PhD, MsCR
Associate Professor, Cell Biology and Physiology
Co-Leader, UNC Lineberger Cancer Cell Biology Research Program
UNC-Chapel Hill
Cancer Cell Biology
Area of Interest
Our lab seeks to make basic mechanistic discoveries at the bench, translating these discoveries to clinical trials for patients with cancer. We study abnormal cell stress signaling, metabolism, and organelle dynamics that occur in immune cells regulated by the hostile tumor microenvironment. We repair these dysregulated processes to create novel therapies for cancer. To undertake this research, we use methods such as spectral flow cytometry, multiplex imaging, confocal imaging, RNA-sequencing, single-cell RNA-sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, Seahorse bioanalysis, metabolomics, and proteomics. We have partnerships with head and neck cancer, melanoma, sarcoma, and metastatic bone disease oncologists.
Our students hail from a range of departments including Cell Biology & Physiology, Microbiology & Immunology, and Pharmacology. Projects range from basic mechanism to translational studies and are shaped by the interests of our laboratory members. We are passionate about exploration of the biology of immune cells in tumors to improve therapies for patients with cancer.
Imaging across the tumor microenvironment reveals that T cells localized to hypoxic regions of tumor experience increased stress signaling that limits antitumor function. Graduate student Coral del Mar Alicea Pauneto discovered a way to inhibit the stress signaling pathway to enhance response to cancer immunotherapy.
3-D reconstruction of T cells reveals that the tumor microenvironment enforces dysregulation of endoplasmic reticulum (green) dynamics in T cells in tumors (TIL). Graduate students Andrew Kennedy and Elizabeth Hunt in collaboration with senior scientist Genevieve Clutton identified a way to repair endoplasmic reticulum dynamics, creating a novel therapeutic target for cancer patients. In preparation, 2025.
News and Stories
Researchers gain insight into why T-cells lose energy in solid tumors
Research by the lab of Jessica Thaxton, PhD, MsCR, and colleagues has unveiled new clues behind T-cell metabolism that could enhance immunotherapies that rely on T-cells to fight cancer.
Why don’t T cells destroy solid tumors during immunotherapy?
Jessica Thaxton, PhD, MsCR, and colleagues found that targeting key proteins that control the T cell response to stress could help researchers develop more potent cancer immunotherapies.
