Research & Projects
Active programs across discovery, immunotherapy, metabolism, and translation.
The Huang Lab works across hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, cancer-associated cachexia, and translational product development with a bias toward mechanisms that can be converted into therapies.
Cancer-Associated Cachexia
The lab investigates the metabolic and inflammatory drivers of cachexia to identify biomarkers, mechanisms, and intervention points that improve patient outcomes.
Cancer-associated cachexia causes severe weight and muscle loss and undermines treatment tolerance, quality of life, and survival.
The Huang Lab studies how tumors communicate with distant tissues to drive systemic metabolic disruption, muscle wasting, and adipose depletion.
This interdisciplinary program connects cancer biology, metabolism, immunology, and clinical translation with the goal of developing new diagnostics and therapies.
Blood Disorders and Hematologic Malignancies
The lab studies MDS, MPN, acute leukemia, and blood disorders by connecting stem cell regulation with mitochondrial metabolism and epigenetic control.
This research arm investigates how genetic, epigenetic, and signaling programs regulate hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and differentiation in normal and diseased states.
The lab has highlighted how mitochondrial metabolism, including components of the succinate dehydrogenase complex, contributes to disease pathology and therapeutic opportunity.
Projects in this area include genetically engineered mouse models, metabolism-focused mechanism studies, and translational programs aimed at new therapies for MDS and related diseases.
Solid Tumor Immunotherapies
The lab builds next-generation immunotherapies for solid tumors, with emphasis on liver cancer, CAR T-cell engineering, and the tumor immune microenvironment.
Solid tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma create hostile immune microenvironments and physical barriers that reduce the effectiveness of conventional therapies.
The lab is developing CAR T-cell-based approaches that not only recognize tumor cells but also reshape the tumor microenvironment and deliver therapeutic payloads directly into the tumor site.
This work underpins translational programs such as PH102 and related spin-out activity focused on moving promising assets toward clinical development.
Trauma and Military Health
The lab develops synthetic blood oxygen carriers and trauma-relevant therapeutics, working with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research and Department of Defense partners.
Severe blood loss is a leading cause of preventable death after traumatic injury, and donor blood is often unavailable where it is needed most — at the point of injury, in austere environments, and on the battlefield.
The Huang Lab develops synthetic blood oxygen carriers and related trauma therapeutics to address this gap, and advances the work through collaborations with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research and Department of Defense partners. The synthetic blood oxygen carrier program is being commercialized through the lab spinout Abioremedi.