Harvard University · EngineeringThe Thymus Forge
David J Mooney · Cambridge, Massachusetts
Research Focus
David J Mooney's lab focuses on engineering human tissues to enhance immunotherapy treatments for cancer and other diseases. They are innovating methods to create a functional human thymus in the lab, which could improve the development of T cells from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Additionally, they are developing 3D cancer models to study immune cell interactions better, paving the way for more effective cancer therapies.
immunotherapyT cell engineering3D bioprintinghuman thymuscancer modelsinduced pluripotent stem cellsimmune cell interactionbiomaterialsT cell differentiationtumor microenvironment
Research Aims
5AIM 01Engineer a functional human thymus using iPSC-derived tissues.
AIM 02Create 3D printed models of cancer to study T cell behavior.
AIM 03Investigate the impact of biomaterial properties on cell differentiation.
AIM 04Evaluate the efficacy of immune cell interactions in tumor models.
AIM 05Develop patient-specific T cells for future clinical immunotherapy applications.
Skills the Lab Values
3D bioprintingcell culturemouse modelsT cell differentiationbiomaterials engineeringimmunological assaysstem cell technologymicroscopymultiplex immunohistochemistryRNA sequencing
Output against the department
Publications1,697top 1% of dept.3rd of 278
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations131ktop 1% of dept.2nd of 278
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.