Philadelphia, USA, Apr 03: The Wistar Institute, a global leader in biomedical research across cancer, immunology, and infectious diseases, has announced the appointment of Murad Mamedov, Ph.D., as Assistant Professor in its Center for Advanced Therapeutics.
An accomplished immunologist, Murad Mamedov specializes in immune stress sensing and the role of unconventional gamma-delta T cells in combating cancer and other diseases. His work focuses on unlocking the therapeutic potential of these unique immune cells to drive next-generation cancer treatments.
“We sit at the intersection of early-stage science and advancing promising discoveries into future therapeutics,” said Paul M. Lieberman, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Advanced Therapeutics and Hilary Koprowski, M.D., Endowed Professor. “Murad’s expertise in gamma-delta T cells and genome editing will be crucial in exploring this exciting frontier of cancer immunotherapy.”
Advancing Understanding of Gamma-Delta T Cells
Murad Mamedov brings extensive experience in T cell biology, particularly in studying gamma-delta T cells and how they differ from conventional immune cells such as CD8 “killer” T cells and CD4 “helper” T cells. His research aims to understand how the immune system detects cellular stress in cancer and diseased cells under conditions like nutrient deprivation, radiation exposure, metabolic abnormalities, and viral infections.
Leveraging advanced CRISPR genome-editing platforms, his work will focus on identifying new targets for gamma-delta T cells and engineering these cells to enhance their ability to detect and eliminate tumor cells.
Strong Academic and Research Background
Murad Mamedov earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University under the mentorship of Mark Davis, a pioneer in T cell biology. His doctoral research provided a strong foundation in immunology and expanded understanding of unconventional T cells.
He later completed postdoctoral training at Gladstone Institutes and the University of California San Francisco, working with Alex Marson. During this time, he utilized CRISPR technologies to conduct large-scale genome-wide studies, leading to significant discoveries in how cancer cells are recognized by gamma-delta T cells.
Vision for Future Therapeutics
Reflecting on his research journey, Murad Mamedov said,
“We used T cells as a lens to study a wide range of diseases, from cancer to infectious diseases. By combining my work on unconventional T cells with CRISPR technology, we developed scalable approaches to study the entire human genome in a single experiment—something that would have previously required thousands of experiments.”
He added, “My lab will continue applying these powerful methods to identify new T cell targets and understand how they are activated, with the goal of developing innovative therapies.”
Strengthening Collaborative Research
Murad Mamedov chose The Wistar Institute for its collaborative environment and multidisciplinary focus. “The combination of groundbreaking science in cancer, immunology, and infectious diseases, along with strong opportunities for collaboration in Philadelphia’s scientific community, made Wistar an ideal place to advance this work,” he noted.
