Coukos lab
Our group focuses on engineering T cells that are associated with immune rejection in cancer. We use systems biology approaches to study the molecular states of T cells that are associated with immune deregulation or attack, either in the steady state or after T cell therapy. Departing from previous knowledge, we are also designing new synthetic T cell states, with the goals of overcoming tumor immune resistance and T cell deregulation. Learning from these lessons, we engineer T cells capable of superior performance and then re-infuse them into patients. We are also studying how certain components of the tumor microenvironment, such as regulatory T cells and blood vessels, can suppress immune responses but also be therapeutically manipulated to enhance the antitumor functions of the infused T cells. We are bringing our novel T cell technologies to the bedside in collaboration with other groups at CHUV and the Ludwig Institute. ...
Research projects
Prof. George Coukos established and directs the Human Integrated Tumor Immunology Discovery Engine (Hi-TIDe) and the Center for Excellence in Cell Therapy, which are focused on developing and testing curative T cell therapies for solid tumors.
Latest publications
The science of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL): perspectives from the SITC Surgery Committee.
Coukos G, Donia M, Gastman BR, (...), Wagner PL, Yang JC, Lotze MT
Journal for immunotherapy of cancer – 2025 Nov 29
Multi-modal image analysis for large-scale cancer tissue studies within IMMUcan.
Eling N, Dorier J, Rusakiewicz S, (...), Bodenmiller B, Tissot S, Schulz D
Cell reports methods – 2025 Sep 3
Immune correlates and mechanisms of TIL therapy efficacy: current insights and knowledge gaps.
Navarro Rodrigo B, Ortiz Miranda Y, Corria-Osorio J, Coukos G, Harari A
Trends in cancer – 2025 Aug 29
Myeloid cell networks govern re-establishment of original immune landscapes in recurrent ovarian cancer.
Ghisoni E, Benedetti F, Minasyan A, (...), Fotopoulou C, Conejo-Garcia JR, Laniti DD
Cancer cell – 2025 Jul 22
Myeloid cell networks govern re-establishment of original immune landscapes in recurrent ovarian cancer.
Ghisoni E, Benedetti F, Minasyan A, (...), Fotopoulou C, Conejo-Garcia JR, Laniti DD
Cancer cell – 2025 Jul 22
Tumour-associated vasculature in T cell homing and immunity: opportunities for cancer therapy.
Lanitis E, Irving M, Coukos G
Nature reviews. Immunology – 2025 Jun 27
Engineered CD4 TCR T cells with conserved high-affinity TCRs targeting NY-ESO-1 for advanced cellular therapies in cancer.
Saillard M, Cenerenti M, Reichenbach P, (...), Coukos G, Romero P, Jandus C
Science advances – 2025 Jun 27
Team
George Coukos
Full Professor, Director of Hi-TIDe - Human integrated tumor immunology discovery engine, Head of the Department of Fundamental Oncology, UNIL, Director of Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne Co-director, Swiss Cancer Center Leman
CoukosLabPrincipal investigators
Angel De Jesus Corria Osorio
Associate Director, Responsible for Synthetic T-cell Biology and Engineering, UNIL
Other members
Selected Publications
Age-associated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide decline drives CAR-T cell failure
Hope HC, de Sostoa J, Ginefra, (...), Coukos G, Migliorini D, Vannini N
Nature Cancer – 2025 May 20
Activation of the transcription factor NFAT5 in the tumor microenvironment enforces CD8(+) T cell exhaustion.
Tillé L, Cropp D, Charmoy M, (...), Carmona SJ, Held W, Verdeil G
Nature immunology – 2023 Sep 14
Orthogonal cytokine engineering enables novel synthetic effector states escaping canonical exhaustion in tumor-rejecting CD8(+) T cells.
Corria-Osorio J, Carmona SJ, Stefanidis E, (...), Luther SA, Irving M, Coukos G
Nature immunology – 2023 Apr 20
Machine learning predictions of MHC-II specificities reveal alternative binding mode of class II epitopes.
Racle J, Guillaume P, Schmidt J, (...), Bassani-Sternberg M, Harari A, Gfeller D
Immunity – 2023 Mar 30
Patient-reported outcomes in adoptive cell-therapy trials: mind the gap.
Ghisoni E, Morotti M, Colomer-Lahiguera S, (...), Coukos G, Trueb L, Di Maio M
Journal for immunotherapy of cancer – 2022 Dec 18
A roadmap for driving CAR T cells toward the oncogenic immunopeptidome.
Irving M, Zoete V, Bassani-Sternberg M, Coukos G
Cancer cell – 2022 Jan 10
Sensitive identification of neoantigens and cognate TCRs in human solid tumors.
Arnaud M, Chiffelle J, Genolet R, (...), Bobisse S, Coukos G, Harari A
Nature biotechnology – 2021 Nov 15
Low-Dose Radiotherapy Reverses Tumor Immune Desertification and Resistance to Immunotherapy.
Herrera FG, Ronet C, Ochoa de Olza M, (...), Dangaj Laniti D, Irving M, Coukos G
Cancer discovery – 2021 Sep 3
Turning up the heat on non-immunoreactive tumours: opportunities for clinical development.
Ochoa de Olza M, Navarro Rodrigo B, Zimmermann S, Coukos G
The Lancet. Oncology – 2020 Sep
Immunotherapy in Ovarian Cancer: Are We There Yet?
Kandalaft LE, Odunsi K, Coukos G
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology – 2019 Aug 12
Rational combinations of immunotherapy with radiotherapy in ovarian cancer.
Herrera FG, Irving M, Kandalaft LE, Coukos G
The Lancet. Oncology – 2019 Jul 29
Mechanisms regulating T-cell infiltration and activity in solid tumors.
Lanitis E, Dangaj D, Irving M, Coukos G
Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology – 2017 Dec 1
The Human Vaccines Project: A roadmap for cancer vaccine development.
Romero P, Banchereau J, Bhardwaj N, (...), Van den Eynde B, Koff W, Coukos G
Science translational medicine – 2016 Apr 13
T-cell and NK-cell infiltration into solid tumors: a key limiting factor for efficacious cancer immunotherapy.
Melero I, Rouzaut A, Motz GT, Coukos G
Cancer discovery – 2014 May
Tumor endothelium FasL establishes a selective immune barrier promoting tolerance in tumors.
Motz GT, Santoro SP, Wang LP, (...), Feldman MD, Benencia F, Coukos G
Nature medicine – 2014 May 4
Therapeutic PD-1 pathway blockade augments with other modalities of immunotherapy T-cell function to prevent immune decline in ovarian cancer.
Duraiswamy J, Freeman GJ, Coukos G
Cancer research – 2013 Aug 23
Cancer immunotherapy comes of age.
Mellman I, Coukos G, Dranoff G
Nature – 2011 Dec 21
Tumour hypoxia promotes tolerance and angiogenesis via CCL28 and T(reg) cells.
Facciabene A, Peng X, Hagemann IS, (...), Lal P, Zhang L, Coukos G
Nature – 2011 Jul 13
Specific recruitment of regulatory T cells in ovarian carcinoma fosters immune privilege and predicts reduced survival.
Curiel TJ, Coukos G, Zou L, (...), Knutson KL, Chen L, Zou W
Nature medicine – 2004 Aug 22
Intratumoral T cells, recurrence, and survival in epithelial ovarian cancer.
Zhang L, Conejo-Garcia JR, Katsaros D, (...), Liebman MN, Rubin SC, Coukos G
The New England journal of medicine – 2003 Jan 16
Related news
Events
AGORA PRS Seminar | June 17th
Events
🌱 Second AGORA Sustainability Day | May 21st
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LabLinks: Tumor immunology and immunotherapy | November 11&12th
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DO UNIL CHUV Research Seminar | October 30th
Events
Ludwig Distinguished Lecture, Prof. Carl June | October 3rd
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DO CHUV UNIL Research Seminar | May 28th
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DO CHUV UNIL Research Seminar | June 5th
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Oncology Grand Rounds, Prof. Aurélien Marabelle | April 19th
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Oncology Grand Rounds, Dr. Manel Juan | January 19th
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AGORA PRS | November 28th
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Ludwig Distinguished Lecture, Dr. Dario Neri | November 1st
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