Science @BCRT: Engineering T cell trafficking and intercellular payload exchange
Tim Luetkens work focuses on the development of effective and safe cell- and antibody-based therapies for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Cellular immunotherapies have revolutionized the treatment of cancer and changed academic and industry research paradigms. His Cell Engineering Lab aims to solve some of the key problems faced by these new technologies, such as frequent immune escape and the paucity of suitable target antigens. His team is using state-of-the-art protein and cell engineering approaches, such as CRISPR, label-free kinetics, antibody phage display, and CAR/TCR/synNotch T cell engineering.
About the Speaker
Tim Luetkens is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at University of Maryland and the Director for R&D at the Fannie Angelos Cellular Therapeutics GMP Laboratory. He also leads the Cell Engineering Laboratory, where his research focuses on the development of next-generation CAR T-cell therapies and innovative cellular immunotherapies for cancer. After earning his medical degree from the University of Hamburg, Tim completed postdoctoral research at both the University of Hamburg and the University of Cambridge, laying the foundation for his internationally recognized career in translational immunotherapy.