Biography
Weiping Zou, Charles B. de Nancrede Professor, serves as Director of the Michigan Center of Excellence for Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy. At the national level, he was the AACR Cancer Immunology (CIMM) Chairperson 2019-2020 and has served as the AAI Cancer Immunology Abstract Programming Chair for 4 years. He is an elected member of AAAS and AAP. He has delivered more than 300 invited lectures at different institutions and conferences and published more than 200 articles and book chapters, including 36 articles in Nature, Science, and Cell journal series. His laboratory is one of the most cited research teams in the field of immunology. Their work has been highlighted by many scientific news agencies. “Specific recruitment of regulatory T cells in ovarian carcinoma fosters immune privilege and predicts reduced survival”, an original work on human Tregs, has been cited more than 5,000 times since its publication. Dr. Zou has made seminal contributions to our understanding of immunosuppressive mechanisms in the tumor microenvironment. His early concept of combinatorial immunotherapeutic strategies has laid the foundation for current cancer immunotherapy and has provided rationales for novel combinations.
Research Interests
The tumor microenvironment is the primary arena in which tumor cells and the host immune system interact. Characterization of the nature of immune responses in the human cancer microenvironment holds the key to understanding tumor immunity and designing and improving current cancer immunotherapy. The Zou laboratory has focused on the human cancer microenvironment and has studied the cross-talk among immune cell subsets, tumor cells, and tumor stem cells in the tumor microenvironment, and its impact on tumor immunity, suppression, and therapy.
