Expanding and Unlocking the Tools of Immunotherapy to Improve Understanding and Treatment for Cancer, Autoimmune Disease and Transplantation

During the past several years tremendous progress has been made in immunotherapy for cancer, autoimmunity, and transplantation. This progress has been fueled by a better understanding of cancer biology and the discovery of appropriate tools to enhance tumor immunity. Many of these exciting approaches are now being evaluated in the clinic. As improvements in cell-based therapies continue to evolve, innovative approaches developed for cancer are being leveraged as promising new ways to treat autoimmunity and transplant. This session will address the utility of genome editing of CAR T cells and spotlight new exciting strategies for cancer. Moreover, the symposium speakers will inform how T cells and NK cells can effectively modulate transplantation rejection. Studies exploring how T regs manipulate tolerance in human autoimmune diseases, such as Type 1 Diabetes, will also be addressed. In summary, our societies will showcase current research demonstrating how cellular therapy can augment or downregulation key immunologic processes and how these changes result in alterations in disease progression.

Learning Objectives:
1) To identify ways to manipulate cellular pathways for immunologic acceptance in transplantation
2) To discuss new and emerging therapies that modulate immunity and enhance responses in transplantation, autoimmune diseases, and cancer
3) To explore mechanisms that reveal how cellular therapy may be working for effective treatment

Organizing Societies
American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI)
And Association of Medical Laboratory Immunologists (AMLI)

Session Chairs:

Barbara Detrick, PhD
The Johns Hopkins University

Elaine Reed, PhD
UCLA

Session Agenda
1:30 PM - 1:35 PM
Introduction
Barbara Detrick, PhD
The Johns Hopkins University

1:35 PM - 2:15 PM
New Frontiers in Autoimmunity: Mechanistic Insight Triggering Autoimmune Diabetes Gleaned from Regulatory T cells and Immune Checkpoint Therapy
Kevan Herold, MD
Departments of Immunobiology and Medicine, Yale University

2:15 PM - 2:55 PM
Are Autologous CAR19 Cell Therapies Eliciting Alloimmune Responses: How Histocompatibility Limit “off the shelf therapies ?”
David Miklos, MD, PhD
Chief BMT and Cell Therapy Program, Stanford University

3:00PM - 3:30 PM
Break

3:30 PM - 4:10 PM
Genome Editing for the Next Frontier in Engineered Cell Therapy: Cancer and Beyond.
Julia Carnevale, MD
Department of Medicine and Gladstone Institute, University of California

4:10 PM - 4:50 PM
Genetic manipulation of NK cells for enhancing NK targeting of cancer cells and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.
Rizwan Romee, MD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School

4:50 PM - 5:00 PM
Final Questions and Closing Remarks
Elaine Reed, PhD
UCLA