John Grout

PhD student

Previous research by Dr. Salmon has shown that the extracellular matrix (ECM) associated with established solid tumors influences T cell localization. John’s project aims to better characterize the contribution of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), a prominent producer of ECM proteins, within the tumor microenvironment. Using early stage human lung tumors, John aims to further our understanding of CAF biology during disease progression and how they influence surrounding immune cells. Through next generation sequencing, imaging, flow cytometry and CyTOF approaches, John will investigate genes/proteins found in different CAF subtypes that will be further explored using in vitro 3D models and validated in in vivo mouse models of lung cancer.