Derek Wainwright

Derek Wainwright, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology (Primary) and an Adjunct Associate Professor in Neurological Surgery at Loyola University Chicago. He serves as Scientific Director of Brain Tumor Research and Program Leader for Cancer Biology & Therapeutics at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center. His research focuses on glioblastoma immunology, aging-related immunosuppression, and developing novel therapies targeting IDO1 and cancer immunotherapy resistance mechanisms.

Education: BS in Biology and Music from Bradley University; MS and PhD in Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy from Loyola University Chicago; Postdoctoral fellowship at University of Chicago.

Research Interests:

• Glioblastoma mechanisms and immunotherapy
• Role of IDO1 in tumor immune evasion
• Aging effects on cancer progression and therapy response
• Neuroimmunology and age-related immunosuppression

Key Research Contributions:

• Discovered IDO1's non-enzymatic role in enhancing immunosuppression via complement factors
• Developed preclinical models showing synergistic efficacy of radiation, anti-PD-1, and IDO1 inhibitors
• Leading clinical trial NCT04047706 testing combined therapy for newly-diagnosed glioblastoma
• Investigates age-related immune suppression in glioblastoma patients

Labs & Teams: The Wainwright Lab is a multidisciplinary training environment for students and researchers across multiple academic levels, collaborating with medicinal chemists to develop novel drugs targeting aged brain immunosuppression.