Daniel Ram
University of Central Florida, FL·Microbiology & Immunology
The immune system has two halves. The adaptive half, made of B and T cells, remembers past infections, and most immune therapies target it.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Biomedical Engineering
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
natural killer cells
NK cells
MHC class I
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2028
What they work on
- Develop a gold nanoparticle platform that displays chosen peptides on HLA-E, a non-classical MHC class I molecule, to replace stressed cell lines as a reproducible and scalable peptide-presentation method.
- Screen HIV- and SIV-derived peptides on the gold nanoparticle platform to identify those recognized through the NKG2C-HLA-E interaction by adaptive, memory-like natural killer cells.
- Test whether peptide-loaded nanoparticles can stimulate and expand a memory-like NK cell population that specifically recognizes those peptides, addressing current barriers to culturing and expanding NK cells.
- Assess whether the nanoparticle platform can be adapted to present peptides on targets beyond HLA-E for broader immune-therapy design.
More about the research
The innate half acts fast but was long thought to have no memory. Natural killer (NK) cells belong to the innate half and are good at killing cells damaged by viruses. Many viruses and tumors hide from T cells by lowering MHC class I, the surface tag that T cells inspect, but losing that tag makes cells more vulnerable to NK killing. A non-classical version of this tag, HLA-E, is read by a subset of NK cells described as adaptive or memory-like, through a receptor called NKG2C. These NK cells respond to specific short protein fragments, or peptides, displayed on HLA-E, which means they behave somewhat like memory cells.
Why it matters
If NK cells can be expanded against chosen peptides, it could open immune therapies that use the innate immune system rather than only B and T cells. A reproducible, scalable gold nanoparticle platform for peptide display on HLA-E could also make large peptide screens practical, with initial focus on HIV and SIV and possible extension to other viral infections and cancers.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Wayne Yokoyama
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Microbiology & Immunology
Identify the effector mechanisms by which NK cells constrain immune checkpoint therapy in mouse tumor models, using NK cell depletion, NK-deficient mice and transfer of NK cells into tumors.
Jeffrey Miller
University of Minnesota, MN·Microbiology & Immunology
Engineer iPSC-derived NK (iNK) cells with gene edits that improve homing and migration into tumors, tolerance of low oxygen (hypoxia), and survival after transfer into patients with solid tumors.
Peter Chockley
Ohio State University, OH·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Develop monomeric chimeric antigen receptors (single-unit CARs with a stable off state) for natural killer cells, adding immune synapse augmentation, to reduce erratic signaling and improve killing of pediatric solid tumor cells.
The school
University of Central Florida: 15 labs on PI Pages, $285M a year on research, 290 research doctorates a year.
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