Amandip Bangar, M.Eng
Lipid Targeting Adoptive Cell Therapy for AML
Abstract
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is the most common acute leukemia in adults and has a dismal prognosis with a 5 year survival rate of approximately 30%. Patients with AML are often ineligible for stem cell transplant and chemotherapy and thus have an even worse prognosis. Adoptive cell therapy has revolutionized the treatment of patients with other blood cancers such as lymphoma and lymphoblastic leukemia, but this same success has not translated to AML. A major hurdle in development of cell therapies has been poor protein targets in AML. Current targets in development have either proved ineffective or unsafe. Our proposal aims to target lipid antigens presented by CD1d, a molecule similar to MHC that presents lipid antigens to unconventional T cells such as NKT cells. We aim to develop “off-the-shelf” cell therapy for AML by engineering cytokine-induced killer cells (CIKs) with CD1d-specific T cell receptors and to identify novel lipid antigens enriched in AML using lipidomics.
This early career support helps emerging scientists like myself develop rigorous research skills, explore high-impact ideas, and build the necessary foundation for biomedical discovery and clinical translation. With this fellowship, I will have the opportunity to pursue lines of inquiry that would traditionally receive limited attention.
