News & Events: Designer Cell Therapies

Leonardo M.R. Ferreira, Ph.D., @enhancerleo, postdoctoral scholar in the laboratories of Dr. Qizhi Tang (Department of Surgery) and Dr. Jeffrey Bluestone (Diabetes Center) at UCSF, is changing the way science is taught in Latin America.  Accounting for over 10% of the world's population, Latin America nevertheless contributes less than 5% of the world's scientific publications. In the United States, Latino students are underrepresented in scientific careers. Bolivia is a diverse country with one of the lowest rates of production of scientific knowledge in Latin America.  Science Clubs [...]

UCSF molecular immunologist Leonardo M.R. Ferreira, Ph.D.,@enhancerleo, a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratories of Dr. Qizhi Tang and Dr. Jeffrey Bluestone at UCSF, received a Future of Science Fund Scholarship from the Keystone Symposia on Molecular Biology to attend one of the organization's meetings in Breckenridge, Colorado, on "Uncovering Mechanisms of Immune-Based Therapy in Cancer and Autoimmunity". Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology has a 47-year history of convening open, peer-reviewed conferences that connect the scientific community and accelerate life science [...]

UCSF molecular immunologist Leonardo M.R. Ferreira, Ph.D.,@enhancerleo, a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratories of Dr. Qizhi Tang and Dr. Jeffrey Bluestone at UCSF, has been awarded the 2019 Jeffrey G. Klein Family Diabetes Fellowship to study engineered regulatory T cells (Tregs).  The proposal, titled "Designing next-generation regulatory T cell therapies for type 1 diabetes",supports translational immunology research in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Specifically, Dr. Ferreira will investigate design principles, mechanisms, and associated function of chimeric antigen receptor-modified Tregs [...]

Molecular immunologist and human genome engineer Leonardo M.R. Ferreira, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratories of Dr. Qizhi Tang (Department of Surgery) and Dr. Jeffrey Bluestone (Diabetes Center) at UCSF, was interviewed about his research on the talk show 'Cognitum' on NewTV. 'Cognitum' is a show dedicated to exploring the present and future of science and technology. Over the course of two episodes, Dr. Ferreira expounded his work as a pioneer in the use of genome editing in human blood cells and discussed his current efforts to engineer regulatory T cells (Tregs) as living [...]

Leonardo M.R. Ferreira, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar and molecular immunologist in the Tang Lab and Bluestone Lab at UCSF, received a "Trainee Poster Award" from the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) at the organization's 2018 annual meeting in Austin, Texas. The award is given for first-author abstracts submitted for poster sessions found to be exceptional by the AAI Abstract Programming Chairs. The poster, entitled "Tailoring a New Generation of Chimeric Antigen Receptors for Regulatory T Cells", reported on Dr. Ferreira's research on the design and development of novel chimeric [...]

Molecular immunologist and human genome engineer Leonardo M.R. Ferreira, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratories of Dr. Qizhi Tang (Department of Surgery) and Dr. Jeffrey Bluestone (Diabetes Center) at UCSF, recently gave a captivating talk about his research at the Future of DNA, Blockchain, and Synthetic Biology Symposium on March 7th at Galvanize SF.  The symposium brought together scientists, entrepreneurs, and angel investors to discuss the latest advances in research and opportunities for founders. Dr. Ferreira discussed using genome editing to control the immune response in [...]