Yen Hoon LUAH joined SMART-CAMP in December 2022 and works under Professor Michael Birnbaum as a Postdoctoral Associate. She received her Ph.D. in Functional Genomics from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2014, where she worked on the characterization of zinc finger transcription factors in Plasmodiumfalciparum. She joined Fluidigm Singapore Pte Ltd (now known as StandardBioTools) as a Scientist in the Research and Development pilot line from 2014 to 2016, where she worked on the development of high throughput single-cell mRNA sequencing workflow for C1 IFC (small cell protocol). In 2016, she joinedHealth Sciences Authority Cell Therapy Facility as a Scientific Officer where she studied the anti-viral properties of cytokine induced killer cells, and the management of clinical trials including the development of protocols for transition into GMP lab settings. In 2018, she joined National University ofSingapore (Institute for Health Innovation & Technology) as a ResearchFellow where she focuses on the development of assays relating to cytotoxic cells identification and isolation.

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Her current research interest focuses on the characterization of Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in various tumour entities including leukaemia, lymphoma and myelomas. CAR-T cell therapy has achieved significant success in the treatment of advanced hematologic malignancies. However, the broad clinical application of CAR T-cell therapy has remained largely challenging. This is mainly attributed to the complex logistics involved during the manufacturing of these products, the high cost associated with the manufacturing process, and the potential adverse events and toxicity events that arise from these treatments. As such, it is important to continue to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CAR-T cell therapy. This project is carried out in collaboration with Singapore GeneralHospital (SGH) to collect biological samples from patients before and after they received their CAR-T cells therapies. This project aims to identify biomarkers that will help to (1) predict patient outcomes or adverse events,(2) monitor treatment efficacy and safety profiling, (3) improve current manufacturing protocols.