| Prof (Adj) Jean-Pierre Abastado
Adjunct Professor
Division of Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology
School of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Email: JEANPIERRE@ntu.edu.sg
Phone: (+65)63162800
Office: SBS-01n-21 |
| Education |
- PhD Pasteur Institute 1986
- DEA Pasteur Institute 1979
- MMath, Phys, Chem Ecole Polytechnique 1978
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| Biography |
| Jean-Pierre Abastado got his master in Mathematics and Physics from the Ecole Polytechnique (Paris) and his PhD in Immunology from the Paris-6 University. He worked at the Pasteur Institute, the Cochin Institute (Paris) and at NIH (Bethesda, USA). He is Research Director at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. From 1998 to 2005, J.-P. Abastado was Vice-President, Chief Scientific Officer of IDM-Pharma, a Biotech company based in Paris and Irvine (USA) specialized in the development of cell therapies against cancer. He joined the Singapore Immunology Network in June 2006. |
| Research Interests |
Our laboratory is studying the role of tumor immune microenvironment in cancer progression. We are conducting our studies with samples collected from patients with various malignancies and validating our mechanistic hypotheses in unique mouse model of melanoma.
Transcriptome analysis of human tumors has allowed their molecular classification to be refined and has identified gene signatures with prognostic and theragnostic values. This approach has recently been applied to tumor stroma. Interestingly, genes expressed by the tumor stroma and especially by tumor-infiltrating immune cells often constitute a better predictor of tumor aggressiveness than those expressed by the cancer cells. Other studies suggest that the identity, polarization and function of tumor-infiltrating immune cells affect tumor progression, regression, and response to treatment. Therefore a better understanding of the tumor immune milieu is important to design more effective treatments.
We have analyzed the tumor immune milieu of liver cancer, one of the most frequent cancers in Asia and a leading cause of cancer deaths. We have identified a set of immune genes whose expression is highly correlated with patient survival. We are now trying to understand the mechanism by which expression of these genes is correlated to better survival.
We are also analyzing the tumor immune microenvironment in a mouse melanoma model where skin tumors develop spontaneously and then metastasize despite a strong systemic anti-tumor T cell response. Local and organ-specific immunity seems to play an important role in tumor escape. |