RTICC Search Committee Candidate Seminar- Or-Yam Revach

Dr. Or-Yam Revach
MGH Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School

"Targeting T cell Dysfunction to Sensitize Tumors to Immunotherapy"

Cancer immunotherapy, based on unleashing the immune system against cancer, has revolutionized the treatment of metastatic malignancies and achieved durable responses in many patients. Despite those advances, immunotherapy resistance develops in roughly half of the patients and is ultimately fatal. A key driver of this resistance is the development of dysfunctional and exhausted CD8⁺ T cells within the tumor microenvironment. Chronic antigen stimulation and a range of suppressive factors, including inhibitory signals, hypoxia, an altered extracellular matrix, and immunomodulatory metabolites, compromise T cell function and limit therapeutic efficacy.

My research focuses on deciphering the mechanisms of T cell exhaustion in response to immunotherapy and developing strategies to restore T cell function. Building from clinical observations, I combined in-depth mechanistic studies with translational approaches using Patient-Derived Organotypic Tumor Spheroids (PDOTS), a clinically relevant ex vivo human tumor model for testing of therapeutic efficacy. This work identified therapeutic avenues to promote effector T cell expansion and function, prevent exhaustion, and ultimately overcome resistance to immunotherapy.

One of the crucial RTICC goals is the recruitment of talented and established faculty from all relevant disciplines who strive to make an impact on cancer research. The RTICC is pleased to host a candidate seminar featuring Dr. Or-Yam Revach, a postdoctoral fellow at MGH Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School. This seminar offers an opportunity for the RTICC community to engage with a prominent researcher in the field, ask questions, and learn more about Dr. Revach’s potential contributions to our mission. We encourage all members of the RTICC to attend and participate in this seminar.

Following the seminar at 12:00-13:00, there will be a Chalk Talk at the 11th floor seminar room, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. The chalk talk is a closed event for Principal Investigators only.