Johns Hopkins University · EngineeringWirtz Lab
Denis Wirtz · Baltimore, Maryland
Research Focus
Dr. Denis Wirtz's lab at Johns Hopkins University focuses on improving cancer therapies, especially for pancreatic cancer, using advanced engineering techniques. The research centers on enhancing the movement and effectiveness of CAR T cells, which are immune cells engineered to target and destroy cancer. By creating synthetic receptors that boost how quickly these cells can migrate into tumors, the lab aims to increase treatment success rates for solid tumors, which are notoriously challenging to treat.
CAR T cell therapysynthetic receptorstumor infiltrationpancreatic cancerimmunotherapycell migrationcytokine receptorssolid tumorscancer treatmentengineering
Research Aims
5AIM 01Engineer synthetic cytokine receptors to enhance CAR T cell migration into tumors.
AIM 02Test the effectiveness of engineered CAR T cells in preclinical mouse models of pancreatic cancer.
AIM 03Optimize the tumor-infiltration capabilities of CAR T cells for better anti-cancer effects.
AIM 04Investigate the interaction between CAR T cells and tumor microenvironments.
AIM 05Identify the most promising receptor constructs for clinical application.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemouse modelsin vitro assaysflow cytometrygene editing (CRISPR)immunofluorescenceWestern blot3D tumor modelingmigration assays
Output against the department
Publications539top 9% of dept.25th of 278
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations33ktop 9% of dept.24th of 278
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.