Carolina Cabalín, Ph.D.

Research

In the Anandasabapathy lab, I will explore how cancer-targeted drugs that stimulate immunity can trigger autoimmune disorders such as the skin condition vitiligo, using mouse models and human samples. Immune-boosting drugs such as checkpoint inhibitors are proving effective at unleashing the power of immune cells to find and eliminate different types of cancers, including melanoma. In melanoma, however, autoimmune conditions such as vitiligo, which causes patches of skin to lose their pigment, are a common side effect, but one that protects against melanoma metastases. The Anandasabapathy lab has found that an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor stimulates a particular subclass of T cells in the skin that induces vitiligo. Now, using a suite of cutting-edge techniques in bioinformatics, and molecular and cellular genetics tools, combined with single-cell sequencing and tissue imaging approaches, I will characterize the impact that anti-PD-1 drugs have on the spatial organization, composition, and molecular profile of skin and immune cells, and evaluate how this can lead to the development of vitiligo. My work will shed light on the complex interaction of skin and immune cells and holds promise for optimizing the anti-cancer properties of immune-boosting therapies such as anti-PD-1 while minimizing autoimmune damage to skin tissue.