Bioinformatics Approaches for Neoantigen Identification and Prioritization

About this Class

In this seminar, Dr. Malachi Griffith will:

• introduce neoantigens, a promising area for cancer immunotherapy and precision medicine.
• describe how immunogenomic and bioinformatic approaches are helping to identify neoantigens and therapeutic modalities to target these abnormal proteins.
• offer insight into tools to support related clinical trial efforts.

Neoantigens are new peptide sequences created from somatic mutations. Loading neoantigens onto major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules allows them to be recognized by immune cells, creating an ideal target for immunotherapy and personalized T-cell therapies. To identify and prioritize neoantigens, we need to be able to correctly predict their expression, processing, presentation, and stability. We also need to accurately determine how well T-cells recognize these peptide MHC complexes, ultimately confirming if a neoantigen induced a therapeutically meaningful immune response. The Data Science Seminar Series presents talks from innovators in the cancer research and informatics communities both within and outside of NCI. Speaker: Dr. Griffith is an associate professor of medicine (oncology) and genetics and assistant director of the McDonnell Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Griffith is a co-chair of the Global Alliance for Genomics & Health’s Variant Interpretation for Cancer Consortium. He has published more than 90 studies, received numerous research awards and honors, and held several large grants from NIH, including a K99/R00 Career Development Award. He has mentored more than 50 bioinformatics trainees, and he served as an instructor for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories and the Canadian Bioinformatics Workshops.