University of California-San Diego · NeuroscienceShaner Lab
Nathan Christopher Shaner · La Jolla, California
Research Focus
Dr. Nathan Shaner’s lab at UC San Diego focuses on developing innovative tools to study CAR T-cell therapies for cancer treatment. They aim to create new bioluminescent and fluorescent sensors that can record calcium signaling in T-cells non-invasively to help researchers understand T-cell function and exhaustion. Through their work, they hope to enhance the safety and effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapies in treating various cancers, especially solid tumors.
CAR T-cell therapycalcium signalingbioluminescent sensorsT-cell exhaustioncancer immunotherapy
Research Aims
5AIM 01Develop non-invasive calcium signaling sensors for CAR T-cells
AIM 02Track T-cell exhaustion in real-time during tumor exposure
AIM 03Improve the specificity and effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapies
AIM 04Enable researchers to benchmark T-cell performance against cancer
AIM 05Assess the therapeutic potential of genetically engineered T-cells.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturefluorescence microscopybioluminescence imagingCRISPR gene editingflow cytometry
Output against the department
Publications89bottom 28% of dept.482nd of 671
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations14ktop 29% of dept.194th of 671
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.