to identify NKT cells specific for GD3 ganglioside, a glycolipid expressed on melanoma and other tumors or neuroectodermal origin 5. We are working to characterize these GD3-specific NKT cells to understand how they recognize GD3; whether they can modulate the immune response to GD3; and whether they can themselves reject GD3+ tumors.

These studies are ongoing primarily in the mouse system, but given that we are also conducting clinical trials with ganglioside vaccines, we will have the opportunity to look for ganglioside-specific NKT cells in patients.