Dr. Franz Zemp

Biography

Franz Zemp began his research training by studying plant-pathogen interactions during his undergraduate (BSc, ’06) and graduate (MSc, ’08) studies at the University of Lethbridge. He pursued his doctoral training (PhD, ’15) at the University of Calgary, where he investigated neuroimmune responses to oncolytic virus treatment in brain cancer. Following his PhD, he completed post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Calgary, focusing on mucosal immunology and tumor immunology. Dr. Zemp is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Calgary and leads the Synthetic Immunology arm of the Alberta Cellular Therapy Immunology (ACTION) Program. His research is centered on innovating cancer immunotherapies, particularly Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapies for children, adolescents, and young adults. His team's primary efforts are directed towards developing effective CAR constructs and testing their activity in various cancer models, including patient-derived xenografts and humanized mouse models. Currently, he is focused on the translational development of GCAR1, a novel CAR T therapy designed for rare, treatment-refractory solid tumors, with first-in-person GCAR1 trials slated for 2023.

Research Interests