Neural Stem Cells  Principal Investigator: Dwain Morris-Irvin,
PhD, MPH  Dr. Morris-Irvin’s research group focuses on
identifying novel therapeutics for the treatment of brain
tumors.  More specifically, the lab is focused on developing
novel vaccines for the prevention of brain tumors and tumor
recurrence.  The lab focuses on improving the efficacy of
dendritic cell immunotherapy through the use of pharmacological
adjuvants and identifying novel immunotargets for combinatorial
therapies.  Recently, specialized populations of tumor cells,
referred to as cancer stem cells, have been shown to have the
potential to generate tumors and/or provide resistance to common
therapies including chemotherapy and radiation therapy. 
Furthermore, these resistant cancer cells may also provide
resistance to immunotherapy or endogenous anti-tumor immune
responses.  Dr. Morris-Irvin’s lab characterizes these
specialized cancer cells and identifies signaling systems and
proteins used by these specialized cells to impart resistan