Dr. MacLean Hall Receives 2023 Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award

Dr. MacLean Hall graduated from the University of South Florida with his PhD in 2023. He conducted his research studies at Moffitt Cancer Center in the lab of Dr. Shari Pilon Thomas. Dr. Hall was selected as one of four recipients of the 2023 Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award at USF. The selection committee was very impressed with Dr. Hall’s research theme and the extent of his professional development. Congratulations!

Summary of the dissertation entitled “Utilizing neoantigen-specific CD4+ T cells and immune checkpoint modulation to advance adoptive cell therapy with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes for metastatic melanoma patients”:

The results of this dissertation have demonstrated that neoantigen-specific CD4+ Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphoctyes (TIL) and combination immune checkpoint modulation each may have therapeutic utility in the setting of Adoptive Cell Therapy (ACT) for metastatic melanoma patients. These studies substantially contribute to the knowledge in the TIL therapy field concerning the ability to shape and enrich for antigen-specific T cells, the breadth and depth of the neoantigen-specific TIL repertoire, and the functional potential and limitations of these TIL.

We find that increased access to therapeutically relevant antigen­ specific T cells, especially CD4+ TIL, has the potential to provide additional clinical benefit, although further work investigating the impact of neoantigen-specific cellular or genomic profiles, antigen expression, and the tumor microenvironment is warranted. Resistance to immunotherapy and in particular ACT is an increasing challenge, although translational studies that include access to patient specimens provide invaluable insight into strategies to overcome these mechanisms.

Overall, the optimal ACT regimen with TIL will likely incorporate multiple advances such as those presented here in order to ultimately provide improved therapeutic efficacy for patients with cancer.