Immunotherapies have shown great promise in treating cancer, but their limited effectiveness in solid tumors suggests that key aspects of how tumors interact with the immune system remain poorly understood. One important but underexplored area is the role of tumor-draining lymph nodes (LNs). These lymph nodes not only help regulate immune responses but are also common sites of early cancer spread, making them critical for both understanding and improving cancer treatment. My research focuses on developing new biodevice technologies that can recreate and monitor the complex environment where cancer and immune cells communicate, specifically in bladder tumors with draining LNs. I will design biodevices that allow precise microscale control of fluid flow, structured co-cultures of tumor tissues and draining LNs, and built-in sensors to detect immune suppression in real-time, all within conventional multi-well plate culture systems.
Together, these biodevices will enable to simulate and observe the dynamic processes involved in tumor and immune interactions as they unfold. By better understanding how tumors suppress immune responses and resist therapy, this work could potentially help guide the development of more effective treatments and provide versatile platforms for organ modeling and drug discovery.