SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowship for Felix Bayerl

Felix Bayerl is a post-doctoral fellow in Professor Mikaël Pittet's laboratory in the Translational Research Centre in Onco-haematology (CRTOH) and the Department of Pathology and Immunology at UNIGE Faculty of Medicine. He is the recipient of an exceptional grant from the SNSF to support young researchers. He holds a PhD in molecular immunology from the Technical University of Munich, and is working on the role of CD4 lymphocytes in the anti-tumour immune response.

Cancer immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment, offering new hope for patients. However, many still fail to respond, and understanding the underlying mechanisms of immune responses remains critical. T-cells play a key role in these therapies, with CD8 T-cells being well studied for their ability to kill tumor cells. We now have a profound understanding of how CD8 T-cells are activated in lymph nodes and their restimulation within the tumor microenvironment (TME).

However, little is known about the regulation of CD4 T-cell functionality within tumors. When active, they exhibit direct cytotoxic activity, stimulate myeloid cells, and condition the TME, orchestrating immune reactions both in lymphoid tissue and the tumor itself. However, how these diverse functions are regulated within the TME is not well understood.

This project hypothesizes that successful immunotherapy depends on the intratumoral differentiation of CD4 T-cells into functional effector T-cells within specialized niches in the TME. Investigating this hypothesis is important as it aims to elucidate a fundamental mechanism of anti-tumor immunity occurring within the TME. This understanding also has the potential to guide the development of more effective immunotherapeutic strategies.”

Archives