Awarded in 2019
Home Department: Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
Faculty Advisors: Kyle Loh (Developmental Biology) and Hiromitsu Nakauchi (Genetics)

Research Title: Combining Developmental Biology and Immunology to Efficiently Generate Human T Cells In Vitro from Pluripotent Stem Cells

Research Description: Recent cancer immunotherapy successes have reinvigorated interest in T cell biology. However, it is presently difficult to obtain large numbers of human T cells of defined specificity and subtype for research or therapy, as primary T cells do not proliferate long-term in vitro. Leveraging developmental biology and immunology, Jonas proposes to efficiently differentiate human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into definitive blood progenitors and, subsequently, mature T cells. Reconstituting T cell development in vitro will illuminate our knowledge of T cell development. Moreover, access to a limitless supply of human T cells from hPSCs will accelerate future cancer immunotherapies and provide a tractable platform to interrogate T cell biology.

WHERE IS HE NOW?

Jonas is an Associate Director of Research at Walking Fish Therapeutics, a start-up developing engineered B Cell therapies to treat various serious diseases.