Kevin Quann, MD, PhD

Summary

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) is one of the oldest and still most powerful forms of immunotherapy, offering curative potential for many high-risk hematologic malignancies that typically respond poorly to chemotherapy alone. In alloSCT, donor T cells can destroy recipient leukemia cells through the therapeutic graft-vs-leukemia (GVL) effect. However, donor T cells can also attack healthy recipient tissues, causing pathological graft-vs-host disease (GVHD). A central goal of my research is to characterize the antigenic drivers of GVL and GVHD, first in preclinical mouse models, then in patient samples, with the aim of enabling engineered allografts that augment GVL yet avoid GVHD. Additionally, I have a growing interest in exploring mechanisms by which high-risk leukemias and lymphomas can circumvent the GVL effects of alloSCT and CAR-T therapy. By better understanding means by which leukemias are able to evade T cell killing, my hope is to develop strategies for sensitizing these cancers to immunotherapy to prevent disease relapse, as this remains a major unmet clinical need.