Immunotherapy has been proved to be effective in treating multiple types of solid tumors. However, there is still a subset of patients that does not respond well, and some that experience relapse. Studies of tumors collected from responder and non-responder patients showed that CD8+ T-cell infiltration is a key determinant of immunotherapy efficacy and that tumors having low signatures associated with CD8+ T-cell trafficking also expressed genes associated with immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs).

Ruxandra’s work focuses on reprogramming TAMs by targeting new molecules that mediate immune suppression in solid tumors using mouse models and transcriptomics.