Megan Levings
PhD
Investigator, BC Children's Hospital
Director, Childhood Diseases Research Theme
Research in my laboratory is focused on immune cells called T regulatory cells (Tregs) that are central to immune tolerance and that are a very promising new therapeutic tool. To exploit the natural capacity of Tregs to induce immune tolerance, and to design effective therapies to restore immune tolerance in patients with immune-mediated disease, we need to define how, when and where Tregs function in the body.
My research program has 3 major themes that aim to (i) build on our recent discoveries to understand Treg biology and (ii) apply that knowledge to develop and assess treatments designed to manipulate immune tolerance. My work integrates lab and clinical studies, applies advanced methods in the context of transplant rejection and autoimmunity, and creates outputs with broad relevance for chronic immune-mediated diseases.
• Theme 1: Understanding the molecular and cellular biology of Tregs. We are working on defining the unique mechanisms that control Treg function. The aim of this work is to discover new therapeutic targets and understand how Tregs can be manipulated to optimize their effectiveness as a cell-based therapy.
• Theme 2: To conduct first-in-man clinical trials of Treg therapy in transplantation. We have developed two approaches to generate therapeutic Tregs. As part of national networks, and with industry support, we now aim to test these approaches as a method to reduce rejection in humans undergoing transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells or a solid organ.
• Theme 3: Clinical implementation of standardized immune monitoring. Assessing the effectiveness of immune therapies requires the transfer of methods and assays from research labs to clinical immunology labs. We are implementing this approach across Canada and developing platforms using standardized methodology to measure immunity in patient cohorts and clinical trials.
