Awarded in 2026
Home Department: Bioengineering
Faculty Advisor: Rogelio Hernandez-Lopez (Bioengineering and Genetics)

Title: AI-Guided Engineering of Metabolically Resilient CAR T-Cells for Solid Tumors

Abstract:
CAR T-cell therapy genetically engineers a patient's immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer. It has cured many blood cancers but fails against solid tumors; which cause over 90% of cancer deaths. The problem: solid tumors create a hostile environment with low oxygen and depleted nutrients that exhausts CAR T cells, shutting down their ability to fight and survive.

We need to reprogram CAR T cells to survive this harsh environment, but this requires changing multiple genes at once. The challenge is that even with just 40 candidate genes, there are nearly 10,000 possible three gene combinations to test, far too many for traditional trial and error experiments.

This project uses artificial intelligence to solve the problem. First, we will map how genes control CAR T cell metabolism and function under tumor-like conditions. Second, we will train an AI model on thousands of gene-editing experiments to predict which gene combinations restore CAR T cell function. Third, we will build and test these AI-designed CAR T cells in mice with human tumors.

Success would provide a blueprint for engineering CAR T cells that survive and kill solid tumors—potentially transforming treatment for cancers that currently have no cure.