LIT Scientist receives CIMT Best Poster Award

The Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT) annually organizes the largest and most influential international cancer immunotherapy meeting in Europe.

Meghma Mukherjee’s poster won in the category of “New Targets and New Leads” for her early PhD work investigating tumor-intrinsic immune resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Despite advances in immunotherapy, PDAC remains one of the most treatment-resistant cancers, largely due to its ability to evade immune attack. Meghma has dissected the mode of action of a gene that plays a critical role in driving this immune resistance. Her research has revealed how this gene contributes to tumor immune evasion and has identified it as a promising new therapeutic target. These findings are soon to be published.

Building on this foundation, her PhD project now focuses on reprogramming antigen receptor-engineered T cells to overcome this tumor-intrinsic immune resistance. The aim is to restore their full anti-tumor functionality and enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy in resistant solid Tumors.

About Meghma Mukherjee

Meghma is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the Division of Interventional Immunology, led by Professor Philipp Beckhove. Her academic journey commenced with a Bachelor’s in Biotechnology Engineering from SRMIST, India, followed by a Master’s in Immunology from the University of Bonn, Germany. Following her Bachelor’s degree, Meghma gained valuable experience at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, where she focused on the application of Nanomedicine to target tumor-associated macrophages in cancer. Her current research endeavors focus on reprogramming antigen receptor-engineered T cells to overcome tumor intrinsic immune resistance, presenting promising prospects for the advancement of Cancer Immunotherapy.