Research Summary
In the Roybal Lab we harness the tools of synthetic and chemical biology to enhance the therapeutic potential of engineered immune cells. We take a comprehensive approach to cellular engineering by developing new synthetic receptors, signal transduction cascades, and cellular response programs to enhance the safety and effectiveness of adoptive cell therapies. We also study the logic of natural cellular signaling systems, and the underlying principles of cellular communication and collective cell behavior during an immune response.
Research Funding
September 30, 2018 - June 30, 2023 - Engineering the Next-generation of Custom Immune Cell Therapies, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: DP2CA239143
September 30, 2018 - June 30, 2023 - Engineering the Next-generation of Custom Immune Cell Therapies, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: DP2CA239143
September 30, 2018 - June 30, 2023 - Engineering the Next-generation of Custom Immune Cell Therapies, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: DP2CA239143
September 30, 2018 - June 30, 2023 - Engineering the Next-generation of Custom Immune Cell Therapies, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: DP2CA239143
Education
Austin College, B.A., 05/2005, Biology
UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Ph.D., 01/2013, Molecular Immunology
Honors & Awards
- 2007
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award, National Institutes of Health - 2011
Eliot Golding’s Award for thesis in Immunology, UT Southwestern Medical Center - 2012
Dean’s Award for Academic and Research Excellence, UT Southwestern Medical Center - 2016
Keynote Address at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Retreat - 2017
Named to first cohort of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators
Selected Publications
- Huang X, Williams JZ, Chang R, Li Z, Burnett CE, Hernandez-Lopez R, Setiady I, Gai E, Patterson DM, Yu W, Roybal KT, Lim WA, Desai TA
DNA scaffolds enable efficient and tunable functionalization of biomaterials for immune cell modulation.
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- Williams JZ, Allen GM, Shah D, Sterin IS, Kim KH, Garcia VP, Shavey GE, Yu W, Puig-Saus C, Tsoi J, Ribas A, Roybal KT, Lim WA
Precise T cell recognition programs designed by transcriptionally linking multiple receptors.
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- Ramkumar P, Abarientos AB, Tian R, Seyler M, Leong JT, Chen M, Choudhry P, Hechler T, Shah N, Wong SW, Martin TG, Wolf JL, Roybal KT, Pahl A, Taunton J, Wiita AP, Kampmann M
CRISPR-based screens uncover determinants of immunotherapy response in multiple myeloma.
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- Landgraf KE, Williams SR, Steiger D, Gebhart D, Lok S, Martin DW, Roybal KT, Kim KC
convertibleCARs: A chimeric antigen receptor system for flexible control of activity and antigen targeting.
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- Roth TL, Li PJ, Blaeschke F, Nies JF, Apathy R, Mowery C, Yu R, Nguyen MLT, Lee Y, Truong A, Hiatt J, Wu D, Nguyen DN, Goodman D, Bluestone JA, Ye CJ, Roybal K, Shifrut E, Marson A
Pooled Knockin Targeting for Genome Engineering of Cellular Immunotherapies.
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- Payal Watchmaker, Joseph Choe, Diego Carrera, Ryan Gilbert, Wei Yu, Kira Downey, Kole Roybal, Wendell Lim, Hideho Okada
IMMU-21. SEQUENTIAL TWO-RECEPTOR PRIMING CAR SYSTEM TO OVERCOME HETEROGENEOUS ANTIGEN EXPRESSION.
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- Hyrenius-Wittsten A, Roybal KT
Paving New Roads for CARs.
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- Azimi CS, Tang Q, Roybal KT, Bluestone JA
NextGen cell-based immunotherapies in cancer and other immune disorders.
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- Pai CS, Huang JT, Lu X, Simons DM, Park C, Chang A, Tamaki W, Liu E, Roybal KT, Seagal J, Chen M, Hagihara K, Wei XX, DuPage M, Kwek SS, Oh DY, Daud A, Tsai KK, Wu C, Zhang L, Fasso M, Sachidanandam R, Jayaprakash A, Lin I, Casbon AJ, Kinsbury GA, Fong L
Clonal Deletion of Tumor-Specific T Cells by Interferon-? Confers Therapeutic Resistance to Combination Immune Checkpoint Blockade.
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- Shalini T. Low-Nam, Jenny JY Lin, Darren B. McAffee, Steven A. Alvarez, Scott D. Hansen, Kole T. Roybal, Jay T. Groves
Beyond the TCR, Antigen Discrimination in T Cells Continues in the LAT:GRB2:SOS Protein Condensate.
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- Poornima Ramkumar, Jaime Leong, Meghan Seyler, Stratton J Georgoulis, Axel Hyrenius Wittsten, Priya Choudhry, Kole Roybal, Arun P Wiita, Martin Kampmann
Identifying Factors in Multiple Myeloma Controlling Response to B-Cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA)-Targeted Immunotherapy Using CRISPR-Based Functional Genomics.
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- Payal Watchmaker, Joseph Choe, Diego Carrera, Kira Downey, Maryam Shahin, Kole Roybal, Wendell Lim, Hideho Okada
IMMU-57. SEQUENTIAL TWO-RECEPTOR PRIMING CAR SYSTEM TO OVERCOME HETEROGENEOUS ANTIGEN EXPRESSION.
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- Roybal KT
Refining cell therapy.
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- Roybal KT, Lim WA
Synthetic Immunology: Hacking Immune Cells to Expand Their Therapeutic Capabilities.
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- Rupp LJ, Schumann K, Roybal KT, Gate RE, Ye CJ, Lim WA, Marson A
CRISPR/Cas9-mediated PD-1 disruption enhances anti-tumor efficacy of human chimeric antigen receptor T cells.
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- Roybal KT, Williams JZ, Morsut L, Rupp LJ, Kolinko I, Choe JH, Walker WJ, McNally KA, Lim WA
Engineering T Cells with Customized Therapeutic Response Programs Using Synthetic Notch Receptors.
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- Roybal KT, Buck TE, Ruan X, Cho BH, Clark DJ, Ambler R, Tunbridge HM, Zhang J, Verkade P, Wülfing C, Murphy RF
Computational spatiotemporal analysis identifies WAVE2 and cofilin as joint regulators of costimulation-mediated T cell actin dynamics.
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- Morsut L, Roybal KT, Xiong X, Gordley RM, Coyle SM, Thomson M, Lim WA
Engineering Customized Cell Sensing and Response Behaviors Using Synthetic Notch Receptors.
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- Roybal KT, Rupp LJ, Morsut L, Walker WJ, McNally KA, Park JS, Lim WA
Precision Tumor Recognition by T Cells With Combinatorial Antigen-Sensing Circuits.
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- C. Wülfing, K.T. Roybal
Cellular Structures Controlling T Cell Signaling in Time and Space.
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