Dendritic cell immunology and dendritic cell based immunotherapy of HIV and cancer.

The aim of this project is to combine fundamental insights into the immunobiology of dentritic cells and the development of an optimized dendritic cell-based vaccine for anti-cancer and anti-HIV immunotherapy.
Hereto we will:
- Develop the tools to study the immunobiology of mouse and human dendritic cells and to evaluate the immune responses in preclinical animal models.
- Develop the strategies to optimize the immunogenicity of the cellular vaccine and to interfere with immunosuppressive mechanisms at the tumor microenvironment.
- Further evaluate and extend ongoing phase I-II pilot studies to assess the safety and toxicity of dendritic cell-based vaccination in melanoma patients.
- Further evaluate and extend ongoing phase I-II pilot studies to assess the safety and toxicity of dendritic cell-based vaccination in HIV-1 infected individuals.