Arber lab
Our overall goal is to develop novel targeted immunotherapies for patients with hematologic malignancies. The group develops adoptive T cell therapies with native or engineered receptors and evaluates combinatorial strategies. The objective is to efficiently target tumor cells, mitigate immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment factors, favor tumor-targeted migration and longevity of transferred T cells, control potential toxicities, identify novel personalized targets, and move developments to the clinic. ...
Research projects
To redirect human T specificity to target hematologic malignancies by genetic engineering (chimeric antigen receptors, transgenic T cell receptors, others)
To develop combinatorial approaches to engineered T cell therapy targeting both the tumor cells and their microenvironment (e.g. engineer tumor-directed migration, resistance to immune inhibitory signals)
To engineer signaling switches in T cells that revert tumor-associated immune inhibitory signals.
To assess tumor microenvironment modulation upon adoptive transfer of engineered T cells, including omics and spatial technologies
To evaluate 3D culture systems to better model the tumor microenvironment in vitro and use them to evaluate transgenic T cell function
To identify immunogenic tumor neo-antigens in patients with hematologic malignancies and to isolate their neo-antigen specific TCRs for personalized medicine applications.
We apply principles from immunology, hematology, cancer and systems biology, use gene transfer and editing technologies to engineer T cells, and collaborate with experts in protein engineering, gene editing, proteomics/ peptidomics, immunomonitoring, bioinformatics, bioengineering, clinical hematology and immuno-oncology.
Latest publications
Development of the fluorescent probe CenSpark for labeling centrioles and cilia.
Pourroy C, Hatzopoulos GN, Reymond L, (...), Grigoriev I, Akhmanova A, Gönczy P
Nature chemical biology – 2026 Apr 15
Unveiling the molecular architecture of T cells and immune synapses with cryo-expansion microscopy.
Lemaître F, Mercey O, Mean I, (...), Guichard P, Hamel V, Wolf B
Cell reports – 2026 Apr 1
Case Report: Transverse myelitis following CAR-T cell therapy for post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.
Desbaillets N, Martín-Quesada AI, Mulvey A, (...), Trueb L, Gentner B, Navarro-Rodrigo B
Frontiers in immunology – 2026 Apr 1
CAR-modified marrow infiltrating lymphocytes efficiently target malignant plasma cells with very low antigen density.
Camviel N, Gambarotto D, Andre V, (...), Gottardo R, Manley S, Arber C
Molecular therapy – 2026 Feb 6
Computational design of synthetic receptors with programmable signalling activity for enhanced cancer T cell therapy.
Rath JA, Rudden LSP, Nouraee N, (...), Chatzi Souleiman A, Barth P, Arber C
Nature biomedical engineering – 2025 Oct 28
Team
Other members
Selected Publications
Development of the fluorescent probe CenSpark for labeling centrioles and cilia.
Pourroy C, Hatzopoulos GN, Reymond L, (...), Grigoriev I, Akhmanova A, Gönczy P
Nature chemical biology – 2026 Apr 15
Unveiling the molecular architecture of T cells and immune synapses with cryo-expansion microscopy.
Lemaître F, Mercey O, Mean I, (...), Guichard P, Hamel V, Wolf B
Cell reports – 2026 Apr 1
CAR-modified marrow infiltrating lymphocytes efficiently target malignant plasma cells with very low antigen density.
Camviel N, Gambarotto D, Andre V, (...), Gottardo R, Manley S, Arber C
Molecular therapy – 2026 Feb 6
Computational design of synthetic receptors with programmable signalling activity for enhanced cancer T cell therapy.
Rath JA, Rudden LSP, Nouraee N, (...), Chatzi Souleiman A, Barth P, Arber C
Nature biomedical engineering – 2025 Oct 28
Enrichment of CD7(+)CXCR3(+) CAR T-cells in infusion products is associated with durable remission in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Bartolini R, Trueb L, Daoudlarian D, (...), Pantaleo G, Arber C, Obeid M
Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology – 2025 Mar 23
Novel strategies to manage CAR-T cell toxicity.
Mulvey A, Trueb L, Coukos G, Arber C
Nature reviews. Drug discovery – 2025 Feb 3
Antibody-peptide conjugates deliver covalent inhibitors blocking oncogenic cathepsins.
Petruzzella A, Bruand M, Santamaria-Martínez A, (...), Arber C, Correia BE, Oricchio E
Nature chemical biology – 2024 May 29
Hematopoietic cell transplantation and cellular therapies in Switzerland. Evolution over 25 years. A report from the stem cell transplantation and cellular therapies working groups of the SBST 1997-2021.
Passweg JR, Baldomero H, Ansari M, (...), Wannesson L, Halter JP, Swiss Blood Stem Cell Transplantation Group (SBST)
Hematological oncology – 2023 Dec 6
Reductive carboxylation epigenetically instructs T cell differentiation.
Jaccard A, Wyss T, Maldonado-Pérez N, (...), Romero P, Ho PC, Wenes M
Nature – 2023 Sep 20
Computational design of dynamic receptor-peptide signaling complexes applied to chemotaxis.
Jefferson RE, Oggier A, Füglistaler A, (...), Villarreal AR, Arber C, Barth P
Nature communications – 2023 May 19
Related news
Events
🌱 Third AGORA Sustainability Day | May 21st
Events
Symposium on Translational Cancer Research | March 9th
Events
International Day of Women and Girls in Science | February 11th
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🌱 Second AGORA Sustainability Day | May 21st
Events
AGORA PRS Seminar | April 29th
Events
LabLinks: Tumor immunology and immunotherapy | November 11&12th
Events
13th Faculty & Staff Annual Retreat, Swiss Cancer Center Leman | September 26 & 27
Events
Ludwig Distinguished Lecture, Prof. Michael Dustin | December 16th
Events