Tomas KIRCHHOFF LAB

tumor-host immunity omics

What are the genetic determinants of cancer susceptibility? Which molecular pathways are involved?

How does genetic determination of host immunity contribute to cancer development, progression, and therapy response?

How can these pathways be leveraged for improved precision medicine and development of novel drug therapies?

These are among the key research questions of our lab, which uses high-throughput multi-omics technologies in large patient populations to provide a comprehensive analysis of both somatic and germline genetic alterations associated with cancer outcomes.

The primary goals of our research are to:

Identify novel genetic markers for development of improved strategies predictive of differential cancer outcomes in the immunotherapy setting, including survival, recurrence, treatment response, and toxicity

Define biological mechanisms, controlled by germline genetic factors, contributing to immune control of tumor progression during cancer development or immunotherapy treatment

Leverage the clinical utility of these biomarkers to improve personalized medicine and identify relevant drug targets for novel therapies