Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker

Dr. Zúñiga-Pflücker recently discovered how to grow T cells—the building blocks of our immune systems—in a laboratory, using embryonic stem cells. The cell culture system developed by Ashton Trotman-Grant, Mahmood Mohtashami, and Dr. Zúñiga-Pflücker makes it possible to generate T cells in vitro from any source of stem cells. The system is creating many new research opportunities for immunologists, bringing them one step closer to creating designer T cells in vitro for cancer treatments and using in vitro T cells for the treatment of autoimmune disease.