Peter P. Lee, M.D.

The focus of my research is on understanding how cancer impacts host immune responses in patients, with the goal of developing novel treatments to restore/enhance immune function in cancer patients. My group utilizes state-of-the-art technologies – such as high-dimensional flow cytometry, quantitative spatial image analysis, and next-generation genomics – to dissect the complex interplay between immune/stromal cells and cancer cells within tumors, tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs), and blood. Through image analysis of breast tumors and TDLNs, we have found that immune cell populations as well as their spatial distributions and clustering patterns have strong correlation with clinical outcome.

My group has also shown that lymphocytes from patients with breast cancer, melanoma, and colorectal cancer develop immune signaling defects that blunt their proliferation and function in vivo. We are currently extending these findings in multiple directions, including to other human cancers such as prostate cancer and leukemia.

A unique focus of my work is on the impact of heterogeneity within tumors and tumor cell populations, including subpopulations commonly referred to as ‘cancer stem cells’, on the immune response. We utilize computational modeling and network analysis to understand the population dynamics of cancer and immune responses, as well as control theory to find novel interventions. As such, my group is highly interdisciplinary, combining immunology, pathology, genomics, bioinformatics, mathematical modeling, computer science, engineering, network analysis, and control systems.

Diana Simons
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Diana received her B.S. in Microbiology from San Jose State University. Prior to working at City of Hope, she worked as a research associate in Dr. Peter Lee's lab at Stanford University since 2006 and facilitated in investigating mechanisms causing immune dysfunction in melanoma and breast cancer patients' peripheral blood, lymph node and tumor specimens utilizing techniques including microarray analysis, RT-PCR, Phospho-flow cytometry, histology, and functional FACS studies. In addition, she recruited patients into research studies, and procured and processed tissue specimens for study purposes. Diana joined City of Hope in the Department of Cancer Immunotherapeutics and Tumor Immunology in November 2011 where she continues to elucidate mechanisms of immune dysfunction in breast cancer patients as well as aid in identifying antigens recognized by anti-tumor T cells. Additionally, her roles in the lab are senior lab manager and regulatory administrator. Diana is interested in learning more about immune-tumor-stromal cell interactions in the setting of breast cancer and how the information learned can be harnessed to develop therapeutic strategies for breast cancer.
 
Colt Egelston 
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Colt received his B.S. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2006 and his Ph.D. from Rush University in Chicago in 2011. Prior to obtaining his B.S., Colt also held an internship at an NCI Vaccine Branch in 2005. Colt's current main project hopes to identify immunologically validated T-cell antigens in the context of breast cancer. In other words, we are attempting to identify the antigens that breast cancer patient T cells naturally react to. With this information, we hope to design a therapy that will boost a breast cancer patient's natural immune response instead of trying to induce one de novo. This ambitious project involves the screening of breast cancer patient T cells for antigen specifically and reactivity, high throughput sequencing, and bioinformatics. We look forward to the results along with our collaborators at UC Denver/National Jewish Health and Oregon Health Sciences University.
 
His second projects involve studying the phenotype and function of tumor-infiltrating T cells, which have been shown to be functionally defective. Whether these defects are due to improper T cell activation by dysfunctional antigen-presenting cells, suppression by the tumor microenvironment, or by improper homing of the 'correct' T cells to the tumor is not known. Through the analysis of breast cancer patient blood, lymph node, and tumor samples by high-dimensional flow cytometry and in vitro functional assays we hope to unravel some of the answers to these questions.
 
Sailesh Pillai  
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Dr. Sailesh G-Pillai received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, India and Project Management Education from CALTECH, USA. Dr. Pillai joined City of Hope as Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, where he developed novel genomic methods to regulate alternative splicing using artificial riboswitch. Dr. Pillai later joined the Department of Neurosciences, where he developed novel tools and reagents for the characterization of pluripotent stem cells and cancer-initiating cells. Dr. Pillai comes from a multidisciplinary research background including molecular biology, biochemistry, stem cell biology and genomics. Recently, he joined Dr. Peter P. Lee's Laboratory in the Department of Cancer Immunotherapeutics and Tumor Immunology (CITI). Using expertise in genomics and cell biology, Dr. Pillai is looking forward to expanding his research in the field of Tumor Immunology, with a focus on Breast Cancer. His research includes, uncovering the complex transcriptional network that exists in the tumor microenvironment roles of cancer-initiating cells in immune suppression, understanding the mechanism of T cell anergy and molecular analysis of T cell repertoire of patients with breast cancer. Findings from his research will be invaluable towards the development of systems immunotherapy for breast cancer.

Lei Wang
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Lei received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biochemistry from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in China.  He came to the US in 2008 and received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from UC Riverside in 2013. He has been in the field of cancer research for approximately 7 years.  The major two focuses of his Ph.D. study were to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms of prostate cancer metastasis and to study the effects of pomegranate-derived natural products on prostate and breast cancer progression.  Cancer hijacks the immune system by various cellular and molecular mechanisms and dysfunction of the immune system arises during the early stages of cancer and throughout the progression to later aggressive stages.  The current immunotherapies are subject to the immunosuppressive effects of cancer, which likely contribute to their lack of success.  Different types of immune cells use cytokine/chemokine as the language for communication.  We aim to investigate the cytokine/chemokine signaling network of the immune system to efficiently and accurately monitor and evaluate the overall status of the immune system.

Grecia Jimenez
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Grecia received her B.S. in Biology with a concentration in molecular and biotechnology, from California State University, Fullerton. Grecia joined City of Hope in 2012 where she is currently working as a research associate. Her research consists of investigating cancer immunology; focusing on breast cancer. This is done by looking at breast cancer patients and isolating immune cells from specimens, for example, lymph nodes, blood and tumors. Grecia is currently working on a project that consists of finding breast cancer patients' T cells; that are reacting to antigens along with identifying these antigens. Techniques such as flow cytometry, genomics and multiple cell culture techniques can help determine T-cell reactivity to antigens as well as help find unknown antigens. Grecia wants to continue growing as a scientist and keep on learning about cancer and the immune system. She is also interested in knowing more about cancer-fighting foods and how they contribute to cancer prevention.
 
Brile Chung
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In previous labs, Brile Chung, Ph.D., has worked on both murine and human lymphoid differentiation. The tumor microenvironment is comprised of heterogeneous populations of cells including cancer, immune and tumor-associated stromal cells. Clinical data and experimental models have shown that the extent and nature of immune infiltrations into tumors is an important independent prognostic factor. Recent findings suggest that tumor-associated stroma is another important regulator of tumor growth and progression which may also modulate the recruitment, activation status and retention of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, the main focal point of his research is to target both tumor-associated stroma and cancer cells to halt the progression of tumor and metastasis.