Jason Link, PhD
Associate Adjunct Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UCLA
Harnessing the Adaptive Immune Response from Patients with Effective, Natural PDAC Immunity
Project Summary:
Jason Link, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research examines the immune landscape of pancreatic tumors to uncover mechanisms of natural resistance and long-term survival.
Dr. Jason Link’s project explores a phenomenon a that small group of survivors of pancreatic cancer experience which is unusually long disease control with little progression. These rare patients demonstrate that, under certain conditions, the immune system can keep pancreatic cancer in check. These insights could reveal new strategies to train or enhance similar immune protection in other patients.
Dr. Link aims to uncover how these survivors’ immune systems achieve this natural tumor control. By studying their T cell receptors (TCRs) and identifying the unique tumor specific targets they recognize, he hopes to reveal the key mechanisms that drive lasting immunity.
His research compares immune responses from long-term survivors to those with more aggressive disease and investigates how T and B cells coordinate within specialized lymphoid niches to sustain immune protection.
Using both patient samples and laboratory models, Dr. Link’s work seeks to guide the design of next-generation vaccines and TCR-based immunotherapies, transforming natural immune defenses into powerful new treatment strategies for pancreatic cancer.
