Devin Corrigan received his B.S. in Biological Sciences and Spanish from Binghamton University in 2019. While at Binghamton University, he studied the mechanisms of persistence and potential treatments for P. aeruginosa biofilms under Drs Light and Boyko. After graduation, he joined the lab of Dr. Achkar at Albert Einstein College of Medicine to study the host immune response to M. tuberculosis infection. Here he studied the human and non-human primate antibody responses to Mtb to improve diagnostic testing and further our understanding of antibodies as correlates of protection to activation of Mtb and progression to disease. He started in the PhD program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the fall of 2021, and joined the Zang lab in July 2022. In the Zang lab he is working on understanding and targeting new immune checkpoint pathways.

Publications:

Nishimura CD, Corrigan D, Zheng XY, Galbo Jr PM, Wang S, Liu Y, Wei Y, Suo L, Cui W, Mercado N, Zheng D, Zhang CC,  Zang X. TOP CAR with TMIGD2 as a safe and effective costimulatory domain in CAR cells treating human solid tumors.     Science Advances,  10:eadk1857, 2024

Pulanco MC, Madsen AT, Tanwar A, Corrigoan DT, Zang X. Recent advancements in the B7/CD28 immune checkpoint families: New biology and clinical therapeutic strategies.   Cellular & Molecular Immunology, 20:694-713, 2023

Ren X*, Corrigan D*, Zang X.  Protocol for evaluating anti-tumor activity of KIR3DL3 blockade in an NK cell-based xenogeneic lung tumor model.   STAR Protocols, 3:101818. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro, 2022   (*Co-first author)

Ren X, Peng M, Xing P, Wei Y, Galbo PM, Corrigan D, Wang H, Su Y, Dong X, Sun Q, Li Y, Zhang X, Edelmann W, Zheng D, Zang X.  Blockade of the immunosuppressive KIR2DL5-PVR pathway elicits potent human NK cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity.    Journal of Clinical Investigation, 132:e163620. doi: 10.1172/JCI163620, 2022

Corrigan DT, Ishida E, Chatterjee D, Lowary TL, Achkar JM. Monoclonal antibodies to lipoarabinomannan/arabinomannan – Characteristics and implications for Tuberculosis research. Trends in Microbiology, 31:22-35, 2023

Ishida E, Corrigan DT, Malonis RJ, Hofmann D, Chen T, Amin AG, Joe M, Lowary TL, Lai JR, Achkar JM. Monoclonal antibodies from humans with Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposure or latent infection recognize distinct arabinomannan epitopes. Communications Biology, 4:1181. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02714-w, 2021.

Yingying Jiang graduated with M.Med degree from Wuhan University, China in 2006, and then worked as a university teacher and dentist at Weifang Medical College (later renamed Shandong Second Medical University) and its affiliated hospital. She obtained her M.D. degree in Stomatology from Shandong University, China in 2015. From 2017 to 2020, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, with Professor Wantao Chen as her co-supervisor. She then worked as a visiting scholar at the National Translational Medicine Base (Shanghai) for one year. She was promoted to Professor at Shandong Second Medical University in December 2022. She is mainly engaged in research on the mechanisms of progression and therapy resistance of HNSCC, focusing on epigenetic regulation associated with non-coding RNA. In September 2024, she joined Prof. Zang's lab as a visiting research scientist, where she is currently working on new immune checkpoints and exploring strategies for improving immunotherapies.

Publications:

Zhang X, Chen X, Sun D, Song N, Li M, Zheng W, Yu Y, Ding G, Jiang Y.  ENAH-202 promotes cancer progression in oral squamous cell carcinoma by regulating ZNF502/VIM axis.  Cancer Medicine, 12: 20892-20905, 2023

Li M, Song N, Sun D, Yu Y, Zheng W, Zhang X, Ying J, Sun R, Xu M, Guo T, Jiang Y.  Transcriptome mapping of the internal N7-methylguanosine methylome in messenger RNAs in human oral squamous cell carcinoma. Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark, 28:330, 2023

Sun D, Song N, Li M, Chen X, Zhang X, Yu Y, Ying J, Xu M, Zheng W, Han C, Ji H, Jiang Y.  Comprehensive analysis of circRNAs for N7-methylguanosine methylation modification in human oral squamous cell carcinoma.  FASEB BioAdvances, 5:305-320, 2023

Guo T, You K, Chen X, Sun Y, Wu Y, Wu P, Jiang Y.  RBM47 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma progression by targeting UPF1 as a DNA/RNA regulator.  Cell Death Discovery, 8:320, 2022

Chen X, Liu Y, Sun D, Sun R, Wang X, Li M, Song N, Ying J, Guo T, Jiang Y.  Long noncoding RNA lnc-H2AFV-1 promotes cell growth by regulating aberrant m6A RNA modification in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.  Cancer Science, 113:2071-2084, 2022

Chen X, Song J, Wang X, Sun D, Liu Y, Jiang Y.  LncRNA LINC00460: Function and mechanism in human cancer.  Thoracic Cancer, 13:3-14, 2022

Jiang Y, Guo H, Tong T, Xie F, Qin X, Wang X, Chen W, Zhang J. Long noncoding RNA lnc-POP1-1 upregulated by VN1R5 promotes cisplatin resistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma through interaction with MCM5.  Molecular Therapy, 30:448-467, 2022

Lei H, He A, Jiang Y, Ruan M, Han N. Targeting DNA damage response as a potential therapeutic strategy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.  Frontiers in Oncology, 12:1031944, 2022

Tong T, Qin X, Jiang Y, Guo H, Wang X, Li Y, Xie F, Lu H, Zhai P, Ma H, Zhang J. A novel CREB5/TOP1MT axis confers cisplatin resistance through inhibiting mitochondrial apoptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.  BMC Medicine, 20:231, 2022

Jiang Y, Wu K, Cao W, Xu Q, Wang X, Qin X, Wang X, Li Y, Zhang J, Chen W. Long noncoding RNA KTN1-AS1 promotes head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition by targeting miR-153-3p. Epigenomics, 12: 487-505, 2020

Wu K, Jiang Y, Zhou W, Zhang B, Li Y, Xie F, Zhang J, Wang X, Yan M, Xu Q, Ren Z, Chen W, Cao W. Long noncoding RNA RC3H2 facilitates cell proliferation and invasion by targeting microRNA-101-3p/EZH2 axis in OSCC.  Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids, 20:97-110, 2020. 

Jiang Y, Cao W, Wu K, Qin X, Wang X, Li Y, Yu B, Zhang Z, Wang X, Yan M, Xu Q, Zhang J, Chen W.  LncRNA LINC00460 promotes EMT in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by facilitating peroxiredoxin-1 into the nucleus.  Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, 38:365, 2019

Alison Konopka received her B.S in Chemistry and B.A in Psychology from Lehigh University in 2015. While at Lehigh, her research involved investigating ways to overcome vancomycin resistance by altering the peptidoglycan layer of bacteria and exploring the use of bacteria as vectors to deliver chemotherapy directly to cancer cells. She went on to medical school at Penn State College of Medicine and then Pediatric Residency at Children’s National Hospital in DC. She started her fellowship at Montefiore in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology in 2023 and joined the Zang lab in July 2024. While in the Zang lab, she is working on novel CAR-T therapy treating pediatric cancers.

Zidong (Andy) Li received his BSc in Biological Resource Science at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, and his MSc in Molecular Biology at the University of Queensland, Australia. He then joined the lab of Dr. Park at Massey University, New Zealand, to study a novel epigenetic protein complex in cancer immune evasion, and earned his PhD in 2023. His PhD project aimed to understand the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms regulating the expression of PD-L1 in cancer cells by exploring unknown chromatin-remodelling complexes (EP400NL associated). In January 2024, he joined Prof. Zang's lab as a postdoctoral fellow, where he is currently working on new immune checkpoints and exploring strategies for improving cancer immunotherapy.

Publications:

Li Z, Kim H, Kim J, Park JH. EP400NL is involved in PD-L1 gene activation by forming a transcriptional coactivator complex. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Gene Regulatory Mechanisms, 1866:194889, 2023

Bai S, Yao Z, Zhu X, Li Z, Jiang Y, Wang R, Wen N. The feasibility and safety of reproductive organ preserving radical cystectomy for elderly female patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a retrospective propensity score-matched study. Urology, 125:138-145, 2019

Bai S, Yao Z, Zhu X, Li Z, Jiang Y, Wang R, Wen N. Risk factors for postoperative cardiovascular morbidity after pheochromocytoma surgery: a large single center retrospective analysis. Endocrine Journal, 66: 165-173, 2019

Bai S, Yao Z, Zhu X, Li Z, Jiang Y, Wang R, Wu B. Comparison of transperitoneal laparoscopic versus open adrenalectomy for large pheochromocytoma: a retrospective propensity score-matched cohort study. International Journal of Surgery, 61:26-32, 2019

Bai S, Yao Z, Zhu X, Li Z, Jiang Y, Wang R, Wu B. Risk factors for postoperative severe morbidity after pheochromocytoma surgery: a single center retrospective analysis of 262 patients. International Journal of Surgery, 60:188-193, 2018

Qingrong obtained her B.M. in Basic Medical Sciences from Sichuan University (China) in 2022, where she focused on macrophage polarization in inflammation under Dr. Jingyu Li and studied endothelial dysfunction in a nonalcoholic steatohepatitis mouse model under the supervision of Dr. Bisen Ding. She then pursued her MRes in Biomedical Research at Imperial College London (United Kingdom) and graduated in 2023. There, she investigated trypanosomes’ adaptation to iron deprivation in Dr. Calvin Tiengwe’s laboratory, and later worked on the translational approach to treat blunt traumatic brain injury in Dr. Robert Dickinson’s laboratory. In August 2024, Qingrong joined the PhD program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and joined the Zang lab, where she is currently exploring novel immune checkpoint pathways.

Publications:

Guo L, Chen S, Liu Q, Ren H, Li Y, Pan J, Luo Y, Cai T, Liu R, Chen J, Wang Y, Wang X, Huang N, Li J.  Glutaredoxin 1 regulates macrophage polarization through mediating glutathionylation of STAT1.   Thoracic Cancer, 11:2966–2974, 2020

Li Z, Li J, Liu L, Deng W, Liu Q, Liu R, Zhang W, He Z, Fan L, Yang Y, Duan Y, Hou H, Wang X, Yang Z, Wang X, Chen S, Wang Y, Huang N, Chen J.  Structural insight into the mechanism of 4-Aminoquinolines selectivity for the alpha2A-Adrenoceptor.   Drug Design, Development and Therapy, 14:2585–2594, 2020

Amit Mishra graduated in Biochemistry (H) from the University of Delhi, India. He was rewarded with fellowship and earned his PhD degree from South Asian University, New Delhi, India. During his PhD tenure, he identified three host proteins that act as restriction factors against Hepatitis B virus, and elucidated the mechanism involved in novel host restriction factor mediated inhibition of HBV replication as well as the counteraction mechanism employed by the virus to overcome the inhibitory host restriction proteins. He was also part of project including metabolic disorder non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. In April 2023, he joined Prof. Zang’s lab and is currently working on novel immune checkpoints and metabolic pathways.

Publications:

Mishra AK, Hossain M, Umar Md, Sata TN, Yadav AK, Zadran S, Sah AK, Ismail Md, Nayak B, Shalimar, Venugopal SK. DDX3-mediated miR-34 expression inhibits autophagy and HBV replication in hepatic cells. Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 30:327-334, 2023

Mishra AK, Hossain M, Sata TN, Yadav AK, Zadran S, Sah AK, Nayak B, Shalimar, Venugopal SK. Hepatitis B virus X protein inhibits the expression of Barrier to autointegration factor1 via upregulating miR-203 expression in hepatic cells. Microbiology Spectrum, 11: e0123522, 2022

Yadav AK, Sata TN, Verma D, Mishra AK, Sah AK, Hossain MM, Pant K, Venugopal SK. Free fatty acid-induced miR-181a-5p stimulates apoptosis by targeting XIAP and Bcl2 in hepatic cells. Life Sciences, 301:120625,  2022

Sharma D, Jain S, Mishra AK, Sharma R, and Tanwar A. Medicinal herbs from Phytoinformatics: An aid for skin burn management,” Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, 23:1436-1448, 2022

Gupta P, Sata TN, Ahamad N, Islam R, Yadav AK, Mishra AK, Nithyananthan S, Thirunavukkarasu C, Sanal MG, Venugopal SK. Augmenter of liver regeneration enhances cell proliferation through the microRNA‐26a/Akt/cyclin D1 pathway in hepatic cells. Hepatology Research, 49:1341-52, 2019 

Gupta P, Sata TN, Yadav AK, Mishra AK, Vats N, Hossain MM, Sanal MG, Venugopal SK. TGF-β induces liver fibrosis via miRNA-181a-mediated down regulation of augmenter of liver regeneration in hepatic stellate cells. PLoS ONE, 14:e0214534, 2019 

Pant K, Mishra AK, Pradhan SM, Nayak B, Das P, Shalimar, Saraya A, Venugopal SK. Butyrate inhibits HBV replication and HBV-induced hepatoma cell proliferation via modulating SIRT-1/Ac-p53 regulatory axis. Molecular Carcinogenesis, 58:524–532, 2019

Marc Pulanco earned his M.S. and B.S. in Biology from California State University Long Beach in 2018 and 2015 respectively. There, he worked in Dr. Deborah A. Fraser’s lab studying the role of complement protein, C1q, of the innate immune system in atherosclerosis. As an undergraduate, he studied the effect of C1q on macrophage foam cell survival and the anti-apoptotic mechanisms involved. For his master, he examined the effect of C1q on lipid metabolism of macrophage foam cells to promote their survival. Marc joined the PhD program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2018 with the intention of studying immunology in any disease to develop novel immunotherapies. He joined the Zang lab in July 2019 and is investigating the therapeutic potential of new immune checkpoint members in urothelial cancer, graft-versus-host disease, and type 1 diabetes.

Publications:

Liu Y, John P, Christin JR, Nishimura CD, Couturier N, Ren X, Galbo P, Wei Y, Pulanco MC, Cui J, Cui W, Bartholdy BA, Zheng D, Lauvau G, Oktay MH,  Zang X, Guo W. A SOX9-B7x axis safeguards dedifferentiated cells from immune surveillance to drive breast cancer progression.    Developmental Cell, 58:2700-2717, 2023

Pulanco MC, Madsen AT, Tanwar A, Corrigoan DT, Zang X. Recent advancements in the B7/CD28 immune checkpoint families: New biology and clinical therapeutic strategies.   Cellular & Molecular Immunology, 20:694-713, 2023

John P, Pulanco MC, Galbo PM, Wei Y, Ohaegbulam KC, Zheng D, Zang X. The immunecheckpoint B7x expands tumor-infiltrating Tregs and promotes resistance to anti-CTLA-4 therapy.   Nature Communications, 13:2506. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30143-8, 2022

Nishimura CD*, Pulanco MC*, Cui W, Lu L, Zang X. PD-L1 and B7-1 cis-interaction: New mechanisms in immune checkpoints and immunotherapies.  Trends in Molecular Medicine, 27:207-219, 2021 (*Co-first author)

Bortz RH, III, Wong AC, Grodus MG, Recht HS, Pulanco MC, Lasso G, Anthony SJ, Mittler E, Jangra RK, Chandran K. A virion-based assay for glycoprotein thermostability reveals keydeterminants of filovirus entry and its inhibition. Journal of Virology, 94:e00336-20, 2020

Pulanco MC, Cosman J, Ho MM, Huynh J, Fing K, Turcu J, Fraser DA. Complement Protein C1q Enhances Macrophage Foam Cell Survival and Efferocytosis. Journal of Immunology, 198: 472-480, 2017

Yunchao Shentu obtained his B.S. in Pharmacy from Sichuan University, China in 2022. While at Sichuan University, he studied regulation mechanism of cardiac hypertrophy under the supervision of Professor Bisen Ding. After graduation, he furthered his research experience by joining the lab of Dr. Dehua Chang at the University of Tokyo, Japan, where he studied the three-dimensional culture of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells. In the autumn of 2023, Yunchao commenced PhD program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and joined the Zang Laboratory in the same year. In the Zang lab he is working on basic biology and translational immunotherapy of new immune pathways.

Publications:

Zhu S, Xuan J, Shentu Y, Kida K, Kobayashi M, Wang W, Ono M, Chang D. Effect of chitin-architected spatiotemporal three-dimensional culture microenvironments on human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells.   Bioactive Materials, 35:291-305, 2024.

Alex completed medical school at the University of Buenos Aires, in Argentina where he also worked as an instructor in immunology, virology, pharmacology and physical diagnosis. He also did basic lab research work studying the cytotoxic effects of NK-cells in endometriosis.  He then moved to the United States and worked at Dr. Warren Pear’s laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania on Notch1 and NF-kappa B in T-cell development. He continued his research at the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied the role of ATM in the phosphorylation of Ku70 in DNA damage response. Later, at the University of California at Davis, he studied the biochemical mechanisms of DNA homologous recombination and showed that RAD52 mediates second 3’-end capture and double Holliday junction formation with Dr. Stephen Kowalczykowski.  He then started his residency in internal medicine at the Caritas Carney Hospital, Tufts University and while in Boston, he performed clinical research in double cord blood transplants at the Massachusetts General Hospital with Dr. Karen Ballen.  Later he joined the University of Illinois at Chicago for his fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology.  He helped design clinical trials using Pembrolizumab and Bevacizumab for renal cell carcinoma with Dr. Arkadiusz Dudek.  He later moved to Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA for an advanced clinical fellowship in Stem Cell Transplant and Cancer Immunotherapies.  He was exposed to multiple CAR-T cell therapies including CART CD19, CART BCMA and the Stanford led CD19/CD22 bispecific CAR-T cells for DLBCL. He then joined Montefiore Center for Cancer Care/Albert Einstein College of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in hematologic malignancies, bone marrow transplant and CAR-T cell therapies.  In the Zang lab, he is studying the role of novel checkpoints in hematologic malignancies as well as their potential connection with distinct mutational profiles and chemotherapy responses to explore new therapeutic opportunities.  His main area of interest is to help with the CAR-T cell lab efforts in hematologic malignancies and to assist in their translational applications in clinical trials.

Publications

Wang H, Sica RA, Kaur G, Galbo PM Jr, Jing Z, Nishimura CD, Ren X, Tanwar A, Etemad-Gilbertson B, Will B, Zheng D, Fooksman D, Zang X.  TMIGD2 is an orchestrator and therapeutic target on human acute myeloid leukemia stem cells.    Nature Communications, 15:11. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43843-6, 2024

Wei Y, Ren X, Galbo PM, Moerdler S, Wang H, Sica RA, Etemad-Gilbertson B, Shi L, Zhu L, TangX, Lin Q, Peng M, Guan F, Zheng D, Chinai JM, Zang X. KIR3DL3-HHLA2 is a human immunosuppressive pathway and a therapeutic target.   Science Immunology, 6:eabf9792, 2021

Acuna-Villaorduna A, Gonzalez-Lugo J, Ye BH, Adrianzen Herrera DA, Sica RA, Shah U, Shah N, Kornblum N, Braunschweig I, Derman O, Mantzaris I, Shastri A, Wang Y, Verma A, Zalta B, Janakiram M.  High prevalence of pulmonary findings in computed tomographies of HTLV-1-infected patients with and without adult-T cell leukemia/lymphoma - implications for staging. Leukemia & Lymphoma. 17:1-5, 2019

Adrianzen Herrera D, Kornblum N, Acuna-Villaorduna A, Sica RA, Shah U, Butler M, Vishnuvardhan N, Shah N, Bachier-Rodriguez L, Derman O, Shastri A, Mantzaris I, Verma AK, Braunschweig I, Janakiram M. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. 25(6):e199-e203, 2019

Adrianzen Herrera D, Kornblum N, Derman O, Bachier-Rodriguez L, Sica RA, Shastri A, Janakiram M, Verma A, Braunschweig I, Mantzaris I.  Outcomes of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation compared with chemotherapy consolidation alone for non-high-risk acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission in a minority-rich Inner-city cohort with limited access to allografts. Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma and Leukemia. 19:516-521, 2019

Nikiforow S, Li S, Snow K, Liney D, Kao GS, Haspel R, Shpall EJ, Glotzbecker B, Sica RA, Armand P, Koreth J, Ho VT, Alyea EP 3rd, Ritz J, Soiffer RJ, Antin JH, Dey B, McAfee S, Chen YB, Spitzer T, Avigan D, Cutler CS, Ballen K. Lack of impact of umbilical cord blood unit processing techniques on clinical outcomes in adult double cord blood transplant recipients. Cytotherapy. 19:272-284, 2017

Sica RA., Jefferson G., Wenig BL, Aakalu V, Chen L, Kolokythas A, Spiotto MT, Patel D, Cuellar S, Domingo G, Feldman LE. Vismodegib as neoadjuvant for orbital recurrent basal cell carcinoma facilitates eye-sparing tumor excision. Anticancer Research Journal. 35: 6695-6704, 2015

Nimonkar AV, Sica RA,  Kowalczykowski SC.  Rad52 promotes second-end DNA capture in double-stranded break repair to form complement-stabilized joint molecules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 106:3077-82, 2009.

Xiaona Sun received her PhD from Wuhan University in 2023. During her PhD, she focused on antiviral innate immunity. She found that the kinase DNA-PK (DNA-dependent protein kinase, DNA-PK) inhibited the cytoplasmic DNA receptor cGAS (cyclic GMP-AMP synthase) enzymatic activity by phosphorylating cGAS, thereby regulating the antiviral innate immune response. In addition, she was also involved in tumor immunity-related research demonstrating that STING (stimulator of interferon genes) inhibited glycolysis by targeting HK2 (Hexokinase II, HK2), thereby reducing the production of lactic acid, inhibiting the acidification of the tumor microenvironment, and promoting tumor immunity. After a brief stint as a postdoctoral fellow at Case Western Reserve University, she joined Prof. Zang's lab as a postdoctoral fellow in March 2014, where she is studying the mechanisms of new immune checkpoint pathways and developing new immunotherapies.

Publications:

Zhang L, Jiang C, Zhong Y, Sun K, Jing H, Song J, Xie J, Zhou Y, Tian M, Zhang C, Sun X, Wang S, Cheng X, Zhang Y, Wei W, Li X, Fu B, Feng P, Wu B, Shu HB, Zhang J. STING is a cell-intrinsic metabolic checkpoint restricting aerobic glycolysis by targeting HK2.     Nature Cell Biology, 25:1208-1222, 2023                                    

Sun X, Liu T, Zhao J, Xia H, Xie J, Guo Y, Zhong L, Li M, Yang Q, Peng C, Rouvet I, Belot A, Shu HB, Feng P, Zhang J.  DNA-PK deficiency potentiates cGAS-mediated antiviral innate immunity.  Nature Communications, 11:6182 doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19941-0, 2020

Ankit Tanwar previously worked as a Post-Doctoral Scientist (2018-2022) with Prof. Stanley at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He was working on Role of Notch Glycosylation in Hematopoiesis. Dr. Tanwar received his Ph.D. degree in Toxicology from the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, New Delhi, India in 2018 followed by his master degree in Toxicology in 2014 and bachelor degree in Biochemistry from Shivaji College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, in 2012. He was a key worker of a team who coined the word "Herbal Informatics", which has been used for the initial screening of emergency-approved drug by DCGI: 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) for combating the COVID-19 situation in India. He is also serving as an Editorial Board and Co-chair of committees (JoLS/SoLS, USA and JoVE, USA, etc). In July 2022, he joined Prof. Zang's Lab and he is co-mentored by Dr. Alex Sica (Department of Oncology) and Prof. Zang (Department of Microbiology & Immunology). He is currently working on the function and mechanism of CAR-T cell therapy  and new immune checkpoints.

Publications:

Wang H, Sica RA, Kaur G, Galbo PM Jr, Jing Z, Nishimura CD, Ren X, Tanwar A, Etemad-Gilbertson B, Will B, Zheng D, Fooksman D, Zang X.    TMIGD2 is an orchestrator and therapeutic target on human acute myeloid leukemia stem cells.     Nature Communications, 15:11. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43843-6, 2024

Liu H, Daylan AEC, Yang J, Tanwar A, Borczuk A, Zhang D, Chau V, Li S, Ge X, Halmos B, Zang X, Cheng H. Aurora kinase A inhibition potentiates platinum and radiation cytotoxicity in non-small cell lung cancer cells and induces expression of alternative immune checkpoints.    Cancers, 16:2805, 2024

Pulanco MC, Madsen AT, Tanwar A, Corrigoan DT, Zang X.    Recent advancements in the B7/CD28 immune checkpoint families: New biology and clinical therapeutic strategies.   Cellular & Molecular Immunology, 20:694-713, 2023

Yulin (John) Wang received his Ph.D. in Immunology in 2022 from QIMR Berghofer Institute and Griffith University, Australia, where he conducted his dissertation under the guidance of Professor Christian Engwerda. His Ph.D. research focused on elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of type I regulatory T cells (Tr1) and Type 1 T helper cells (Th1) during malaria infection. He discovered that STING upregulates Tr1 cells and inhibits Th1 cells through the production of type I interferons. Upon completing his Ph.D., Dr. Wang joined Dr. Siok Tey’s laboratory at the QIMR Institute as a postdoctoral researcher. There, he contributed to the development of CAR-T cells designed for the treatment of B cell lymphomas. Subsequently, he continued his postdoctoral work at Duke University, where he played a pivotal role in establishing a CAR-T cell platform. In August 2024, Dr. Wang joined Professor Zang’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow. In this role, he is developing novel immune cell therapy treating huamn solid tumors, further advancing the field of immunotherapy.

Publications:

Wang Y, De Labastida Rivera F, Edwards CL, Frame TC, Engel JA, Bukali L, Na J, Ng SS, Corvino D, Montes de Oca M, Bunn PT, Soon MS, Andrew D, Loughland JR, Zhang J, Amante FH, Barber BE, McCarthy JS, Lopez JA, Boyle MJ, Engwerda CR.  STING activation promotes autologous type I interferon-dependent development of type 1 regulatory T cells during malaria.    Journal of Clinical Investigation, 133:e169417, 2023

Edwards CL, Ng SS, de Labastida Rivera F, Corvino D, Engel JA, Montes de Oca M, Bukali L, Frame TC, Bunn PT, Chauhan SB, Singh SS, Wang Y, Na J, Amante FH, Loughland JR, Soon MS, Waddell N, Mukhopadhay P, Koufariotis LT, Johnston RL, Lee JS, Kuns R, Zhang P, Boyle MJ, Hill GR, McCarthy JS, Kumar R, Engwerda CR. IL-10-producing Th1 cells possess a distinct molecular signature in malaria.   Journal of Clinical Investigation, 133:e169299, 2023

Edwards CL, Engel JA, de Labastida Rivera F, Ng SS, Corvino D, Montes de Oca M, Frame TC, Chauhan SB, Singh SS, Kumar A, Wang Y, Na J, Mukhopadhyay P, Lee JS, Nylen S, Sundar S, Kumar R, Engwerda CR.  A molecular signature for IL-10-producing Th1 cells in protozoan parasitic diseases.    JCI Insight, 8:e169362, 2023

Ng SS, De Labastida Rivera F, Yan J, Corvino D, Das I, Zhang P, Kuns R, Chauhan SB, Hou J, Li XY, Frame TCM, McEnroe BA, Moore E, Na J, Engel JA, Soon MSF, Singh B, Kueh AJ, Herold MJ, Montes de Oca M, Singh SS, Bunn PT, Aguilera AR, Casey M, Braun M, Ghazanfari N, Wani S, Wang Y, Amante FH, Edwards CL, Haque A, Dougall WC, Singh OP, Baxter AG, Teng MWL, Loukas A, Daly NL, Cloonan N, Degli-Esposti MA, Uzonna J, Heath WR, Bald T, Tey SK, Nakamura K, Hill GR, Kumar R, Sundar S, Smyth MJ, Engwerda CR. The NK cell granule protein NKG7 regulates cytotoxic granule exocytosis and inflammation.   Nature Immunology,  21:1205-1218, 2020

Montes de Oca M, de Labastida Rivera F, Winterford C, Frame TCM, Ng SS, Amante FH, Edwards CL, Bukali L, Wang Y, Uzonna JE, Kuns RD, Zhang P, Kabat A, Klein Geltink RI, Pearce EJ, Hill GR, Engwerda CR.  IL-27 signalling regulates glycolysis in Th1 cells to limit immunopathology during infection.   PLOS Pathogens, 6:e1008994, 2020

Edwards CL, de Oca MM, de Labastida Rivera F, Kumar R, Ng SS, Wang Y, Amante FH, Kometani K, Kurosaki T, Sidwell T, Kallies A, Engwerda CR. The role of BACH2 in T cells in experimental malaria caused by Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi AS.     Frontiers in Immunology, 9:2578, 2018

Bunn PT, Montes de Oca M, Rivera FL, Kumar R, Edwards CL, Faleiro RJ, Ng SS, Sheel M, Wang Y, Amante FH, Haque A, Engwerda CR.     Frontiers in Immunology, 8:1307, 2017

Jaewon Yun received his B.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2021. After graduation, he joined the biotechnology company Lyell Immunopharma in San Francisco. There he worked on Lyell Immunopharma’s proprietary tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte protocol, LYL845, to combat solid tumor cancers. Furthermore, his work on LYL845 helped to optimize the expansion process, allowing for improvement in T-cell stemness and overall reduction in the length of TIL expansion. He is currently a student in the MD program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and joined the Zang lab in December of 2023. In the Zang lab he is working on understanding and targeting new immune checkpoint pathways.

Publications:

Wang S, Wang M, Ichino L, Boone BA, Zhong Z, Papareddy RK, Lin EK, Yun J, Feng S, Jacobsen SE. MBD2 couples DNA methylation to Transposable Element silencing during male gametogenesis.   Nature Plants, 10:13-24, 2024

Boone BA, Ichino L, Wang S, Gardiner J, Yun J, Jami-Alahmadi Y, Sha J, Mendoza CP, Steelman BJ, van Aardenne A, Kira-Lucas S, Trentchev I, Wohlschlegel JA, Jacobsen SE. ACD15, ACD21 and SLN regulate accumulation and mobility of MBD6 to silence genes and transposable elements.  Science Advances, 9: eadi9036, 2023

Ichino L, Picard CL, Yun J, Chotai M, Wang S, Lin EK, Papareddy RK, Xue Y, Jacobsen SE. Single-nucleus RNA-seq reveals that MBD5, MBD6, and SILENZIO maintain silencing in the vegetative cell of developing pollen.   Cell Reports, 41: 111699, 2022

Jiabi Zhang received her M.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Sichuan University in 2018. While at Sichuan University, she mainly focused on exploring the mechanism and intervention of the Th17/ Treg (regulatory T cell) imbalance in the development of organ inflammation in autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. Then, she obtained her M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Utah in 2023. There, she studied diabetes and obesity, investigated bone morphogenetic protein endothelial regulator which is a marker of adipose progenitors and adipocytes and a positive modulator of adipogenesis. In August 2023 she started in the PhD program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and joined the Zang lab. In the Zang lab she is working on the function and mechanisms of novel immune checkpoints.

Publications:

Zhai X, Pu D, Wang R, Zhang J, Lin Y, Wang Y, Zhai N, Peng X, Zhou Q, Li L. Gas6/AXL pathway: immunological landscape and therapeutic potential.  Frontiers in Oncology,  13:1121130, 2023

Zhai X, Wang T, Lin Y, Zhang J, Wang Y, Wang W, Zhou Q, Zhu D. Case report: Complete pathological admission in N3 unresectable locally advanced lung adenocarcinoma with a novel INTS10-ALK and EML4-ALK fusion after neoadjuvant crizotinib.  Frontiers in Oncology, 13:1104910, 2023

Hamilton EM, Rassam W, Yan Y, Singh A, Ng SY, Zhang J,  Lv J, Islam N, Malouf R, Yang L, Millwood IY, Chen Z. Correlates of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in the general adult population of China: systematic review and meta‐analysis.  Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 30:470-488, 2023

Garritson JD, Zhang J, Achenbach A, Ferhat M, Eich E, Stubben CJ, Martinez PL, Ibele AR, Hilgendorf KI, Boudina S. BMPER is a marker of adipose progenitors and adipocytes and a positive modulator of adipogenesis.  Communications Biology, 6:638, 2023

Shan J, Zhang J. Impact of obesity on the efficacy of different biologic agents in inflammatory diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.  Joint Bone Spine, 86:173-183, 2019

Zhang J, Jin H, Xu Y,  Shan J. Rapamycin modulate Treg/Th17 balance via regulating metabolic pathways: A study in mice.  Transplantation Proceedings,  51:2136-2140, 2019

Li HS, Zhou YN, Li L, Li SF, Long, D, Chen XL, Zhang JB, Feng L, Li YP. HIF-1α protects against oxidative stress by directly targeting mitochondria.  Redox Biology, 25:101109, 2019

Zhang J, Shan J, Chen X, Li S, Long D, Li Y. Celastrol mediates Th17 and Treg cell generation via metabolic signaling.  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 497:883-889, 2018

Zezhong (Max) Zhang received his B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2023, where he studied under Professor George Fu Gao at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. During his undergraduate years, he focused on phage display technology, specifically screening antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and monkeypox viruses. After graduation, he continued as a research assistant in Professor Gao's lab from 2023-2024, where he deepened his knowledge of structural biology. His primary work involved using cryo-electron microscopy to analyze the structure of human endogenous retrovirus envelope proteins. In the fall of 2024, he joined the PhD program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and joined the Zang lab. In the Zang lab, he is investigating mechanisms of new immune checkpoint pathways and their applications in immunotherapy.

Publications:

Tong Z, Tong J, Lei W, Xie Y, Cui Y, Jia G, Li S, Zhang Z, Cheng Z, Xing X, Ma H, Deng L, Zhang R, Zhao X, Liu K, Wang Q, Qi J, Huang H, Song R, Su Z, Wu G, Lou J, Gao GF.   Deciphering a reliable synergistic bispecific strategy of rescuing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 escape variants, including BA.2.86, EG.5.1, and JN.1.  Cell Reports, 43: 114338, 2024