# Research Specialist Support of a Well-Established Cancer Immunotherapy Research Program Focused on Improving Adoptive T Cell Therapy (ACT)

> **NIH NIH R50** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $108,145

## Abstract

Project Summary
Megan Wyatt, MS is a senior Research Specialist in Chrystal Paulos, Ph.D.’s laboratory at the Medical
University of South Carolina’s Hollings Cancer Center in the department of Microbiology and Immunology. Dr.
Paulos is a well-established cancer immunotherapy researcher, with two current NCI R01 awards, to which Ms.
Wyatt has made significant contributions. The first R01 focuses on the inducible costimulator (ICOS), which
endows Th17 cells with a superior tumor-killing ability compared to those stimulated with CD28. This R01 aims
to determine the mechanism by which ICOS co-stimulation promotes long-term memory and antitumor activity
of Th17 cells, by focusing on a core of distinct pathways that may support their persistence, antitumor activity
and durable memory generation. The second R01 builds off the Paulos lab’s discovery that human CD4+ T cell
which express high levels of the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4), also known as CD26, exhibit superior
antitumor activity compared to the traditional Th1, Th2, and even Th17 subsets. The goal of this R01 is to
identify the mechanisms by which CD26 regulates the antitumor activity of CD26high CD4+ T cells in vivo, and to
clarify the stemness properties of these cells.
Ms. Wyatt developed an interest in translational research while completing her Master of Science degree at the
College of Charleston. She joined Dr. Paulos’ lab after learning of her exciting immunotherapy research. Ms.
Wyatt was first assigned to run a P01-derived T cell transduction core, which developed her basic T cell
research skills and allowed her to contribute to several different projects with the labs within the P01 grant. Her
efforts on this project has been featured in several high-impact publications from both Dr. Paulos’ group and
other co-investigators. Ms. Wyatt became quite proficient in T cell transduction because of her work in the
core, and has been sought out for her expertise by other researchers both at MUSC and externally looking for
training and assistance in developing their own transduction protocols. As the P01 ended, Dr. Paulos
transitioned Ms. Wyatt to various projects supporting her two R01 grants. Ms. Wyatt has taken on the role of
processing and analyzing tumor biopsies obtained from Dr. Paulos’ collaborations with physician scientists at
MUSC, and using findings from these studies to further the clinical significance of Dr. Paulos’ research
programs. She also successfully brought CRISPR/Cas9 technology into the lab and was able to knock out
CD26 from human T cells, allowing for further exploration into its role in antitumor immunity. Moving forward,
Ms. Wyatt will continue to support Dr. Paulos’ research programs by conducting critical experiments for the
CD26 R01, and providing assistance and guidance for the continuation of the ICOS R01. Her efforts will be
essential to the success of these programs, and will be critical for Dr. Paulos to further develop new research
programs which w...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10242967
- **Project number:** 5R50CA233168-04
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Megan M Wyatt
- **Activity code:** R50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $108,145
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-10 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10242967

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10242967, Research Specialist Support of a Well-Established Cancer Immunotherapy Research Program Focused on Improving Adoptive T Cell Therapy (ACT) (5R50CA233168-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10242967. Licensed CC0.

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