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Through immuno-oncology, medical researchers and clinicians are discovering new and innovative ways to use the body’s immune system to fight cancer. Under the direction of Gary Kohanbash, PhD, the Pediatric Neurosurgery ImmunoOncology Laboratory (PNIO) is specifically targeting deadly pediatric central nervous system tumors through the development of novel immuno-oncology approaches.
With more than a decade of experience in translational brain tumor immunology and involvement in numerous clinical trials, the laboratory has a unique expertise and perspective on high- and low-grade gliomas and ependymomas.
It is now known that the body’s immune cells, such as T-cells, can traffic into the central nervous system (CNS) and mediate anti-tumor responses, but special care must be taken in treatment owing to the immune-privileged status of the CNS and delicate brain structures involved. With significant developments in next-generation DNA sequencing, novel antigens and neoantigens targeting pediatric CNS tumors are being identified by the lab.
Researchers in the Pediatric Neurosurgery ImmunoOncology Laboratory are focused on bridging the gaps between bioinformatics, preclinical studies, and patient care. Specific emphasis in the PNIO involve improving peptide vaccine immunotherapy through the following projects:
Principal Investigator gary.kohanbash2@chp.edu Read More>>
Researchers Michal Kurka, MD Itay Raphael, PhD
Post Doctoral Fellows Bo Li, PhD Ambika Parmar, PhD
Research Technicians ReidAnn Sever Chaim Sneiderman
Medical Students Stephen Frederico Ryan Gilbert Zujian Xiong
Research Students Tommy Brower Ria Trivedi Sarah Vincze Gabi Debom, Visiting Scholar
The Kohanbash Lab for the Study of Pediatric Neurosurgery ImmunoOncology UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center, Suite 7128 4401 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15224 412-692-9456
View current news featuring the research, staff, and advancements of the Kohanbash Pediatric Neurosurgery ImmunoOncology Lab at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Richard King Mellon Institute for Pediatric Research.
Gary Kohanbash Discusses Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Fridays with Friedlander webcast hosted by Robert M. Friedlander, MD, chairman of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Neurological Surgery (9/11/2020)
Gary Kohanbash, PhD, Receives Grant from St. Baldrick’s Foundation The ASCO Post (9/25/2017)
Gary Kohanbash, PhD, was awarded a Discovery Grant for innovative research and development from the American Brain Tumor Association for his research project “Theranostic Antibody for Improving Immunotherapy and Immune Monitoring in Glioma.”
Novel EGFRvIII-CAR Transgenic Mice for Rigorous Preclinical Studies in Syngeneic Mice Chuntova P, Hou Y, Naka R, Yamamichi A, Chen T, Goretsky Y, Hatae R, Nejo T, Kohanbash G, Mende AL, Montoya M, Downey KM, Diebold D, Skinner J, Liang HE, Schwer B, Okada H Neuro-Oncology 2022 Feb 1
Treatment of Glioblastoma with Current oHSV Variants Reveals Differences in Efficacy and Immune Cell Recruitment Jackson JW, Hall BL, Marzulli M, Shah VK, Bailey L, Chiocca EA, Goins WF, Kohanbash G, Cohen JB, Glorioso JC Molecular Therapy Oncolytics 2021 Sep 24
Novel Theranostic Agent for PET Imaging and Targeted Radiopharmaceutical Therapy of Tumour-infiltrating Immune Cells in Glioma Foster A, Nigam S, Tatum DS, Raphael I, Xu J, Kumar R, Plakseychuk E, Latoche JD, Vincze S, Li B, Giri R, McCarl LH, Edinger R, Ak M, Peddagangireddy V, Foley LM, Hitchens TK, Colen RR, Pollack IF, Panigrahy A, Magda D, Anderson CJ, Edwards WB, Kohanbash G EBioMedicine 2021 Sep 1
Chitinase-3-like 1 Protein Complexes Modulate Macrophage-mediated Immune Suppression in Glioblastoma Chen A, Jiang Y, Li Z, Wu L, Santiago U, Zou H, Cai C, Sharma V, Guan Y, McCarl LH, Ma J, Wu YL, Michel J, Shi Y, Konnikova L, Amankulor NM, Zinn PO, Kohanbash G, Agnihotri S, Lu S, Lu X, Sun D, Gittes GK, Wang Q, Xiao X, Yimlamai D, Pollack IF, Camacho CJ, Hu B The Journal of Clinical Investigation 2021 Aug 16
TIGIT and PD-1 Immune Checkpoint Pathways Are Associated With Patient Outcome and Anti-Tumor Immunity in Glioblastoma Raphael I, Kumar R, McCarl LH, Shoger K, Wang L, Sandlesh P, Sneiderman CT, Allen J, Zhai S, Campagna ML, Foster A, Bruno TC, Agnihotri S, Hu B, Castro BA, Lieberman FS, Broniscer A, Diaz AA, Amankulor NM, Rajasundaram D, Pollack IF, Kohanbash G Frontiers in Immunology 2021 May
Blocking NHE1 Stimulates Glioma Tumor Immunity by Restoring OXPHOS Function of Myeloid Cells Hasan MN, Luo L, Ding D, Song S, Bhuiyan MIH, Liu R, Foley LM, Guan X, Kohanbash G, Hitchens TK, Castro MG, Zhang Z, Sun D Theranostics 2021, Vol. 11, No. 3
Oncolytic HSV Vectors and Anti-Tumor Immunity Glorioso JC, Cohen JB, Goins WF, Hall B, Jackson JW, Kohanbash G, Amankulor N, Kaur B, Caligiuri MA, Chiocca EA, Holland EC, Quéva C Current Issues in Molecular Biology 2021
Blockade of Cell Volume Regulatory Protein NKCC1 Increases TMZ-Induced Glioma Apoptosis and Reduces Astrogliosis Luo L, Guan X, Begum G, Ding D, Gayden J, Hasan MN, Fiesler VM, Dodelson J, Kohanbash G, Hu B, Amankulor NM, Jia W, Castro MG, Sun B, Sun D Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2020 Jul 1
Preclinical ImmunoPET Imaging of Glioblastoma-Infiltrating Myeloid Cells Using Zirconium-89 Labeled Anti-CD11b Antibody Nigam S, McCarl L, Kumar R, Edinger RS, Kurland BF, Anderson CJ, Panigrahy A, Kohanbash G, Edwards WB Molecular Imaging and Biology 2020 Jun
The Phenotypes of Proliferating Glioblastoma Cells Reside on a Single Axis of Variation Wang L, Babikir H, Müller S, Yagnik G, Shamardani K, Catalan F, Kohanbash G, Alvarado B, Di Lullo E, Kriegstein A, Shah S, Wadhwa H, Chang SM, Phillips JJ, Aghi MK, Diaz AA Cancer Discovery 2019 Dec
Novel and Shared Neoantigen derived from Histone 3 Variant H3.3K27M Mutation for Glioma T Cell Therapy Chheda ZS,Kohanbash G, Okada K, Jahan N, Sidney J, Pecoraro M, Yang X, Carrera DA, Downey KM, Shrivastav S, Liu S, Lin Y, Lagisetti C, Chuntova P, Watchmaker PB, Mueller S, Pollack IF, Rajalingam R, Carcaboso AM, Mann M, Sette A, Garcia KC, Hou Y, Okada H Journal of Experimental Medicine 2018 Jan 2
Single-cell Profiling of Human Gliomas Reveals Macrophage Ontogeny as a Basis for Regional Differences in Macrophage Activation in the Tumor Microenvironment Müller S,Kohanbash G, Liu SJ, Alvarado B, Carrera D, Bhaduri A, Watchmaker PB, Yagnik G, Di Lullo E, Malatesta M, Amankulor NM, Kriegstein AR, Lim DA, Aghi M, Okada H, Diaz A Genome Biology 2017 Dec 20
The Kohanbash Pediatric Neurosurgery ImmunoOncology Lab is looking for talented post-doctoral fellows and graduate students interested in helping us to advance our innovative research programs. Candidates may contact Dr. Kohanbash via email.
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