In the DuPage lab, we are focused on breaking down the immunological walls (namely Tregs) that protect cancers from our own immune systems. To examine this interface between our immune systems and cancer, we intersect the fields of cancer biology, immunology, and epigenetics. Our goal is to strengthen our own immune defense mechanisms against our own cancers by establishing a new paradigm for augmenting immune responses against cancer - to uncover and target mechanisms that control T cell programming within the tumor microenvironment. We have already identified key intracellular pathways, both signaling cascades and epigenetic enzymes, that when targeted, selectively reprogram intratumoral Tregulatory cell function to enhance anti-cancer immunity while simultaneously minimizing autoimmune toxicity. Our approach utilizes sophisticated genetic tools to modify T cells and tumor cells in the context of the most advanced pre-clinical cancer models of the human disease. [photo from 2019 lab outing: "breaking down walls"]