Despite the success of immune checkpoint blockade, therapeutic efficacy remains limited in "cold" tumors and those with complex immunosuppressive landscapes, such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. The Ho laboratory employs high-dimensional mass cytometry and spatial-omics to characterize the cellular architecture of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Barriers to anti-tumor immunity are highlighted, specifically focusing on the interplay between T-cell exhaustion and suppressive myeloid populations. Ongoing efforts are founded on lessons from prior immunotherapeutic strategies and the identification of PTPN22 as a novel, multi-pronged therapeutic target. The latest work from the Ho laboratory demonstrates that PTPN22 abrogation can simultaneously reprogram myeloid compartments and lower T-cell activation thresholds, effectively converting immune-resistant phenotypes into sensitive ones. |
Dr. Won Jin Ho is a physician-scientist and medical oncologist at Johns Hopkins specializing in hepatobiliary and pancreatic tumor microenvironment research. He earned degrees in bioengineering from UCLA, his MD from Wayne State University, completed internal medicine residency at Case Western Reserve University, and medical oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. He leads an NIH-funded laboratory using high-parameter profiling of clinical biospecimens and mouse models to study mechanisms of immunotherapy response and resistance. His work has been published in Nature, Nature Cancer, Nature Immunology, JCI, and Hepatology, and recognized by AACR, ASCO, Emerson Collective, and the Harrington Discovery Institute. He also serves as Scientific Director of Mass Cytometry and Associate Director of Technology at the Johns Hopkins Convergence Institute. |
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