The Konig Lab focuses on chimeric T cell- and antibody-based strategies for the treatment of autoimmune rheumatic diseases and cancer. A primary goal of the translational research program is the development of antigen-specific and personalized immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases, with the intent to achieve sustained disease remission and functional cure. The lab further aims to establish precision T cell-targeting therapies for the treatment of various autoimmune diseases. Applying these tools to immuno-oncology, the lab utilizes cellular engineering strategies to augment the cytotoxic killing of solid cancers by the immune system.

Research in the laboratory of Felipe Andrade, M.D., Ph.D., focuses on the mechanisms of systemic autoimmune diseases, particularly as they relate to the role of cytotoxic granule proteases in autoimmunity and viral clearance, mechanisms of autoantigen citrullination and pathways that control immune effector functions in autoimmune diseases. We currently focus on two principal areas: (1) defining the mechanisms that generate citrullinated autoantigens in vivo in rheumatoid arthritis and (2) understanding the pathways that control the activity of the peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) enzymes in human neutrophils.