OUR RESEARCH

Chronic diseases like HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and cancers that evade the immune system continue to impact the lives of millions of patients worldwide causing high morbidity and mortality as well as a significant economic burden. It is now evident that in these chronic diseases the development of dysfunctional or exhausted T cells contributes to their disease. It is significant that immune inhibitory pathways in T cells are shared across multiple pathogen types and species including murine, monkeys, and humans. Therapeutic success targeting these inhibitory checkpoints using blocking antibodies can reinvigorate T cells and improve pathogen and tumor control in mice and patients.

These drugs are now standard treatment for cancer, but at present are only effective in a subset of patients, highlighting the need to identify additional inhibitory pathways that can be targeted to improve patient outcomes. We identified a new inhibitory checkpoint that promoted T cell exhaustion during chronic viral infection and during melanoma tumor development. Our long-term goal is to understand the fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms of T cell dysfunction. The rationale is that once we fully understand these inhibitory pathways, we can develop effective therapeutics to reinvigorate the immune system and help more patients suffering from these diseases.

MEET OUR TEAM

Dr. Roberto Tinoco

Dr. Tinoco is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Irvine, School of Biological Sciences, in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. He is a member of the UCI Institute for Immunology, the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (CFCCC), the Cancer Research Institute (CRI), and the Center for Virus Research (CVR).

Monique Henriquez

Monique joined the Tinoco lab in the fall of 2018 as the Laboratory Manager. She is responsible for managing the mouse colony, performing in-vivo experiments, training incoming students, and overall making sure the lab runs smoothly.

Karla Viramontes

Karla Viramontes joined the Tinoco lab as a Ph.D. student in 2020. Her project includes the use of in-vivo melanoma tumor mouse models to study immune checkpoints and their effects on T cell exhaustion.

Melissa Thone

Melissa joined the lab in August 2022 as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NIH T32 IDCR Program

Jamie-Jean De La Torre

Jamie-Jean joined the Tinoco Lab as a PhD student in Spring 2023. She will be focused on understanding the anti-tumor immune response in order to potentially identify mechanisms that can be exploited to treat cancer in preclinical models.

Contact us

Dr. Roberto Tinoco:
3244 McGaugh Hall
Irvine, CA 92697
Phone: 949-824-4926

Tinoco Lab:
3421 McGaugh Hall
Irvine, CA 92697
Phone: 949-824-3215

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