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Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences
Joseph Zenga, MD

Joseph Zenga, MD

Donald S. Blatnik, MD and Sharyn B. Blatnik Professorship of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Reconstruction; Associate Professor & Chief, Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology & Reconstruction

Biography

Dr. Zenga obtained his undergraduate degree at Cornell University and attended Washington University in Saint Louis where he earned an MD degree and completed an Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery residency. He subsequently completed a fellowship in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, Skullbase Surgery, and Microvascular Reconstruction at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School. His fellowship training focused heavily on both complex free tissue reconstruction and minimally invasive surgery with the use of surgical robots. His research interests include basic and translational immunotherapy in head and neck cancer. In particular, his laboratory focuses on identification and therapeutic use of tumor antigen-specific T cells. This includes multiple innovative single-cell techniques incorporating individual tumor cell-T cell co-culture and single-cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing. In addition to translational immuno-oncology, he also co-leads multiple novel clinical trials focused on using radiotherapy to improve the immune response in head and neck cancer.

Research Interests

  1. Immunology of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer
  2. Single-cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing
  3. Tumor-specific T cell and neo-antigen discovery
  4. Murine modeling of oral cancer and in vivo imaging
  5. Phase I clinical trials

Publications

Publications of Joseph Zenga MD from the Faculty Collaboration Database

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