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Kristin Anderson

Kristin Anderson

Assistant Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology

Email
[email protected]
Website
https://www.immunology.virginia.edu/Anderson/index.php

Bio & Overview

Research Projects Engineering T cells to overcome suppressive signals in the tumor microenvironment Engineered T cell therapy can effectively kill ovarian cancer cells, but there are still tumor-driven hurdles that T cells must overcome to truly beat ovarian cancer. The goals of the proposed research are to understand precisely how these tumors can block killing by T cells and to develop rational strategies to enhance cancer-killing without causing adverse side effects. Many solid tumors escape T cell therapy using the same obstacles that ovarian cancer employs, so our findings will likely help improve immunotherapies against multiple cancer types. Engineering T cells to overcome metabolic insufficiency in the tumor microenvironment A major limitation of adoptive T cell therapy is the progressive loss of cytotoxic T cell efficacy and survival in the tumor. One contributor to reduced efficacy is insufficient metabolic support for T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Many solid tumors have poor vascularization; combined with the increased metabolic demands of tumor cells, this can lead to local nutrient depletion and hypoxia. Notably, limitation of carbon substrates or oxygen can have profound effects on T cell behavior. Since intratumoral T cells are metabolically active and exist in a nutrient-depleted milieu, we posit that T cells may be constrained by this nutrient limitation. We hypothesize that modulating metabolic pathways active in T cells will increase the anti-tumor efficacy of engineered T cells. Novel pre-clinical models for ovarian cancer research Dr. Anderson previously collaborated with Dr. Venu Pillarisetty and Dr. Elizabeth Swisher to establish an organotypic slice culture system for ovarian cancer that preserves the viability, morphology and immunosuppressive features of the tumor microenvironment for approximately one week. This cutting-edge pre-clinical model provides a valuable opportunity to evaluate the potential efficacy of new therapies in a heterogeneous immune-competent setting, prior to clinical translation. The slice culture system is an improvement over standard cytotoxicity assays, which utilize two-dimensional monolayers of commercially available or primary tumor cell lines that lack many immunosuppressive structures, proteins, and cytokines in the heterogeneous tumor microenvironment. Collaborative projects aim to evaluate cutting-edge therapeutics and combination therapies, including novel immunotherapies, in this robust pre-clinical model.

Academic Information

Department
Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology

Primary Education

  • BS, Biochemistry, University of St. Thomas, 2006
  • PhD, Immunology, University of Minnesota, 2014

Other Affiliations

  • Beirne Carter Center for Immunology
  • MSTP

Research Interests

Engineering cancer-killing T cells to overcome obstacles in solid tumors

Research Disciplines

  • Cancer Biology
  • Experimental Pathology
  • Immunology
  • Microbiology

Research Opportunities

  • Cancer Biology
  • Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy
  • Cellular and Molecular Metabolism
  • Experimental Pathology
  • Immunology

PhD Programs

  • Experimental Pathology
  • Microbiology

Selected Publications

2026

Opportunities to enhance cancer research through advocate-researcher partnerships

Gitto, Sarah B., Hughes, Savannah, Paul, Marcie, Bom, Sadhana, Burchett, Rebecca, Morreale, Brian G., Pannucci, Abbe, Rono, Catherine, Weigel, Christoph, Wolf, Cody L., Williams, James E., Cohn, Wendy, Gibson, Heather M., Dolatshahi, Sepideh, Gupta, Ajay, Rutkowski, Melanie R., Anderson, Kristin G. Cancer Research 2026; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-26-1080

2025

Neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade: a new treatment option for patients with early-stage mismatch repair deficient solid tumors 
Anderson, Kristin G, Ribas, Antoni Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer 2025; 13(8): e013061. DOI: 10.1136/JITC-2025-013061

SITC strategic vision: prevention, premalignant immunity, host and environmental factors 
Stanton, Sasha E, Anderson, Kristin G, Bruno, Tullia C, Capitini, Christian M, Disis, Mary L, McQuade, Jennifer, Radvanyi, Laszlo, Vanpouille-Box, Claire, Wargo, Jennifer, Baines, Kelly J, Hong, Megan M Y, Rajeh, Adnan, Kim, Raymond H, Awadalla, Phillip, Hughes, Lauren K, Maleki Vareki, Saman Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer 2025; 13(3): e010419. DOI: 10.1136/JITC-2024-010419

Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) consensus statement on essential biomarkers for immunotherapy clinical protocols 
Cottrell, Tricia R, Lotze, Michael T, Ali, Alaa, Bifulco, Carlo B, Capitini, Christian M, Chow, Laura Q M, Cillo, Anthony R, Collyar, Deborah, Cope, Leslie, Deutsch, Julie Stein, Dubrovsky, Genia, Gnjatic, Sacha, Goh, Denise, Halabi, Susan, Kohanbash, Gary, Maecker, Holden T, Maleki Vareki, Saman, Mullin, Sarah, Seliger, Barbara, Taube, Janis, Vos, Wim, Yeong, Joe, Anderson, Kristin G, Bruno, Tullia C, Chiuzan, Codruta, Diaz-Padilla, Ivan, Garrett-Mayer, Elizabeth, Glitza Oliva, Isabella C, Grandi, Paola, Hill, Elizabeth G, Hobbs, Brian P, Najjar, Yana G, Pettit Nassi, Phyllis, Simons, Virgil H, Subudhi, Sumit K, Sullivan, Ryan J, Takimoto, Chris H Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer 2025; 13(3): e010928. DOI: 10.1136/JITC-2024-010928

Triple checkpoint blockade of PD-1, Tim-3, and Lag-3 enhances adoptive T cell immunotherapy in a mouse model of ovarian cancer 
Alencar, Gabriel F., Mohamed, Asmaa O., Burnett, Madison G., Jean, Samantha St., Nelson, Anders R., Su, Yapeng, Voillet, Valentin, Bates, Breanna M., Rodgers Suarez, Magdalia, Ruskin, Susan L., Trieu, Lam, Lam, Jennifer L., Bekiranov, Stefan, Gottardo, Raphael, Greenberg, Philip D., Anderson, Kristin G. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2025; 122(39):. DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.2419888122

 

2023

Alvarez-Breckenridge, C., Anderson, K. G., Correia, A. L., Demehri, S., Dinh, H. Q., Dixon, K. O., . . . Williams, M. M. (2023). Lessons for the Next Generation of Scientists from the Second Annual Arthur and Sandra Irving Cancer Immunology Symposium. CANCER IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCH, 11(12), 1571-1577. doi:10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-23-0522

Anderson, K. G., Braun, D. A., Buque, A., Gitto, S. B., Guerriero, J. L., Horton, B., . . . Zhang, F. (2023). Leveraging immune resistance archetypes in solid cancer to inform next-generation anticancer therapies. JOURNAL FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CANCER, 11(6). doi:10.1136/jitc-2022-006533

2022

Anderson, K. G., Oda, S. K., Bates, B. M., Burnett, M. G., Suarez, M. R., Ruskin, S. L., & Greenberg, P. D. (2022). Engineering adoptive T cell therapy to co-opt Fas ligand-mediated death signaling in ovarian cancer enhances therapeutic efficacy. JOURNAL FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CANCER, 10(3). doi:10.1136/jitc-2021-003959

Su, Y., Yuan, D., Chen, D. G., Ng, R. H., Wang, K., Choi, J., . . . Heath, J. R. (2022). Multiple early factors anticipate post-acute COVID-19 sequelae. CELL, 185(5), 881-+. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.01.014

2021

Marron, T. U., Ryan, A. E., Reddy, S. M., Kaczanowska, S., Younis, R. H., Thakkar, D., . . . Guerriero, J. L. (2021). Considerations for treatment duration in responders to immune checkpoint inhibitors. JOURNAL FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CANCER, 9(3). doi:10.1136/jitc-2020-001901

2020

Morse, C. B., Voillet, V., Bates, B. M., Chiu, E. Y., Garcia, N. M., Gottardo, R., . . . Anderson, K. G. (2021). Development of a clinically relevant ovarian cancer model incorporating surgical cytoreduction to evaluate treatment of micro-metastatic disease. GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY, 160(2), 427-437. doi:10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.11.009

Oda, S. K., Anderson, K. G., Ravikumar, P., Bonson, P., Garcia, N. M., Jenkins, C. M., . . . Greenberg, P. D. (2020). A Fas-4-1BB fusion protein converts a death to a pro-survival signal and enhances T cell therapy. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, 217(12). doi:10.1084/jem.20191166

Manzo, T., Prentice, B. M., Anderson, K. G., Raman, A., Schalck, A., Codreanu, G. S., . . . Nezi, L. (2020). Accumulation of long-chain fatty acids in the tumor microenvironment drives dysfunction in intrapancreatic CD8+ T cells. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, 217(8). doi:10.1084/jem.20191920

2019

Anderson, K. G., Voillet, V., Bates, B. M., Chiu, E. Y., Burnett, M. G., Garcia, N. M., . . . Greenberg, P. D. (2019). Engineered Adoptive T-cell Therapy Prolongs Survival in a Preclinical Model of Advanced-Stage Ovarian Cancer. CANCER IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCH, 7(9), 1412-1425. doi:10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-19-0258

2017

Anderson, K. G., Stromnes, I. M., & Greenberg, P. D. (2017). Obstacles Posed by the Tumor Microenvironment to T cell Activity: A Case for Synergistic Therapies. CANCER CELL, 31(3), 311-325. doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2017.02.008

2016

Thompson, E. A., Beura, L. K., Nelson, C. E., Anderson, K. G., & Vezys, V. (2016). Shortened Intervals during Heterologous Boosting Preserve Memory CD8 T Cell Function but Compromise Longevity. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, 196(7), 3054-3063. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1501797

2014

Beura, L. K., Anderson, K. G., Schenkel, J. M., Locquiao, J. J., Fraser, K. A., Vezys, V., . . . Masopust, D. (2015). Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus persistence promotes effector-like memory differentiation and enhances mucosal T cell distribution. JOURNAL OF LEUKOCYTE BIOLOGY, 97(2), 217-225. doi:10.1189/jlb.1HI0314-154R

James, B. R., Anderson, K. G., Brincks, E. L., Kucaba, T. A., Norian, L. A., Masopust, D., & Griffith, T. S. (2014). CpG-mediated modulation of MDSC contributes to the efficacy of Ad5-TRAIL therapy against renal cell carcinoma. CANCER IMMUNOLOGY IMMUNOTHERAPY, 63(11), 1213-1227. doi:10.1007/s00262-014-1598-8

Anderson, K. G., & Masopust, D. (2014). Editorial: Pulmonary resident memory CD8 T cells: here today, gone tomorrow. JOURNAL OF LEUKOCYTE BIOLOGY, 95(2), 199-201. doi:10.1189/jlb.0913493

Anderson, K. G., Mayer-Barber, K., Sung, H., Beura, L., James, B. R., Taylor, J. J., . . . Masopust, D. (2014). Intravascular staining for discrimination of vascular and tissue leukocytes. NATURE PROTOCOLS, 9(1), 209-222. doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.005

2013

Skon, C. N., Lee, J. -Y., Anderson, K. G., Masopust, D., Hogquist, K. A., & Jameson, S. C. (2013). Transcriptional downregulation of S1pr1 is required for the establishment of resident memory CD8+ T cells. NATURE IMMUNOLOGY, 14(12), 1285-+. doi:10.1038/ni.2745

2012

Anderson, K. G., Sung, H., Skon, C. N., Lefrancois, L., Deisinger, A., Vezys, V., & Masopust, D. (2012). Cutting Edge: Intravascular Staining Redefines Lung CD8 T Cell Responses. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, 189(6), 2702-2706. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1201682