Modeling T Cell Dysfunction in Tumor Microenvironments

10:00 AM EDT, September 1, 2026

T cell dysfunction is a major barrier to effective cancer immunotherapy, particularly in solid tumors. Within the tumor microenvironment (TME), persistent antigen exposure, inhibitory signaling, metabolic stress, hypoxia, extracellular matrix barriers, and interactions with immunosuppressive cells can progressively impair T cell infiltration, proliferation, cytokine production, and cytotoxic activity.

Microfluidic tumor-on-a-chip platforms provide a promising approach for bridging this preclinical modeling gap. By integrating three-dimensional tumor tissues, immune and stromal cells, perfusable microchannels, and precisely controlled culture conditions, these systems can recreate key features of the TME in a physiologically relevant and experimentally accessible format. They also enable real-time visualization of T cell trafficking, tumor infiltration, functional decline, and treatment response.

Join Greg M. Delgoffe, Ph.D., Professor of Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh, to explore how metabolic and immunologic pressures reshape T cell function.

What You’ll Learn

Discover how metabolically distinct tumor models can be reduced to defined immunologic and metabolic stressors, creating a clearer preclinical framework for studying T cell dysfunction.

Key points to be discussed during the session:

• How nutrient depletion and metabolic byproducts contribute to immune evasion and T cell dysfunction
• How metabolically distinct tumor models can be used to study the tumor microenvironment in a preclinical setting
• How metabolic pressures can be reduced to defined immunologic and metabolic stressors

Speaker

Greg M. Delgoffe, Ph.D
Professor of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Greg M. Delgoffe is a Professor of Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh and a leading researcher in cancer immunology and immunometabolism. His laboratory investigates how metabolic signals regulate immune cell function, with a particular focus on how T cells become dysfunctional within the tumor microenvironment.

His research explores the mechanisms driving T cell exhaustion, regulatory immune cell function, and metabolic adaptation in cancer, with the goal of identifying new strategies to enhance cancer immunotherapy. By integrating immunology, metabolism, and cancer biology, his work has contributed to the development of novel immunotherapeutic approaches and metabolic interventions.

Dr. Delgoffe received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed postdoctoral training at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He has been recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in Immunology and has received multiple awards, including the NIH Director's New Innovator Award and the Cancer Research Institute's Lloyd J. Old STAR Award.