The Weinkove Laboratory investigates how the immune system can be trained to fight cancer more effectively. By engineering and redirecting T lymphocytes to recognise cancer cell proteins more effectively, tumours can be safely targeted for destruction.
This research group builds on the work that led to the NZ-first phase I CAR T-cell clinical trial, currently underway at the Malaghan Institute. Specifically, they are investigating the different costimulatory signalling pathways that control the internal workings of CAR T-cells. They aim to identify beneficial aspects of the CAR T-cells that can be enhanced, and to pinpoint any weaknesses for improvement. This will allow the design of even better, safer, and more broadly applicable CAR T-cell therapies for both blood cancers and solid tumours
Dr Rachel Perret
Team Leader
Dr Nathaniel Dasyam
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Patricia Rubio-Reyes
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Andrew Wilson
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Senior Research Officer: Puja Paudel
Research Officer: Felix O'Hagan, Paul Owaci
PhD Students: Danielle Sword
Research areas
- CAR T-cell therapy
- Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell clinical trials
- Development of new CAR T-cell constructs
- Functional and genetic characterisation of CAR T-cells
Research projects
- ENABLE phase 1 CAR T-cell trial (NCT0409513)
- Characterisation of transgene number and sites of CAR T-cells
- Development of CAR T-cell safety switches
Collaborations
Featured articles
New partnership to scale up CAR T-cell cancer treatment in New Zealand
23 September 2021
Building better CAR T-cell technology
3 May 2021
Marsden funding for CAR T-cell research into solid tumours
21 November 2019
Dr Rachel Perret: Back home to take CAR T to the next level
21 February 2020
Featured publications
George P, Dasyam N, Giunti G, Mester B, Bauer E, Andrews B, Perera T, Ostapowicz T, Frampton C, Li P, Ritchie D, Bollard CM, Hermans IF, Weinkove R (2020). Third-generation anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cells incorporating a TLR2 domain for relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma: a phase I clinical trial protocol (ENABLE). BMJ Open.10(2):e034629
Weinkove R, George P, Dasyam N, McLellan AD (2019) Selecting costimulatory domains for chimeric antigen receptors: functional and clinical considerations. Clin Transl Immunology 8(5):e1049
Nouri Y, Weinkove R, Perret R (2021). T-cell intrinsic Toll-like receptor signaling: implications for cancer immunotherapy and CAR T-cells. J Immunother Cancer. 9(11):e003065