Alexander Rubinsteyn, PhD (Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics) was awarded a grant from the Rare Cancer Research Foundation (RCRF) for his project titled “Neoantigen identification from long-read sequencing”.
The project aims to identify coding mutations from sequencing data provided by RCRF, including long-read sequencing of tumor DNA, tumor RNA, and normal DNA. The Rubinsteyn lab will utilize machine learning methods to filter mutant proteins for immunogenic epitopes. Subsequently, they will test for T-cell reactivity against these predicted neoantigens as well as against any antigens previously used as part of personalized vaccination for these patients.