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Full NameProfessor Clair Marie Gardiner
Biochemistry and Immunology
Trinity College Dublin
Webpage:www.tcd.ie
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- infectious disease and the immune system
- cancer/oncology
- bioengineering/medical devices
- Medicine
- Paediatrics
- Pathology
- Adolescent medicine
- Immunology
- Oncology
We have an active research programme looking at NK cells in human cancers. The goal is to understand how NK cells are dysregulated in patients with cancer and how particular cancers types impact NK cells differently. By understanding the mechanisms of immune dysfunction and the environment in which an NK cell therapeutic product will have to work, we can design NK cells for optimal anti-cancer activities. We currently have research ongoing on melanoma, breast cancer, glioblastoma (GBM), paediatric brain tumours (including DMG), and neuroblastoma. This work is underpinned by studies on how human NK cell metabolism and function are intertwined. With collaborators in the UK, we also have a project on a novel FDA approved treatment for adult GBM - tumour treating fields (TTF) - and are investigating the potential for TTF to synergise with immunotherapy.
Most of the Ph.D. projects in the lab involve a clinical collaborator and lab analysis of Natural Killer (NK) cells from cancer patients using state of the art metabolic assays e.g. QASR, Scenith with flow cytometry. We have two projects in Glioblastoma currently - one in adult and one paediatric. We focus on NK cells which are a key anti-cancer cell of the immune system and a target for immunotherapy. We isolate NK cells from adult tumours and define how the tumour microenvironment impacts on NK cell metabolism and function e.g. nutrient availability and uptake. We also look at circulating NK cells in patients as these (i) reflect systemic dysregulation caused by cancer and (ii) are the source for autologous NK cell therapies. Discovery of a specific defect enables rationale intervention and rescue for therapeutic NK cells. Students are encouraged to present data locally and internationally and the goal is to contribute meaningful, translational data for the rapidly growing field of cellular immunotherapeutics. Publication of high quality research is expected.