Osteosarcoma Webinar Series: Joseph Skeate, PhD, an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, discusses his OutSmarting Osteosarcoma funded work (Because of Annaleigh) on next generation dual-CAR gamma delta T cells for the treatment of pediatric osteosarcoma.

In this presentation, Dr. Skeate will provide an overview of the next-generation genome engineering strategies deployed for this project and share updates on the development of a gamma-delta chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for treating osteosarcoma. He will describe how the team is combining non-viral transposon insertion of a CAR transgene with targeted gene modification using an Adenine Base Editor to enhance T cell function in the presence of suppressive factors characteristic of osteosarcoma tumors.

Dr Joseph Skeate is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the University of Minnesota. He obtained his PhD in Medical Biology from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Following his doctoral work, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota under the mentorship of Drs Branden Moriarity and Beau Webber. During this time, he developed a hyperactive transposon system and deployed novel genome engineering approaches using Cas9 systems, creating a powerful toolkit for rapid non-viral engineering and preclinical testing of primary human cells. Leveraging his background and expertise in immunology and genome engineering, his lab now focuses on developing next-generation cellular therapies for rare pediatric disease, including osteosarcoma.