About

Welcome to the Ishihara Lab

The Ishihara Lab develops highly translational immunotherapies. Our work spans bispecific and trispecific antibodies, cytokine–antibody fusion proteins, engineered cytokines, CAR-T cells, TCR-T cells, and mRNA therapeutics, and we use artificial intelligence (AI)–driven approaches to accelerate drug discovery.

We work in a close-knit, team-based environment that keeps us immersed in — and continually discussing — the real challenges faced in the clinic. Our state-of-the-art facilities let us gather data efficiently and design and produce novel drugs in-house. Our equipment includes 23-colour flow cytometry, a CellCyte X live-cell imager, an Octet K2 BLI system, haematology and biochemistry analysers, six shakers for protein production, real-time PCR, a gel imager, a NanoDrop, a plate reader, an EVOS M7000 fluorescence imager, and a histology slide scanner. We also draw on Imperial's core facilities, including bacterial and tissue culture, animal research, genomics, and microscopy. Close collaboration with neighbouring laboratories underpins the strongly multidisciplinary character of our work.

Through protein and cellular engineering, we aim to make discoveries that translate into clinical applications and improve human health. Our research spans cancer, regenerative medicine, and autoimmune disease.

Together with our collaborators and supporters, we are working to create therapeutics that are highly effective, have minimal side effects, and are kind to patients — and to train the next generation of researchers.

We gratefully acknowledge the funders who make this work possible: Crowdfunding, the MRC, Cancer Research UK, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Academy of Medical Sciences, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer UK, Sarcoma UK, Rosetrees Trust, the Royal Society, Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, The Brain Tumour Charity, the Institute for Cancer Vaccines and Immunotherapy, The Little Princess Trust, Target Ovarian Cancer, the Bone Cancer Research Trust, and Hannah's Willberry Wonder Pony.

Thank you for supporting our mission to develop game-changing therapeutics and to educate the scientists of the future.