Lestat Ali
- [email protected]
- www.lestatali.com
- Cambridge, MA
My career started in earnest in 2011 as a software engineer at Apple before I pivoted to focus my computational skills on applications that I felt more passionate about in the biomedical world. I joined Stephanie Dougan’s research laboratory at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2016 and have been working since then on solving interesting questions about cancer immunotherapy. I do this most by analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing data from people (and sometimes mice) with cancer. At the same time, I have been advancing my clinical training, hoping ultimately to lead a career of concerted patient care and research that expands the amazing—but very limited—success of immunotherapy to every single patient with cancer.
Work Experiences
Internal Medicine Resident
Rigorous clinical training in internal medicine.
Bioinformatics Analyst
Analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing data from patient samples to improve cancer immunotherapy.
Software Engineering Tech Lead
Served as technical lead for the development of the iPhone operating system.
Manager of E-Commerce
Led a team in overhauling the organization’s e-commerce infrastructure.
Publications
Blockade of IL-1β and PD-1 with combination chemotherapy reduces systemic but not intratumoral myeloid suppression in metastatic pancreatic cancer
Oberstein PE, Costa AD*, Kawaler EA*, Cardo-Ruffino V*, Rahma OE, Beri N, Singh H, Abrams T, Biller L, Cleary JM, Enzinger P,
Huffman BM, McCleary NJ, Perez KJ, Rubinson DA, Schaletter BL, Surana R, Yurgelun MB, Wang SJ, Remland J, Brais LK,
Bollenrucher N, Chang E, Ali LR, Lenehan PJ, Dolgalev I, Werba G, Lima C, Keleher CE, Sullivan K, Dougan M, Hajdu C,
Dajee M, Pelletier M, Nazeer S, Squires M, Bar-Sage D, Wolpin BM, Nowak JA*, Simeone DM*, Dougan SK*.
PubMed
Biomarkers of pembrolizumab efficacy in advanced anal squamous cell carcinoma: analysis of a phase II clinical trial and a cohort of long-term responders
Huffman BM, Singh H, Ali LR, Horick N, Wang SJ, Hoffman MT, Metayer KA, Murray S, Bird A, Abrams TA, Biller LH, Chan JA,
Meyerhardt JA, McCleary NJ, Goessling W, Patel AK, Wisch JS, Yurgelun MB, Mouw K, Reardon B, Van Allen EM, Zerillo JA,
Clark JW, Parikh A, Mayer RJ, Schlechter B, Ng K, Kumar S, Del Vecchio Fitz C, Kuperwasser C, Hanna GJ, Coveler AL,
Rubinson DA, Welsh EL, Pfaff K, Rodig S, Dougan SK, Cleary JM.
PubMed
PD-1 blockade induces reactivation of non-productive T cell responses characterized by NF-κB signaling in patients with pancreatic cancer
Ali LR, Lenehan PJ, Cardot-Ruffino V, Costa AD, Katz MHG, Bauer TW, Nowak JA, Wolpin BM, Abrams TA, Patel AK, Clancy TE,
Wang J, Mancias JD, Reilley MJ, Stucky CH, Bekaii-Saab TS, Elias R, Merchant N, Slingluff CL, Rahma OE, Dougan SK.
PubMed
PD-1 blockade and CDK4/6 inhibition augment nonoverlapping features of CD8 T cell activation in metastatic breast cancer
Ali LR, Garrido-Castro AC, Lenehan P, Bollenrucher N, Stump CT, Dougan M, Goel S, Shapiro GI, Tolaney SM, Dougan SK.
PubMed
cIAP1/2 Antagonism Induces Antigen-Specific T Cell-Dependent Immunity
Ventre KS, Roehle K, Bello E, Bhiuyan AM, Biary T, Crowley SJ, Bruck PT, Heckler M, Lenehan PJ, Ali LR, Stump CT, Lippert V,
Clancy-Thompson E, Alberto WDC, Hoffman MT, Qiang L, Pelletier M, Akin JJ, Dougan M, Dougan SK.
PubMed
Transforming Growth Factor-β Blockade in Pancreatic Cancer Enhances Sensitivity to Combination Chemotherapy
Qiang L, Hoffman MT, Ali LR, Castillo JI, Kageler L, Temesgen A, Lenehan P, Wang SJ, Bello E, Cardot-Ruffino V, Uribe GA, Yan g
A, Dougan M, Aguirre AJ, Raghavan S, Pelletier M, Cremasco V, Dougan SK.
PubMed
IFNγ is a central node of cancer immune equilibrium
Walsh PJ, Stump CT, Kureshi R, Lenehan P, Ali LR, Dougan M, Knipe DM, Dougan SK.
PubMed
A split, conditionally active mimetic of IL-2 reduces the toxicity of systemic cytokine therapy
Quijano-Rubio A, Bhuiyan MA, Yang H, Leung I, Bello E, Ali LR, Zhangxu K, Perkins J, Chun JH, Wang W, Lajoie MJ, Ravichandran
R, Kuo YH, Dougan SK, Riddell S, Spangler J, Dougan M, Silva DA, Baker D.
PubMed
Blockade of innate inflammatory cytokines TNFα, IL-1%beta;, or IL-6 overcomes virotherapy-induced cancer equilibrium to promote tumor regression
Walsh PJ, Ali LR, Lenehan P, Kureshi CT, Kureshi R, Dougan M, Knife DM, Dougan SK.
PubMed
Inhibition of CDK4/6 promotes CD8 T cell memory formation
Heckler M*, Ali LR*, Clancy-Thompson E, Qiang L, Ventre K, Lenehan P, Roehle K, Luoma A, Boelaars K, Peters V, McCreary J,
Boschert T, Wang ES, Suo S, Marangoni F, Mempel TR, Long HW, Wucherpfenning KW, Dougan M, Gray NS, Yuan GC, Goel
S, Tolaney SM, Dougan SK
PubMed
Tissue eosinophils express the IL-33 receptor ST2 and type 2 cytokines in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis
Uchida AM, Lenehan PJ, Vimalathas P, Miller KC, Valencia-Yang M, Qiang L, Canha LA, Ali LR, Dougan M, Garber JJ, Dougan SK.
PubMed
cIAP1/2 antagonism eliminates MHC class I-negative tumors through T cell-dependent reprogramming of mononuclear phagocytes
Roehle K, Qiang L, Ventre K, Heid D, Ali LR, Lenehan P, Heckler M, Crowley SJ, Stump C, Godicelj A, Bhuiyan MA, Yang A, del
Rey M, Biary T, Luoma A, Bruck PT, Tegetoff J, Nopper S, Li J, Byrne K, Pelletier M, Wucherpfennig KW, Stanger BZ, Akin J,
Macias J, Agudo J, Dougan M, Ro G, Dougan SK.
PubMed
Disagreement in measured neural responses to speech accent is driven by study design and analytical parameters
Strauber CB, Ali LR, Fujioka T, Thille C, McCandliss B.
PubMed
Immune receptor inhibition through enforced phosphatase recruitment
Fernandes RA, Su L, Nishiga Y, Ren J, Bhuiyan MA, Cheng N, Kuo CJ, Picton L, Ohtsuki S, Majzner RG, Rietberg SP, Mackall CL,
Yin Q, Ali LR, Yang X, Savvides CS, Sage J, Dougan M, Garcia KC.
PubMed
Neoleukin-2 enhances anti-tumor immunity downstream of peptide vaccination targeted by an anti-MHC class II VHH
Crowley SJ*, Bruck PT*, Bhuiyan MA, Mitchell-Gears A, Walsh MJ, Zhangxu K, Ali LR, Jeong HJ, Ingram JR, Knipe DM, Ploegh HL,
Dougan M, Dougan SK.
PubMed
De novo design of potent and selective mimics of IL-2/IL-15
Silva DA*, Yu S*, Ulge UY*, Spangler JB*, Jude KM, Labão-Almeida C, Ali LR, Quijano-Rubio A, Ruterbusch M, Leung I, Biary T,
Marcos E, Walkey CD, Weitzner BD, Carter L, Stewart L, Riddell S, Pepper M, Bernardes GJL, Dougan M, Garcia KC, Baker D.
PubMed
Transnuclear mice reveal a population of Peyer’s patch iNKT cells that regulate B cell class switching to IgG1.
Clancy-Thompson E*, Chen GZ*, LaMarche NM, Ali LR, Jeong HJ, Crowley SJ, Boelaars K, Brenner,MB, Lynch L, Dougan SK.
PubMed
Anti–CTLA-4 therapy requires an Fc domain for efficacy
Ingram JR, Blomberg OS, Rashidian M, Ali LR, Garforth S, Fedorov E, Fedorov AA, Bonanno JB, Le Gall C, Crowley S, Espinosa C,
Biary T, Keliher EJ, Weissleder R, Almo SC, Dougan SK, Ploegh HL, Dougan M.
PubMed
Altered binding of tumor antigenic peptides to MHC class I affects CD8 T cell effector responses
Clancy-Thompson E, Devlin CA, Tyler PM, Servos MM, Ali LR, Ventre KS, Bhuiyan MA, Bruck PT, Birnbaum M, Dougan SK.
PubMed
Targeting cytokine therapy to the pancreatic tumor microenvironment using PD-L1 specific VHHs
Dougan M*, Ingram JR*, Jeong HJ, Mosaheb MM, Bruck PT, Ali LR, Pishesha N, Blomberg O, Tyler PM, Servos MM, Rashidian M,
Nguyen QD, von Andrian UH, Ploegh HL, Dougan SK.
PubMed
IAP antagonists enhance cytokine production from mouse and human iNKT cells
Clancy-Thompson E, Ali LR, Bruck PT, Exley MA, Blumberg RS, Dranoff G, Dougan M, Dougan SK.
PubMed
Localized CD47 blockade enhances immunotherapy for murine melanoma
Ingram JR, Blomberg OS, Sockolosky JT, Ali LR, Schmidt FI, Pishesha N, Espinosa C, Dougan SK, Garcia KC, Ploegh HL, Dougan M.
PubMed
*Contributed equally.
Presentations
Inhibition of CDK4/6 Promotes T-Cell Memory Formation
Armstrong Transformation in Medicine Lectures, Massachusetts General Hospital
[Poster] CDK4/6 inhibition augments T cell memory
Elizabeth D. Hay Prize for Basic Science Research
Soma-Weiss Research Day, Harvard Medical School
PD-1 blockade and CDK4/6 inhibition augment nonoverlapping features of CD8 T cell activation
Department of Immunology Work in Progress, Harvard Medical School
CDK4/6 inhibitors enhance T cell memory formation
Agudo Lab, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
How the Pandemic Affected Medical Education from the Perspectives of Medical Students from Around the Globe
Brigham Education Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
CDK4/6 inhibition potentiates CD8 T cell memory in mouse models and human breast cancer patients
Ludwig Center, Harvard Medical School
[Poster] Anti-CTLA-4 therapy requires an Fc domain for efficacy
Best Poster Prize, Cancer Immunology & Virology Annual Scientific Retreat, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute