University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus · Microbiology & ImmunologyMeisel Lab
Marlies Meisel · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Research Focus
Dr. Marlies Meisel's lab focuses on understanding how certain gut bacteria affect the immune system's ability to fight cancer, particularly in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The research aims to explore how these bacteria enhance the efficacy of cancer therapies by increasing the activity of T cells that attack tumors. Ultimately, the goal is to identify new approaches that can improve treatment outcomes for cancer patients resistant to current therapies.
immune checkpoint inhibitorsgut microbiometumor immunityT cell functioncancer therapymicrobial metabolitesprecision medicinemelanomaAhR signaling
Research Aims
2AIM 01Investigate how ICI-associated bacteria metabolize dietary tryptophan into AhR ligands that enhance T cell immunity in vitro.
AIM 02Determine if bacterial AhR ligands improve T cell function and ICI efficacy in melanoma models in vivo.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemouse modelsflow cytometryRNA sequencingPCRin vivo studiesmetabolomic profilingtumor immunology techniquesbioinformatics
Output against the department
Publications65bottom 18% of dept.398th of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations4.1kbottom 31% of dept.335th of 486
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.