World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
K. Dane Wittrup

K. Dane Wittrup

D-Index & Metrics

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
85
Citations
27900
World Ranking
3130
National Ranking
1583

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2012 - Member of the National Academy of Engineering For developments in protein engineering, protein expression, and quantitative pharmacology.
  • 2011 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2000 - Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE)

Overview

K. Dane Wittrup is affiliated with MIT in the United States and has contributed extensively to the fields of medicine, immunology and microbiology, and biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. Their research spans various subfields including immunology, oncology, molecular biology, radiology, nuclear medicine and imaging, and genetics.

The scientist's work covers several main topics such as immunotherapy and immune responses, CAR-T cell therapy research, cancer immunotherapy and biomarkers, monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies research, immune cell function and interaction, cancer research and treatments, and virus-based gene therapy research.

Frequent co-authors collaborating with K. Dane Wittrup include Darrell J. Irvine, Noor Momin, Allison Sheen, Jordan A. Stinson, and Emi A. Lutz.

The scientist has published multiple papers in prominent venues including Regular and Young Investigator Award Abstracts, bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Nature Communications, Nature Biomedical Engineering, and Cancer Research.

Selected recent papers include:

  • Type I interferon activates MHC class I-dressed CD11b+ conventional dendritic cells to promote protective anti-tumor CD8+ T cell immunity (2021, Immunity)
  • Multifunctional oncolytic nanoparticles deliver self-replicating IL-12 RNA to eliminate established tumors and prime systemic immunity (2020, Nature Cancer)
  • High-throughput phenotypic screen and transcriptional analysis identify new compounds and targets for macrophage reprogramming (2021, Nature Communications)
  • Intratumourally injected alum-tethered cytokines elicit potent and safer local and systemic anticancer immunity (2022, Nature Biomedical Engineering)
  • Tissue-specific abundance of interferon-gamma drives regulatory T cells to restrain DC1-mediated priming of cytotoxic T cells against lung cancer (2023, Immunity)

Awards received by K. Dane Wittrup include:

  • Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2012) for developments in protein engineering, protein expression, and quantitative pharmacology
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2011)
  • Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) (2000)

Best Publications

  • Isolating and engineering human antibodies using yeast surface display

    Ginger Chao;Wai L Lau;Benjamin J Hackel;Stephen L Sazinsky

  • Directed evolution of antibody fragments with monovalent femtomolar antigen-binding affinity

    Eric T. Boder;Katarina S. Midelfort;K. Dane Wittrup

  • A modeling analysis of the effects of molecular size and binding affinity on tumor targeting

    Michael M. Schmidt;K. Dane Wittrup

  • Antibody tumor penetration: transport opposed by systemic and antigen-mediated clearance.

    Greg M. Thurber;Michael M. Schmidt;K. Dane Wittrup

  • Flow-cytometric isolation of human antibodies from a nonimmune Saccharomyces cerevisiae surface display library

    Michael J. Feldhaus;Robert W. Siegel;Lee K. Opresko;James R. Coleman

  • Eradication of large established tumors in mice by combination immunotherapy that engages innate and adaptive immune responses

    Kelly D Moynihan;Cary F Opel;Gregory L Szeto;Alice Tzeng

  • Yeast surface display for protein engineering and characterization.

    S Annie Gai;K Dane Wittrup

  • Monovalent, reduced-size quantum dots for imaging receptors on living cells.

    Mark Howarth;Mark Howarth;Wenhao Liu;Sujiet Puthenveetil;Yi Zheng

  • Biophysical properties of the clinical-stage antibody landscape

    Tushar Jain;Tingwan Sun;Stéphanie Durand;Amy Hall

  • Computational design of antibody-affinity improvement beyond in vivo maturation

    Shaun M Lippow;K Dane Wittrup;Bruce Tidor

  • In vitro evolution of a T cell receptor with high affinity for peptide/MHC

    Phillip D. Holler;Philmore O. Holman;Eric V. Shusta;Sean O'Herrin

  • Protein engineering by cell-surface display.

    K.Dane Wittrup

  • Increasing the secretory capacity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for production of single-chain antibody fragments

    E V Shusta;R T Raines;A Plückthun;K D Wittrup

  • Enhanced CAR–T cell activity against solid tumors by vaccine boosting through the chimeric receptor

    Leyuan Ma;Leyuan Ma;Tanmay Dichwalkar;Jason Y. H. Chang;Benjamin Cossette

  • Directed evolution of a stable scaffold for T-cell receptor engineering

    E V Shusta;P D Holler;M C Kieke;D M Kranz

  • Yeast polypeptide fusion surface display levels predict thermal stability and soluble secretion efficiency.

    Eric V Shusta;Michele C Kieke;Evan Parke;David M Kranz

  • Theoretical analysis of antibody targeting of tumor spheroids: Importance of dosage for penetration, and affinity for retention

    Christilyn P Graff;K Dane Wittrup

  • Biopolymers codelivering engineered T cells and STING agonists can eliminate heterogeneous tumors

    Tyrel T. Smith;Howell F. Moffett;Sirkka B. Stephan;Cary F. Opel

  • Selection of functional T cell receptor mutants from a yeast surface-display library.

    Michele C. Kieke;Eric V. Shusta;Eric T. Boder;Luc Teyton

  • Protein Disulfide Isomerase Overexpression Increases Secretion of Foreign Proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    Anne Skaja Robinson;Victoria Hines;K. Dane Wittrup

Frequent Co-Authors

Darrell J. Irvine
Darrell J. Irvine Scripps Research Institute
David M. Kranz
David M. Kranz University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Oliver W. Press
Oliver W. Press University of Washington
Eric V. Shusta
Eric V. Shusta University of Wisconsin–Madison
Lloyd J. Old
Lloyd J. Old Ludwig Cancer Research
Margaret E. Ackerman
Margaret E. Ackerman Dartmouth College
Antony W. Burgess
Antony W. Burgess Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Terrance Grant Johns
Terrance Grant Johns Telethon Kids Institute

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