Slingluff, Mauldin, and Bullock Lab

Dr. Slingluff’s research focuses on melanoma immunology and cancer vaccine development. His primary research focus in melanoma immunology and cancer vaccine research is includes the development and optimization of melanoma vaccines, in combination with other immune modulators.

Dr. Slingluff’s research program is intensely translational, with basic laboratory analyses of human tissue on one hand and numerous clinical trials of melanoma treatment on the other. He has had continuous NIH-NCI funding for both laboratory studies and human clinical trials since 1992. Dr. Slingluff has a breadth of experience in all aspects of translational and clinical trials research, including 11 active IND applications with the FDA, and technology transfer with licensed patents. He has national leadership roles as co-chair of the Melanoma Committee of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. He has institutional leadership roles in establishing and directing the Human Immune Therapy Center (HITC) since its inception.

As a clinician-investigator, he has developed young investigators in patient-oriented research or research with human tissues, where laboratory and clinical environments are closely interactive.

Dr. Mauldin leads a translational research program centered on evaluating the tumor microenvironment and the immune contexture of cancers with a primary goal of improving immune infiltration of cancers and anti-tumor immune activity. Understanding the immune contexture which includes the composition, activation, and complex interplay of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment, can inform biomarker identification to predict patient outcomes, and immune therapy optimization.

Dr. Mauldin’s research centers on defining features of the tumor microenvironment or the immune contexture that are prognostic of patient outcomes, that predict response to immune therapy, or that may be targeted for modulation in future therapeutic studies to improve immune therapy efficacy. Additionally, the impact of cancer vaccines and other immune therapies depends on the ability of T-cells to infiltrate cancer metastases and function there. Dr. Mauldin’s secondary research focus is centered on evaluating markers and mechanisms associated with improved immune cell infiltration and evaluating treatment agents that can improve T-cell infiltration in cancers. 

Dr. Bullock leads a team of protocol development specialists and provide research support to clinical and research faculty who are developing investigator-initiated clinical trials in oncology. We provide research support across a broad spectrum of solid tumor and hematologic malignancy trials to test novel investigational drugs, biologics, and/or devices for the treatment of cancer.

The Protocol Development Team provides research support in the areas of clinical trial design, development, and implementation, and we have expertise in the following areas:
• Drafting clinical trial protocols and supporting documentation
• Preparing comprehensive clinical trial budgets
• Providing regulatory support (IRB and FDA submissions)
A complete description of the research support services we provide may be found here.

Craig Slingluff, Professor
Ileana Mauldin, Assistant Professor
Kim Bullock, Associate Professor
Jennifer Bryant, Lab Specialist
Walt Olson, Lab Specialist