òòò½Íø

Biography

Dr Immanuel Kwok graduated from Nanyang Technological University in 2020 with a PhD in Immunology for his work in Dr Ng Lai Guan’s group at the òòò½ÍøImmunology Network, A*STAR, where he used a combination of mouse models, high dimensional cytometry and sequencing tools to characterise the developmental heterogeneity of neutrophils. He then continued as a postdoctoral fellow to discover the existence of two discrete neutrophil progenitors in mouse and humans, using single-cell sequencing and bioinformatic approaches to augment his research. He was awarded the A*STAR Career Development Fund in 2021 to use spatial-omics method to understand and modulate haematopoiesis and stem cell expansion.

In December 2024, Immanuel was promoted to Group Leader to start his laboratory after being awarded the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Young Investigator Research Grant (OF-YIRG) and the SRIS Joint Research Grant in 2024. Under these funding, he aims to develop novel therapeutic tools and targets modulating immune cells in human cancers and fibrotic skin diseases. 

Main Appointments

• Group Leader, òòò½ÍøImmunology Network (SIgN, A*STAR, Singapore)

Research Focus

Systems Immunology and Immune Engineering

The immune system is a complex yet fascinating orchestration of well-defined players with in-built adapting mechanisms vital for survival throughout evolution. Research over the past 100 years have only begun to dissect its intricate interactions and processes of each immune player in homeostatic and disease conditions. With such a wide variety of cell types and interacting partners, it is critical to understand immune responses using a system-based approach, where deducing the crosstalk between players underlie the consequential phenotypes of diseases.  Our research integrates single-cell sequencing, spatial-omics, and transgenic mouse models to determine molecular mechanisms driving pathological states in myeloid cells and the targetable pathways that modulate these states. We focus our efforts through 2 specific areas:

(1) Understanding the mechanisms governing reprogramming of tumour neutrophils through CRISPR/Cas9 editing systems. Based on our recent findings, we seek to establish an in-depth understanding of myeloid cell reprogramming within the tumour microenvironment. Using genetic editing tools and adoptive cell transfer experiments, our research aims to elucidate the key pathways and cell-cell interactions governing the acquisition of pro-tumoral functions in neutrophils.

(2)  Understanding the localised role of dermal mast cells in keloid scars. Using single cell, spatial technologies and in vitro culture screening assays, we aim to determine the function of mast cells in pathogenesis and identify novel gene targets to inhibit keloid formation.  Our interests extend beyond fibrotic skin diseases, as we apply our systems-based approach to understand disease mechanisms and engineer the appropriate immune responses.

Lab Members

Publications

Publications_Immanuel Kwok (updated 30 December 2024)