Cook, Danielle R.
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology
Contact Information
345 Crispell Dr
MR6 G707
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Telephone: 4256918333
Email: daniellecook@virginia.edu
Website: https://www.cooklab-unlocking-tcells.org/
Research Interests
Immuno-Oncology, T cell therapy, TCR Discovery, Next generation cell therapy
Research Description
Our lab is dedicated to overcoming the significant barriers of cell therapies in solid tumors to create and improve new oncology treatments. We focus on three core areas: 1. TCR Discovery: Leveraging our advanced technology, we screen hundreds of TCRs to find collections of tumor-specific TCRs across various cancer types. We aim to discover and utilize a collection of TCRs for a given cancer indication. We have a novel CRISPR/Cas9 editing strategy to facilitate a polyclonal TCR-T therapy. 2. Antigen Identification: Our unique platform pinpoints the precise peptides targeted by tumor-specific TCRs. This facilitates the thorough safety profiling essential for developing effective off-the-shelf TCR-T products. 3. Next-Generation T Cell Edits: We employ high-throughput genetics consisting of CRISPR (KO/a/i), ORFs, and rational synthetic molecules to screen for improved in vivo functionality of T cells, such as persistence and overcoming exhaustion.