Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

New technologies from UW-Madison — a global leader in both cancer research and bioengineering innovation — aim to improve the safety, efficiency and efficacy of T cell-based immunotherapies, like CAR T cell therapy.

When implemented, these tools and methods will improve the manufacturing process and produce high-quality, highly effective T cells.

Featured Researchers

Jacques Galipeau
Jacques Galipeau

Jacques Galipeau is an internationally recognized expert in translational development of cell therapies. He is the director of the Program for Advanced Cell Therapy, which develops personalized cell therapies and devices to improve patient outcomes.
Peiman Hematti
Peiman Hematti

Peiman Hematti’s clinical research focuses on the prevention and treatment of post-transplant immunological complications, the development of novel cellular therapies for cancer treatment, and the use of bone marrow stem cells in regenerative medicine. He is the director of the Clinical Hematopoietic Cell Processing Laboratory, the only lab at UW-Madison with the accreditation to manipulate cells more than minimally.
Kris Saha
Kris Saha

Kris Saha specializes in human cell engineering, including CRISPR gene editing and epigenetic reprogramming.
Melissa Skala
Melissa Skala

Melissa Skala develops biomedical optical imaging technologies for cancer research, cell therapy and immunology. These unique photonics-based tools can be leveraged to address a diverse range of clinical problems, from quality control in T cell and stem cell therapies to designing personalized treatment plans for cancer patients and more.
Christian Capitini
Christian Capitini

Christian Capitini utilizes CAR T therapies in his clinical practice, which informs the research developing improved CAR T cell therapies in his lab. These improved CAR T therapies contain novel CAR constructs that recognize various solid tumors.
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Featured technologies

Methods to generate T cells

Effective and Robust Method of T Cell Expansion and Activation
A method for improving the efficiency of T cell manufacturing for CAR T therapies.
Peiman Hematti, Debra Bloom

Quality analysis of cells, including T cells

Method and Device to Screen and Sort Cancer Immunotherapy Cells
Non-invasive, label-free method to detect T cell activation with 97% accuracy.
Melissa Skala, Alexandra Walsh

Algorithms to Classify T Cell Activation by Autofluorescence Imaging
A non-invasive method to detect T cell activation, with applications for quality control of CAR T cell therapies.
Melissa Skala, Anthony Gitter, Zijie Wang, Alexandra Walsh

Module to Integrate Single Cell Autofluorescence Lifetimes with Single-Cell Transcription
Integrates single cell autofluorescence lifetimes with single-cell transcription (scRNA-seq) data.
Melissa Skala, Kayvan Samimi, Darcie Moore

Devices and Methods for Label-Free Sensing of Lymphocyte Activation and Identity
Identifies B cell activation with at least 92% accuracy and NK cell activation with at least 86% accuracy.
Melissa Skala, Rebecca Schmitz, Alexandra Walsh

Systems and Methods for Label-Free Sensing of Neutrophil Activation
Identifies neutrophil activation with 92% accuracy.
Melissa Skala, Rupsa Datta, Alexandra Walsh

Methods for therapeutic use

Senolytic CRISPR CAR T Cells Produced by CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing
A virus-free, CRISPR-Cas mediated method of generating T cells that target senescent cells.
Krishanu Saha, Lauren Sarko

Treatment of Cancers with a Regimen of Targeted Radionuclide Therapy and Dual CAR T Cell Therapy
Targeted radiotherapy raises new antigenic proteins on the tumor cell surface recognized by dual targeting CAR T cells.
Zachary Morris, Christian Capitini, Quaovi Sodji

Methods for immune cloaking

Synthetic Protein for Inducing Immune Tolerance
A fusion protein to suppress local T cell responses, promoting survival of transplanted cells.
Jacques Galipeau, Pradyut Paul

Adhesion Molecule Inhibition for Stem Cell Therapies
Removing cell surface adhesion proteins from stem cells results in cells that evade immune rejection.
Matthew Brown

WARF