Speaker Profile
Ph.D., Principal Scientist, March Biosciences
Biography
Chiou-Tsun (Ray) Tsai is currently developing the immune synapse-stabilizing receptor (SSR) platform at March Biosciences, aiming to make CAR T-cell therapy effective against cancers with low or heterogeneous antigen expression, a major challenge in treating solid tumors.
Before joining March Biosciences, Dr. Tsai was a faculty member at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine, where he led March Biosciences-sponsored research to advance SSR. He originally developed SSR, a synthetic receptor that enhances the sensitivity of CAR T and TCR T cells to tumors with low antigen density (Nature Communications, 2026), during his postdoctoral training in Dr. Maksim Mamonkin’s laboratory from 2021 to 2024. He is also a named inventor on two published patent applications covering SSR and proliferation-controlled therapeutic cells. Dr. Tsai received training in cancer research at King’s College London and has a strong background in immunology and oncology.
Talk
Synapse-stabilizing receptor improves CAR-mediated tumor targeting
Low or heterogeneous antigen expression limit CAR-T efficacy in solid tumors. We engineered a synapse-stabilizing receptor (SSR) to enhance CAR tumor sensitivity against antigen-low tumors. SSR arming of CAR-T improved control of heterogeneous tumors in preclinical models of human AML and liver cancer without broadening the off-tumor toxicity
Emerging Therapeutics Showcase:
March Biosciences
March Biosciences is a clinical-stage company in the cell therapy field focused on developing CAR-T cell strategies to address the most challenging cancers
Session Abstract – PMWC 2027 Silicon Valley
The PMWC 2027 Emerging Therapeutics Showcase will provide a 15-30 minute time slot for selected companies and researchers in the CRISPR, Cell and Gene Therapy fields. Major advancements in safer cell- and gene-level editing technologies are bringing us closer toward cures for life-threatening disorders, from cancer to HIV to Huntington’s disease. Cell therapy, in which cellular material such as T cells capable of fighting cancer cells, is injected into a patient, has been demonstrated safe and effective. The popular new CRISPR tool that has been used to edit the genetic code of nearly any organism will have an enormous impact on human health. More than a dozen clinical trials employing CRISPR on human cells are already underway.
- Emerging Therapeutics/Cell Therapy
- Emerging Therapeutics/CVD
- Emerging Therapeutics/Gene Therapy
- Emerging Therapeutics/Immunotherapy
- Emerging Therapeutics/Radiation Therapy
Davos of Precision Medicine
PMWC 2027 Program
January 27–29, 2027 · Santa Clara Convention Center
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