SBME Research Seminar - Dr. Hannah Carter
Immune Checkpoint Blockade (ICB) has revolutionized cancer treatment, however mechanisms determining patient response remain poorly understood. We used machine learning to predict ICB response from germline and somatic biomarkers and studied feature usage by the learned model to uncover putative mechanisms driving superior outcomes. Patients with higher T follicular helper infiltrates were robust to defects in the class-I Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC-I). Further investigation uncovered different ICB responses in MHC-I versus MHC-II neoantigen reliant tumors across patients. Despite similar response rates, MHC-II reliant responses were associated with significantly longer durable clinical benefit (Discovery: Median OS=63.6 vs. 34.5 months P=0.0074; Validation: Median OS=37.5 vs. 33.1 months, P=0.040). Characteristics of the tumor immune microenvironment reflected MHC neoantigen reliance, and analysis of immune checkpoints revealed LAG3 as a potential target in MHC-II but not MHC-I reliant responses. This study highlights the value of interpretable machine learning models in elucidating the biological basis of therapy responses.
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Research Seminar: Designing exoskeletons to enhance human mobility – Steve Collins
December 7, 2023 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm PST
Talk Abstract:
Exoskeletons and active prosthetic limbs could improve mobility for hundreds of millions of people, but two serious challenges must first be overcome: we need ways of identifying what a device should do to benefit an individual user, and we need cheap, efficient hardware that can do it. In this talk, we will describe an approach to the design of wearable robots based on versatile emulator systems and algorithms that automatically customize assistance, which we call human-in-the-loop optimization. We will discuss recent successes of the approach, including large improvements to the energy economy and speed of walking and running through optimized exoskeleton assistance, in both laboratory and real-world settings. We will also discuss the design of exoskeletons that use no energy themselves yet reduce the energy cost of human walking, and a new type of actuator based on ultra-efficient electroadhesive clutches that could allow wearable robots to operate far longer with a given battery. Finally, we will briefly touch on the role of Science Robotics in publishing biomedical research, and on a new initiative to support design education: making@stanford.
Biography
View Dr. Collins’ biography.
Location:
Life Sciences Insitute
Lecture Theatre 1001 (LSC 1001)