The lab simultaneously pursues two complimentary research aims. The first is the discovery and clinical development of T cell receptors that confer specific recognition of cancer cells through the targeting of three classes of antigens: i) cancer germline antigens, ii) hotspot mutation-induced neoepitopes, and iii) private somatic mutations unique to each patient. Second, using a combination of genetic engineering, cellular isolation techniques, and pharmacologic disruption of key metabolic and signal transduction pathways, we aim to place anti-cancer receptors into optimal T cell subsets capable of long term persistence and sustained antitumor activity. The goal of the lab’s research is to extend the ability of adoptively transferred T cells to mediate curative responses beyond hematologic cancers and melanoma to common epithelial cancers, including breast cancer.