Smita K Nair
Professor in SurgeryOverview
I have 22 years of experience in the field of cancer vaccines and immunotherapy and I am an accomplished T cell immunologist. Laboratory website:
https://surgery.duke.edu/immunology-inflammation-immunotherapy-laboratory
Current projects in the Nair Laboratory:
1] Dendritic cell vaccines using tumor-antigen encoding RNA (mRNA, total tumor RNA, amplified tumor mRNA)
2] Local immune receptor modulation using mRNA that encodes for antibodies, receptor-ligands, cytokines, chemokines and toll-like receptors (current target list: CTLA4, GITR, PD1, TIM3, LAG3, OX40 and 41BB)
3] Combination therapies for cancer: cytotoxic therapy (radiation, chemo and oncolytic poliovirus therapy) with dendritic cell-based vaccines and immune checkpoint blockade
4] Adoptive T cell therapy using tumor RNA-transfected dendritic cells to expand tumor-specific T cells ex vivo
5] Adoptive T cell therapy using PSMA CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) RNA-transfected T cells
6] Direct injection of tumor antigen encoding RNA (targeting antigens to dendric cells in vivo using nanoparticles and aptamers)
Positions
Professor in Surgery in the School of Medicine
2021 School of Medicine
Professor in Neurosurgery in the School of Medicine
2020 School of Medicine
Professor in Pathology in the School of Medicine
2020 School of Medicine
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute in the School of Medicine
1993 School of Medicine
Education
Ph.D. 1993
1993 University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Publications, Grants & Awards
DCI Centers, Cancer Types & Labs
Offices & Contact
Durham, NC
27710 Box 103035 Medical Center
Durham, NC
27710