Research
At CDI, we are building the next generation of live cell therapies. We focus on research areas ranging from basic science investigations to pre-clinical and clinical studies.
CDI Projects
Foundational toolkit for cell engineering
Computationally-guided cell design
Immune cell engineering
Engineering multi-cellular systems
Cell therapies for the brain
Translation to the clinic: smart cell therapies
Immune cell engineering
Immune cells are an excellent platform for cell engineering, because they can be removed, genetically modified and re-transplanted. They also have the ability to patrol the body and the potential to migrate to sites of diverse diseases. Many of our engineered systems are being prototyped in T cells for treatment of cancer, autoimmunity, and other diseases.
Foundational toolkit for programming cell function
Cellular decisions are made by regulatory circuits built from molecular components. Inspired by the range of molecular components that have arisen through evolution, we are developing a foundational toolkit of modular parts and circuits optimized for engineering of any type of novel cell behavior. The toolkit includes novel receptors, transcriptional controllers, epigenetic switches, protein expression and decay systems, systems for cytokine production/sensing/consumption, and cell adhesion/trafficking regulators.
Computationally-guided cell design
Any mature engineering field should be amenable to computationally-guided forward design. We are developing computational approaches and platforms for precision cell design, including bioinformatic pipelines to identify target antigen combinations, and multiscale (molecular, cellular, tissue) computational platforms to predictively model complex engineered cell behavior. We area also building sophisticated analysis tools to systematically quantify performance specifications of design, for example metrics to quantify the ability of feedback structures to reject disturbances.
Cell therapies for the brain
Treating diseases of the brain is extremely difficult, and engineered cells that can target the brain and cross the blood brain barrier present a potential platform for development of therapies. Working with collaborators at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neuroscience, we are engineering circuits that can effectively target immune cells to the brain or brain subregions, to deliver therapeutic actions to potentially treat a range of diseases, including brain tumors/metastases, neuroinflammation, and degeneration.
Engineering multi-cellular systems
Living cells rarely act alone. Instead, the cells in our bodies constantly communicate with each other and self-organize into tissues or networks capable of forming complex structures and carrying out complex functions. We are developing tools for engineering multi-cellular communication and interaction to use for designing new tissues or driving developmental and regenerative programs.
Translation to the clinic
A major priority of the CDI is to bring the power of cell engineering to patients. Thus, we are translating our research on engineering cells to a range of diseases, including cancers, autoimmunity, fibrosis, diabetes and neuroinflammation. We are working with a broad range of clinical colleagues to move innovative cell therapies to clinical trials.