Areas of Research

Cancer Immunology (Immuno-Oncology)

Faculty: Ken Harder, Maria Tokuyama , Morgan Roberts

Examines interactions between tumors and the immune system, including immune evasion, tumor microenvironment dynamics, and mechanisms of response or resistance to therapy.

Focus Areas: Tumor microenvironment, immune evasion, checkpoint pathways, therapeutic resistance

Immune Cell Based-Therapies

Faculty: Laura Evgin , Ken Harder

Develops and optimizes engineered immune cells—such as CAR-T cells, CAR-macrophages, and other adoptive cell therapies—to enhance specificity, persistence, and efficacy against disease.

Focus Areas: Chimeric antigen receptors (CAR), monoclonal antibodies, adoptive cell therapy, immune cell engineering

Immune Cell Development and Function

Faculty: Kelly McNagny, Alice Mui, Phillip Domeier, Pauline Johnson, Laura Sly, Simon Wisnovsky

Studies the differentiation, activation, and regulation of immune cells across tissues and disease states, providing a foundation for targeted immunotherapies.

Focus Areas: Immune cell differentiation, signaling pathways, innate and adaptive immunity, functional specialization

Host-Pathogen Interactions

Faculty: Jim Sun, Yossef Av-Gay, Horacio Bach

Explores the dynamic interplay between pathogens and the immune system, including mechanisms of immune detection, evasion, and protective immunity.

Focus Areas: Pathogen sensing, immune evasion, infectious disease, vaccine targets

Lipid Nanoparticles Engineering and RNA Therapeutics

Faculty: Anna Blakney, Pieter Cullis, Ken Harder, Eric Jan , Govind Kaigala

Designs and applies lipid nanoparticle (LNP) platforms for the delivery of nucleic acids, including mRNA, siRNA, gRNA, and circular RNA, enabling precise modulation of gene expression in vivo.

Focus Areas: RNA vaccines, gene editing, in vivo delivery, cell reprogramming

Microbiome and Immune Modulation

Faculty: Carolina Tropini, Lisa Osborne

Investigates how commensal microbial communities influence immune development, homeostasis, and disease susceptibility.

Focus Areas: Microbiome composition, immune regulation, host–microbe interactions, therapeutic modulation

Neuroimmunology

Faculty: Annie Ciernia

Studies the bidirectional communication between the nervous and immune systems in health and disease.

Focus Areas: Neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, immune–brain interactions, neurological disorders

Protein Engineering

Faculty: Yanpu He

Applies rational design and directed evolution to develop and optimize therapeutic proteins—including antibodies, cytokines, and receptors—with enhanced specificity, stability, and function.

Focus Areas: Antibody engineering, cytokine design, receptor optimization, biologics development

Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Engineering

Faculty: Peter Zandstra, Nika Shakiba

Investigates stem cell fate, differentiation, and tissue regeneration, with applications in disease modeling, regenerative medicine, and immune system reconstitution.

(Distinct from immune cell development, this area focuses on pluripotent and multipotent systems and broader regenerative processes.)

Focus Areas: Stem cell differentiation, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, disease modeling

Synthetic Biology

Faculty: Nozumu Yachie, Nika Shakiba

Engineer biological systems and genetic circuits to enable programmable cellular functions, including environmental sensing, logic gating, and controlled

therapeutic responses.

Focus Areas: Genetic circuits, cell programming, biosensors, therapeutic gene networks

Systems and Computational Biology

Faculty: Hongshen Ma , Carolina Tropini

Integrates multi-omics data, mathematical modeling, and machine learning to understand complex biological systems and predict therapeutic outcomes.

Focus Areas: Multi-omics integration, computational modeling, machine learning, precision medicine

Contact Information

General Inquiries:

immuno.therapeutics@ubc.ca

ImmunoE NSERC CREATE Program: immunoengineering.create@ubc.ca

6088 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3