Mooney Lab
Principal Investigator: David J Mooney
Institution: Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Abstract Recent advancements in immunotherapies have demonstrated the potential of antigen-specific patient-derived T cells to combat various diseases, notably cancer. Concurrently, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived technology offers a customizable, potentially limitless source of human T cells for immunotherapies. However, current efforts to generate functional T cells from iPSCs via in vitro selection fall short in achieving efficient T cell production and often produce aberrant T cell phenotypes compared to those educated in the native thymus. While thymic epithelium derived from iPSCs can support T cell differentiation after in vivo transplantation, there has not been success in identifying suitable mesenchymal cells from iPSCs to support thymic epithelium development ex vivo. Additionally, critical T cell education events involve trafficking from thymic cortical to medullary zones during differentiation but reproducing these zones or trafficking dynamics in vitro has not yet been demonstrated. The patterning of cell assemblies in space and time is crucial to tissue and organ development and is likely key to replicating the cortical and medullary thymic tissue sub-ar…
Active NIH Awards
- 1R01CA296990-01A1: Bioprinted 3D vascular cancer model (2026)
- 1R01AI190369-01A1: Human Thymus Engineering (2026)
- 5R01CA276459-04: Viscoelasticity and T Cell Production (2026)
- 1R01CA308075-01A1: Anti-tumor immunity via IL-12 delivery in the tumor microenvironment (2026)
- 5R01CA276459-03: Viscoelasticity and T Cell Production (2025)
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