Enas Abu-Shah

I obtained my PhD in Nanotechnology from the Technion Institute of Technology (Israel). During my PhD in Dr. Kinneret Keren's lab, I established an in-vitro cell-like system to study the biophysical aspect of cytoskeletal organisation and in particular the process of symmetry breaking in acto-myosin networks [1].

I joined the lab of Prof. Michael Dustin as a joint postdoctoral fellow with Omer Dushek to study immunoregulatory networks using mathematical models. I have established a three-dimensional tissue-like model incorporating TCR engineered human T-cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs) to mimic 3D tissue architecture. Using time-lapse microscopy I follow the interactions between the T-cells and the APCs in the presence and absence of regulatory T-cells. Currently, using this model I am interested in investigating mechanism of inhibition as a function of antigen affinity. This work is in part supported by the Human Frontiers Science Program [2,3]. 

The other line of investigation in the context of immune regulation is trying to understand the immune regulation in human pancreatic cancer. In collaboration with Dr. Shivan Sivakumar, we are using mass cytometry, sequencing and multiplex imaging to characterise the immune landscape of primary treatment-naive tumours with focus on T-cell signatures of activation, dysregulation and suppression.  This work is funded by a UCB-Oxford Research Fellowship. 

References

1. Abu-Shah, E. and K. Keren, Symmetry breaking in reconstituted actin cortices, ed. M. Balasubramanian. Vol. 3. 2014. 
2. HFSP AWARDS 2015, Research Grants 
3. International research project gets high level of funding