Oregon Health & Science University · BiologyRuhland Lab
Megan K Ruhland · Portland, Oregon
Research Focus
Dr. Megan K Ruhland's lab at Oregon Health & Science University studies how male and female immune systems respond differently to cancer, especially in melanoma. The lab focuses on understanding how androgen receptors in specific immune cells called dendritic cells influence the body's ability to fight tumors. By using innovative mouse models, the team aims to uncover how these differences impact T cell activation and vaccine effectiveness against cancer.
sex differencesimmune responsemelanomaandrogen receptordendritic cellsT cell activationanti-tumor immunitycancer immunotherapygene expressionvaccine efficacy
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate the role of androgen receptor signaling in the function of dendritic cells.
AIM 02Determine how androgen receptors impact the expression of proteins that are critical for T cell activation.
AIM 03Evaluate the potential of AR-deficient dendritic cells in enhancing anti-cancer vaccine efficacy.
Skills the Lab Values
mouse modelscell cultureCRISPR/Cas technologysingle-cell transcriptomicsantigen presentation assaysimmunohistochemistryflow cytometrycytokine analysisgene knock-out techniquesvaccine development
Output against the department
Publications50bottom 12% of dept.910th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations1.8kbottom 12% of dept.910th of 1,033
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.