Columbia University in the City of New York · Microbiology & ImmunologyArpaia Lab
Nicholas Arpaia · New York, New York
Research Focus
Dr. Nicholas Arpaia's lab at Columbia University focuses on innovative approaches to cancer immunotherapy, particularly for colorectal cancer and other challenging tumors. They study how engineered probiotics can enhance the immune system's response to tumors by delivering targeted therapies and vaccines directly to the site of disease. The lab aims to improve therapeutic outcomes by modulating bacterial behavior in the body and understanding how the gut microbiome influences cancer progression and immune activity.
colorectal cancerimmunotherapyprobioticsneoantigen vaccinestumor microenvironmentmicrobiomeimmune modulationsynthetic biologycancer prevention
Research Aims
5AIM 01Develop microbial neoantigen vaccine vectors for enhanced anti-tumor immunity.
AIM 02Engineer probiotic E. coli strains to selectively target precancerous lesions.
AIM 03Investigate the localization and persistence of bacteria in tumor environments.
AIM 04Modulate the intestinal immune system to improve colorectal cancer outcomes.
AIM 05Create therapeutic bacteria that can deliver immune-modulating payloads.
Skills the Lab Values
bacterial engineeringmouse models of cancercell cultureflow cytometryimmunological assaysspatial transcriptomicsgene editingPCRmetabolomicsbiostatistics
Output against the department
Publications78bottom 25% of dept.364th of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations12ktop 30% of dept.148th of 486
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.