Becky Richards, MD, PhD
Position title: Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Email: rmrichards3@wisc.edu
Department: Pediatrics (Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplant)
Immunology Focus area: Immunotherapy, CAR-T cells
Descriptive Title of Research: Developing next-generation CAR-T cells for treatment of AML
Research Description: The Richards lab focuses on developing chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a disease that can be difficult to treat and is associated with many treatment-related toxicities. CAR-T cell therapy has revolutionized treatment for patients with B cell malignancies, and is an attractive option for treatment of AML. Despite promising pre-clinical data, translation to patients has been hampered by tumor heterogeneity and the possibility of on-target, off-tumor toxicity to healthy tissues. The Richards lab will engineer next-generation CAR-T cells with improved tumor specificity and will use pre-clinical models to identify critical components of AML tumor cell and CAR-T cell biology that will inform further clinical development.
Link to Publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1js35k9mZ7mAT/bibliography/public/
Graduate Program Affiliations: Working on affiliations with CMB, CMP, and MCP (applications pending)
Lab Website: https://www.pediatrics.wisc.edu/staff/richards-md-rebecca-becky/