Awarded in 2025
Home Department: Neurosciences, Medicine
Faculty Advisors: Michelle Monje (Pediatric Neurology) and Crystal Mackall (Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology)

Research Title: Optimizing the Effectiveness of GD2-CAR-T Cell Therapy by Modulating Neuronal Influences on Myeloid Cells

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is a novel immunotherapeutic approach to treating various cancers. The Monje Lab has demonstrated promising results using CAR T cell therapy to treat the otherwise universally lethal cancer of the central nervous system, diffuse midline glioma (DMG). However, there remain several barriers to optimizing the use of this treatment for DMG. One significant challenge are the immune cells (“myeloid cells”) which can infiltrate the tumor microenvironment and ultimately promote tumor growth and tumor immune escape, preventing efficient CAR T cell activity. Kamsi aims to create both cellular and animal models to study these myeloid cells in the presence of cancer cells and CAR-T cells. By performing small molecule screens with a focus on neurotransmitters, he will identify molecular signals to improve CAR-T cell efficacy even in the presence of immune suppressive myeloid cells.