Antigen presentation in cancer: new tools for the selection and prediction of cancer immunotherapy targets

The project: Antigen presenting cells (APCs) play a crucial role in establishing and maintaining an immune response towards cancer cells. In recent years, immunotherapeutic approaches that direct immune cells to identify and kill cancer cells have been developed. Being able to predict which ligands are presented to the immune system will greatly enhance current immunotherapeutic efforts and enable a truly personalized approach to treating cancer; depending not only on cancer tissue but also on immune cells present in the tumor microenvironment. However as different APCs and sub-populations are present in different tumors dependent on the tumor-type and stage we will need to expand our knowledge of APC sub-population specific ligand presentation to be able to build a reliable prediction tool to be used in relation to cancer treatment. Purcell Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry & Infection and Immunity Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute is located at the Clayton Campus, Monash University, Australia. The laboratory uses state-of-the-art biochemical and immunological approaches to identify targets of immunity across a broad array of human diseases and disorders. For more details on the research themes, fellowships awarded and publication outputs visit http://www.med.monash.edu.au/biochem/labs/purcell/: Applicants should hold a First class BSc (Hons) or MSc (Research) in Biochemistry or Immunology. Experience in a mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, cancer biology and/or mammalian cell culture would be an advantage. A generous Industry funded stipend is offered which includes travel funding to visit Evaxion.