Angiosarcomas are aggressive cancers with a poor prognosis for patients. We utilize genetically engineered cell lines and in vivo models to study the molecular drivers of angiosarcoma. In recent work, we found that DICER1 and microRNAs may function as critical tumor suppressors. We have gone on to generate additional tumor models investigating other genes known to be altered in patients. In this project we will study a novel oncogene to determine its role in angiosarcoma and potential as a therapeutic target.

Biological Characterization and Imaging, Cellular Biology, Genetics

• No Major Restriction

Biological Sciences

Jason Hanna

The student will join a multi-disciplinary team investigating epigenetic processes, chromatin structure and gene regulation. This project will involve learning and applying biochemical, genetic and molecular biology strategies to build and characterize customized budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) strains or mammalian cell lines for the investigation of evolutionarily conserved protein-protein interactions and post-translational modifications using state-of-the-art detection and quantification strategies. Biological targets may include histone modifying enzymes, histone modifications, histone variants and chromatin assembly and DNA replication factors.

Biological Characterization and Imaging, Cellular Biology, Genetics

• No Major Restriction

General Chemistry required, introduction to molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics preferred.

Biochemistry

Ann Kirchmaier

Cancer is a major threat for humans worldwide, with over 18 million new cases and 9.6 million cancer-related deaths in 2019. Although most common cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, unsatisfactory cure rates require new therapeutic approaches. Recently, adoptive cellular immunotherapies with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineered T and natural killer (NK) cells have shown impressive clinical responses in patients with various blood and solid cancers. However, current clinical practices are limited by the need of large numbers of healthy immune cells, resistance to gene editing, lack of in vivo persistence, and a burdensome manufacturing strategy that requires donor cell extraction, modulation, expansion, and re-introduction per each patient. The ability to generate universally histocompatible and
genetically-enhanced immune cells from continuously renewable human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) lines offers the potential to develop a true off-the-shelf cellular immunotherapy. While functional CAR-T and NK cells have been successfully derived from hPSCs, a significant gap remains in the scalability, time-consuming (5 or more weeks), purity and robustness of the differentiation methods due to the cumbersome use of serum, and/or feeder cells, which will incur potential risk for contamination and may cause batch-dependency in the treatment. This project thus aims to develop a novel, chemically-defined platform for robust production of CAR-T and CAR-NK cells from hPSCs.

Biological Characterization and Imaging, Biological Simulation and Technology, Cellular Biology, Genetics, Medical Science and Technology

• No Major Restriction
• Chemical Engineering
• Biological Engineering - multiple concentrations
• Biochemistry
• any related major

Previous experience with cell culture and molecular biology is a bonus, but NOT required.

Davidson School of Chemical Engineering

Xiaoping Bao