Augusta University · BiochemistryThe Immune Evasion Lab
Yan Cui · Augusta, Georgia
Research Focus
Dr. Yan Cui's research lab focuses on understanding how a specific pathway in the immune system affects head and neck cancers, particularly those that arise due to tobacco and alcohol use. The team studies how certain molecules in the tumor environment, like CD73 and its receptor A2BR, help tumors evade the immune system, making them harder to treat. By exploring these interactions, the lab aims to develop new therapies that can enhance immune responses against these aggressive cancers.
head and neck cancerimmunosuppressionCD73immune checkpointadenosinetumor microenvironmentcancer therapyradiotherapyT cell activation
Research Aims
3AIM 01Dissect how the CD73-A2BR pathway regulates the immune landscape in head and neck cancers.
AIM 02Develop effective CD73-adenosine-A2BR immunotherapy regimens in preclinical models.
AIM 03Assess the relationships between myeloid precursor levels and patient outcomes in head and neck cancer.
Skills the Lab Values
cell cultureflow cytometrymouse modelsWestern blotPCRimmunohistochemistryspatial analysisRNA sequencingdata analysis
Output against the department
Publications1,039top 1% of dept.6th of 402
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations255ktop 1% of dept.1st of 402
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.