The Laboratory of Professor Rullo, affiliated with the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, is housed within the basic and translational scientifically rich environment of the Centre for Discovery in Cancer Research (CDCR) and McMaster Immunology Research Centre (MIRC). Here, the lab strives to solve challenging problems in tumor biology and immunology using the tools and principles of organic chemistry and chemical biology. Our overarching goal is to use synthetic molecules that can probe and modulate how immune machinery interacts with the surface of foreign pathogenic agents and cancer cells from a molecular recognition perspective. In efforts to achieve this goal, the laboratory will be actively engaged in the development of reversible and irreversible chemical strategies to exert control over equilibrium biomolecule assembly processes directly in their native environment. We envision our research will both diversify the current arsenal of chemical tools to study biology and contribute technology to the field of immune oncology through the development of chemical immunomodulators and cell-targeting synthetic probes.
