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Welcome to the Functional Immuno-Imaging Lab
Seeing is believing
BREAKING (LAB) NEWS
acquired resistance to PD-1 blockade. This prediction was validated with just one laser-focused experiment, saving the lab enormous time and resources.
IRVINE, CA, August 2026. The fabulous Rachel Sousa pulled off the unthinkable. Her mathematical model of the tumor immune environment, based on lab data, accurately recapitulated the response of melanoma to anti-PD-1. While discarding many other hypotheses, the model predicted that the continuous Treg influx from lymph nodes is a crucial driver of
Mission
We are devoted to study immune-evasion mechanisms, especially the ones favoring the development of tumors. Our main technological approach combines multiphoton intravital microscopy to functional reporters of biological processes (functional intravital microscopy or F-IVM). Our long-term goal is to devise new forms of immunotherapy through the manipulation of immune-evasion mechanisms.
Impact of checkpoint blockade on tumor-associated T regulatory cells
Checkpoint blockade immunotherapy has provided durable benefits for many patients with metastatic disease, yet many more still do not respond to the treatment. In this line of research we investigate whether checkpoint blockade immunotherapy enhances the function of tumor-associated Treg, which in turn may limit therapeutic efficacy.
Reprogramming of tumor-associated macrophages
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) can oppose or promote tumor growth depending on their propensity to support or dampen inflammation, respectively. This project hinges on new mouse models allowing to map the function of TAM to identify the factors leading to TAM reprogramming towards pro-inflammatory functions in vivo.
