The Atul Bedi Lab in the Head and Neck cancer research program provides fundamental insights into the molecular determinants and mechanisms by which tumor cells evade death signals entrained by the immune system and anticancer agents. Their recent studies show that tumor-induced immune tolerance limits the in vivo anti-tumor efficacy of tumor-targeted antibodies and that the tumor cell-autonomous expression of transforming growth factor-b (TGF-b) is a key molecular determinant of the de novo or acquired resistance of cancers to EGFR-targeted antibody. Their laboratory has developed novel bi-functional antibody-based strategies to simultaneously counteract immune tolerance in the tumor microenvironment and to enhance the anti-tumor efficacy of targeted antibody therapies for the treatment of cancer.

Research Areas: targeted antibody therapies, transforming growth factor-b, cancer, head and neck cancer, tumor-targeted antibodies