Gregory Ehx

Gregory Ehx is a Researcher at the University of Liège's GIGA institute, specifically within the GIGA-I3 (Infection Immunity and Inflammation) research unit of the Faculty of Medicine. He leads the Translational Immunology and Leukemia research team in the Hematology Laboratory, focusing on understanding immune recognition of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells and developing novel immunotherapies.

Dr. Ehx's research centers on how leukemia cells are recognized by immune cells and how they escape immune surveillance. His team studies the interaction between T cells and malignant cells, particularly focusing on MHC-presented peptides and immuno-inhibitory molecules like PD-L1 and CD47 expressed by AML cells. Key research areas include:

• Development of cancer immunotherapies for permanent leukemia eradication
• Maximizing immune recognition of chemotherapy-surviving cancer cells
• Identification of tumor-specific immunogenic peptides
• Understanding mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance

His publication record demonstrates significant contributions to cancer immunology, with a focus on proteogenomics and computational approaches to identify actionable tumor antigens. Recent work has revealed how endogenous retroelements generate immunogenic peptides in AML and how autophagy affects immune recognition of cancer cells treated with 5-azacytidine.

Scientific recognition includes:

• FNRS Research associate mandate (2023)
• Comte de Launoit Prize

Dr. Ehx secured funding through the FNRS Research associate program to pursue his ambitious research program on developing vaccines targeting chemotherapy-resistant AML cells. His work on the BamQuery computational tool has enabled identification of tumor-specific MHC peptides, forming the basis for potential cancer vaccine development. His research has implications beyond AML, potentially benefiting treatment of other cancers including colon, lung, and breast cancer.

The researcher leads his team within the Hematology Laboratory at GIGA, building on collaborations with researchers at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) in Canada and other international partners. His laboratory combines wet-lab immunology with computational approaches to tackle the challenge of cancer immunotherapy.