“Engineering Immune Cells to Expand their Therapeutic Potential”

The Roybal lab harnesses the tools of synthetic and chemical biology to engineer immune cells for cancer immunotherapy. We take a comprehensive approach to cellular engineering by developing new synthetic receptors, signal transduction cascades, and cellular response programs to enhance the safety and effectiveness of adoptive cell therapies. We also study the logic of natural cellular signaling systems, and the underlying principles of cellular communication and collective cell behavior during an immune response. These interests are complimentary as cell engineering is often informed by knowledge obtained from studying natural mechanisms of cell regulation refined by evolution.