OUR MISSION
The Office for Collaborative Research (OCR) is the strategic hub for growing and sustaining research in ImmunoX.
Our mission is to build meaningful collaborations between out clinical and research enterprises with the aim of solving complex human health problems. We facilitate setup and management of human-subjects research projects by lowering regulatory and infrastructure barriers and by sharing resources, expertise, and data.
WHAT WE DO
We specialize in accelerating human subjects research by streamlining processes and workflows between the clinic and research laboratories. The OCR integrates and works closely with clinical teams and research laboratories, including the CoLabs, to setup and execute new research projects.
OUR PROJECTS
Projects
Immunoprofiler: Cancer
The immune system is very good at defining subtle differences in our own self and can be a friend or foe to our cells and tissues. Our bodies are “superorganisms,” entire ecosystems of individual cells and microbes that live in and on us in relative harmony. The immune system can be highly destructive, and it will fight for us or against us depending on the information it receives. New cancer immunotherapy drugs aim to give the immune system extra cues which will flip it out of its “permissive” state and license it to destroy cancer. When successful, immunity does all of the work to eliminate the cancer, just as it would if it were eliminating an infectious agent like a virus, bacterium, or other harmful microorganism. Immunoprofiler has nucleated a unique industry-academic partnership to understand the immunological basis for cancer.
Closeout
Immunoprofiler: Autoimmune Diseases
Inspired by the success achieved profiling cancer, the team set out to develop a program that would profile autoimmune samples using a combination of proteomic, transcriptomic, epigenomic, and structural assays. The team utilizes streams of fresh clinical samples, which allows for the prospective collection of matched blood and tissue samples. In addition to collecting highly valuable clinical specimens, this also permits more uniform sample collection and processing, and ensures the ability to conduct cutting edge experimental assays. We anticipate assembling a consortium with at least four partners, enabling coverage of ~1,500 samples from patients with autoimmune diseases.
Execution
Neutrophils in Ovarian Cancer
Our understanding around neutrophils in the tumor microenvironment is very confusing as they are both described as immune suppressors in some cases as well associated with anti-tumor response in some other cases. Moreover, very few things have been done on humans tumor. Ovarian and uterine cancers are rich in neutrophils. Our plan is to get access to tumor specimens to perform initial profiling on intra-tumoral neutrophil populations and understand how these cells relate to the tumor biology.
Sjögren’s Syndrome
Immunoprofiler: Cancer (Fresno, ZSFG, VA)
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