The engineering of T-cells using microfluidics for cellular therapies

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Preliminary clinical trials harnessing the immune system of cancer patients to combat disease have shown to have impressive efficacy. Immune cells isolated from a patient are genetically altered to allow for improved detection of cancerous cells and subsequently re-introduced into the patient. Yet despite its promise, rapid and cost effective manufacturing of this therapy remains a barrier to widespread adoption. The goal of this project is to develop lab-on-chip platforms to rapidly engineer and to manufacture immune cells that can be potentially used for cellular therapies. Specifically, the manufacturing process of immune cells will involve three steps - engineering, enrichment, and analysis. The overall microfluidic system for manufacturing is compact and portable and therefore can be brought to hospitals, clinics, or research laboratories where it will help streamline the process of engineering immune cells.To achieve this objective, the Shih lab (Concordia) is closely collaborating with Dr. McComb (University of Ottawa) along with the industrial partner DropGenie. DropGenie is a Montreal-based company accelerating the promise of genetic engineering. They would like to develop a lab-on-a-chip approach in which several laboratory operations have been integrated onto a single handheld device, thus allowing for automated liquid handling and optimization of experimental conditions specific to the genetic engineering of immune cells. Streamlining the process will reduce costs and improve accessibility of the therapy for cancer patients while automation will improve standardization and reproducibility of engineering immune cells for cellular therapies in Canada.