Research Opportunity at Dr. Liang Deng’s laboratory in the Dermatology Service/Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer center
- Name and location of the lab
- A brief description of the research conducted by the lab
- The nature of the available training position
- Deadline(s) to apply if any
- All relevant contact information: Name, email address, website, etc.
Liang Deng, MD PhD
Rockefeller Research Laboratory Rm RRL 853,
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
430 E. 67th Street
New York, NY 10065
Introduction of the PI:
I am a physician-scientist at the level of Associate Member at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. My clinical expertise is in the area of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, including viral-associated malignancies. My research focuses on virus-host interaction using the vaccinia virus as a model system and the development of poxvirus-based cancer immunotherapeutics. I have been involved in poxvirus research since I was a Ph.D. student when I investigated the molecular mechanisms of vaccinia virus early gene transcription initiation and termination. I have had excellent training in biochemistry and virology during my Ph.D. training. Over the last decade, I have been involved in studying the interface of poxvirus and the immune system, especially in the area of antiviral innate immunity and viral-induced antitumor immunity. Under the support of the NIH K08 award (2007-2011), NIH R56 (2011-2013), NIH R03 (2016-2019), my laboratory has focused on elucidating poxvirus sensing mechanisms and viral immune evasion strategies. The long-term goal of my laboratory is to understand the role of the cytosolic nucleic acid-sensing pathways in host defense and how the vaccinia virus antagonizes these pathways as well as improving poxvirus-based vaccine vectors and cancer immunotherapeutics.
Research Projects:
- The cytosolic nucleic acid-sensing pathways and skin antiviral innate immunity
- Rational engineering of poxviruses for cancer immunotherapy
- Combination of intertumoral delivery of immunogenic viruses with systemic delivery of engineered T cells for cancer immunotherapy
- Skin immune responses to poxvirus-based vaccine vectors and vaccine adjuvants
- Single-cell RNA-seq analyses of human cutaneous viral-associated malignancies
- Vaccinia immune evasion of the cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway
Nature of the available training position: research fellow (post-doctoral fellow), research associate; applicants should have either Ph.D. or M.D. or both degrees.
Deadlines for application: Dec 15, 2021.
Contact: Liang Deng, MD, PhD; dengl@mskcc.org
https://www.mskcc.org/research-areas/labs/liang-deng