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Evan Weber, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Dr. Weber is developing approaches to enhance CAR-T cell therapies for pediatric cancer by reprogramming T cells with improved durability and exhaustion resistance. His work will uncover molecular mechanisms that promote CAR-T cell exhaustion and identify new targets for therapeutic intervention.
Bio
Dr. Weber's research is focused on developing methods to enhance human CAR-T cell therapies for pediatric cancer by endowing T cells with improved durability and exhaustion resistance. His laboratory specializes in modeling and interrogating CAR-T cell exhaustion, a biological process that limits CAR-T cell efficacy in patients. Utilizing an array of pharmacologic, gene-editing, and bioengineering approaches, Dr. Weber and his team are working to identify and modulate transcriptional and epigenetic pathways that redirect human T cells away from exhaustion and towards more therapeutic cell states.
Ongoing work integrates multi-omics analyses on experimental and patient CAR-T cells to identify and link specific epigenetic features to cell phenotype, function, and patient outcomes, thereby informing his lab's T cell engineering efforts. Collectively, Dr. Weber's research will uncover molecular programs that drive human CAR-T cell dysfunction, identify targets for therapeutic intervention, and inform universal strategies that improve CAR-T cell efficacy in cancer patients.
Career achievements (selected):
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Bridge Fellow (2021)
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, Steven A. Rosenberg Scholars Award (2022)
Education and Training
BS, University of Michigan (Environmental Science), 2008
PhD, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Immunology), 2016
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University School of Medicine (CAR-T cell engineering), 2021
Titles and Academic Titles
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Professional Memberships
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer
American Society of Hematology
American Association for Cancer Research
American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy
Professional Awards
American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship (2012)
Stanford Cellular and Molecular Immunobiology T32 Training Grant (2016)
First place award, Immuno-oncology Young Investigators’ Forum (2019)
First-author paper selected by Blood Advances as “Top Influential Article” (2020)
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Bridge Fellow (2021)
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, Steven A. Rosenberg Scholars Award (2022)
Publication Highlights
PubMed:
Science · April, 2021
Cell · April, 2020
Blood Adv · March, 2019
Active Grants/Contracts
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Steven A. Rosenberg Scholar Award, Weber (PI), 2022-2024
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Bridge Fellow Award, Weber (PI), 2021-2024