Onyi Onyeador

Program: Immunology

Current advisor: Jeffrey P. Ward, MD, PhD

Undergraduate university: Washington University, 2022

Enrollment year: 2022

Research summary
Dysfunction of Neoantigen Specific T-cells in Lung Tumor Microenvironment

While exhausted CD8+ T-cells retain sufficient cytotoxic function to limit viral replication, it remains less clear to what extent exhausted T-cells in the lung tumor microenvironment retain antitumor effector function. Additionally, the molecular characteristics of exhausted CD4+ T-cells are poorly understood. We will address the hypothesis that neoantigen specific T-cells infiltrating tumor-bearing lungs have reduced proliferative capacity and are dysfunctional for the ability to produce effector cytokines and lyse tumor cells but that these effector functions can be reversed by treatment with a combination of cytotoxic chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Graduate publications
Ramirez CA, Becker-Hapak M, Singhal K, Russler-Germain DA, Frenkel F, Barnell EK, McClain E, Desai S, Schappe T, Onyeador OC, Kudryashova O, Belousov V, Bagaev A, Ocheredko E, Kiwala S, Hundal J, Skidmore ZL, Watkins MP, Mooney TB, Walker J, Krysiak K, Gomez F, Fronick CC, Fulton RS, Schreiber RD, Mehta-Shah N, Cashen AF, Kahl BS, Ataullakhanov R, Bartlett NL, Griffith M, Griffith OL, Fehniger TA. 2024 Neoantigen Landscape Supports Feasibility of Personalized Cancer Vaccine for Follicular Lymphoma. Blood Adv, 8(15):4035-49. PMCID: