Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Work in the Mavers lab focuses on immune regulation in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and on developing novel platforms for cellular therapies. HSCT can cure high-risk malignancies and other diseases of the blood and bone marrow, yet success is limited as many patients develop graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a debilitating and potentially fatal complication. We aim to elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying immune tolerance in HSCT, develop approaches to enhance regulatory immune cells for GVHD prevention, and design improved cancer targeting cellular therapies for safer and more effective treatment. Specifically, we are investigating the biology of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, which have particular promise as a therapeutic. Our goal is to use a bench-to-bedside approach to engineer viable cell-based therapies for preventative and curative treatments, thereby making HSCT and cellular therapies safer ways to cure cancer and other blood diseases, giving survivors long, healthy lives.