My research interests focus on enhancing the safety and effectiveness of cellular immunotherapies for cancer. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is an emerging form of cancer immunotherapy. Patients’ own T cells are reprogramed to express a synthetic receptor to redirect their specificity toward cancer cells in an MHC-independent manner. The clinical results of CAR T cell therapy have been impressive against certain kinds of hematological cancers, but there are many challenging problems need to be addressed to extend this modality to solid tumors. The goal of my research is to improve the safety and efficacy of CAR T cells with an emphasis on the these areas: 1) understanding the therapeutic window of CAR affinities whereby CAR T cells preferentially attack the tumors while sparing non-malignant, vital tissues; 2) developing multi-specific CARs to overcome the antigen heterogeneity of solid tumors and circumvent antigen escape; 3) engineering CAR T cells to deliver stimulatory cytokines to foster the proliferation, survival and anti-tumor activity of T cells within the immunosuppressive milieu of solid tumors; 4) combining radiotherapy and immunotherapy for cancer treatment.