My research is dedicated to developing transformative immunotherapies for solid tumors, with particular emphasis on rare, aggressive, and currently incurable malignancies. Since joining University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in 2026, I have established and now lead the inaugural Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET) research laboratory. My primary focus is extra-pulmonary poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma (EP-NEC), a lethal tumor with no effective second-line therapy and a profoundly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that distinguishes it from small cell lung cancer, with which it is often mistakenly grouped.
To address this, my laboratory is engineering next-generation armored CAR T cells directed against surface antigens we have validated on patient-derived EP-NEC cells. Conventional CAR designs against this disease achieve only partial tumor growth inhibition without complete responses; our armored constructs are designed to counteract T cell exhaustion within the EP-NEC microenvironment and to extend CAR T cell persistence. To evaluate these therapies in a clinically relevant setting, I established a first-in-kind EP-NEC xenograft model in humanized NSG mice. University Hospitals has filed a patent on novel immunotherapies targeting neuroendocrine carcinoma arising from this work.
A second major interest of my laboratory is the discovery of therapeutic antibodies and nanobodies against novel cancer targets, developed along two complementary translational paths. In the first, these binders serve as the targeting moiety for CAR-based cell therapies generated directly in the patient: rather than relying on the cost, complexity, and manufacturing delays of ex vivo cell engineering, we are developing lipid nanoparticle (LNP) platforms that deliver RNA to immune cells in vivo, reprogramming them to express chimeric antigen receptors within the body. In the second, the same binders are conjugated to radionuclides for theranostic application, pairing imaging agents that identify patients whose tumors express the target with matched radioligand therapy that delivers cytotoxic radiation selectively to those lesions. Together with ionizable lipid and microfluidic formulation engineering, this work aims to produce scalable, off-the-shelf diagnostic and therapeutic options for rare and refractory solid tumors.
Recognizing that animal models do not fully recapitulate the human tumor microenvironment, I am also developing an ex vivo patient-derived tumor slice culture platform that preserves the intact human EP-NEC microenvironment with its native stromal and immune components. This platform is intended to enable side-by-side testing of immune checkpoint inhibitors, bispecific T cell engagers, and antibody-drug conjugates, benchmarked directly against standard-of-care chemotherapy in human patient tissue.
My path to this work spans drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and cancer cell therapy. I completed my PhD in pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Mississippi as an NIH predoctoral fellow, developing a model of idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury. As a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, I developed bioengineered stem cell coatings that convert passive biomedical devices into active drug delivery systems. I subsequently showed that transplanted GABAergic interneurons reduce absence seizures in a mouse model of epilepsy, and at the National Center for Stem Cell Technology in Saudi Arabia I generated the first human induced pluripotent stem cell line in the Kingdom. At City of Hope from 2017 to 2026, I led the use of tumor-tropic neural stem cells and their exosomes as carriers for oncolytic viruses and oligonucleotide therapeutics, developing three novel chimeric poxvirus constructs targeting small cell lung cancer, neuroblastoma, and neuroendocrine neoplasms, and contributing to CAR-NK cell therapies and an mRNA cancer vaccine. I am co-inventor on three international patent applications covering stem cell and exosome-based delivery of oncolytic viruses.
Looking forward, my goal is to integrate oncolytic virus-derived exosomes, armored CAR-NK cells, mRNA vaccines, in vivo LNP-based cell engineering, and antibody-guided radio theranostics into a cohesive platform for solid tumors. At present I am focused on translating these approaches for EP-NEC patients, with the aim of delivering IND-enabling data to support first-in-human trials. Working closely with my clinical collaborators and research team at University Hospitals, I am committed to bridging laboratory discovery to bedside application for patients who currently have no viable treatment options.