Tumor-Reactive T cell Discovery in Head and Neck Cancer: From Functional Assay to Spatial Precision with Implications Across Solid Tumors

About Speaker:
Dr. Zenga obtained his undergraduate degree at Cornell University and attended Washington University in Saint Louis where he earned an MD degree and completed an Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery residency. He subsequently completed a fellowship in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, Skullbase Surgery, and Microvascular Reconstruction at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School. His fellowship training focused heavily on both complex free tissue reconstruction and minimally invasive surgery with the use of surgical robots. His research interests include basic and translational immunotherapy in head and neck cancer. In particular, his laboratory focuses on identification and therapeutic use of tumor antigen-specific T cells. This includes multiple innovative single-cell techniques incorporating individual tumor cell-T cell co-culture and single-cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing. In addition to translational immuno-oncology, he also co-leads multiple novel clinical trials focused on using radiotherapy to improve the immune response in head and neck cancer.