The Convergence Institute focuses on identifying, adopting and producing novel technologies to address key challenges in cancer research and supporting their accessibility to the Hopkins community. We have adapted CyTOF and imaging mass cytometry and CODEX for widespread correlative analysis of clinical trials, leading to its dissemination in the Flow/Mass Cytometry and Technology Development and the Tumor Microenvironment Lab.
Additional collaborations with 10X Genomics through the Clinical Translation Research Network led to beta testing new FFPE-based technologies for spatial transcriptomics, These technologies are being partnered with the development of new analysis methods in the Quantitative Sciences Division and broader JHU computational biology community.
Single-Cell RNA sequencing, and other emerging technologies for sample processing and data analysis is provided by the SKCCC Experimental and Computational Genomics Core.
Two examples of current ongoing projects include 1) defining cellular mechanisms of immunotherapeutic resistance and 2) discovering clinical biomarkers of extraordinary responders of cancer treatment. Expansion of these and other clinically relevant projects and emerging technology development will be achieved through pilot grant projects, fostered interdisciplinary collaborations, educational and training initiatives, and active multi-center consortium projects by Institute members through Break Through Cancer, National Cancer Institute Cancer Systems Biology, Informatics Technologies for Cancer Research, and Translational and Basic Science Research in Early Lesions (TBEL).