Beining Li

I hold a BSc with a double major in Immunology and Molecular Genetics from University of Toronto, graduating in 2018. During my final year project, I focused on re-envisioning autologous stem cell transplant methodologies for neuroblastoma patients. This involved an in-depth study of T cells from cancer patients, sparking my initial engagement with the field of immunotherapy.

Subsequently, I transitioned to University of Oxford, where I completed an MSc in Integrated Immunology in 2023. My dissertation centered on the development of bispecific T cell engagers (BiTE) targeting HLA-E for anti-tumour therapy. This project provided profound insights into T cell responses, fostering my fascination with exploring novel targets and the intricate complexities of immune cell receptors and their ligands.

In 2023, I joined Dr. Malcolm Sim's newly established lab at the Oxford Centre for Immuno-Oncology as a Research Assistant. In this role, I am actively involved in defining the peptide-MHC ligands for killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR). Activating KIR has been implicated in various disease processes, yet the ligands for these receptors remain poorly defined. Recent findings in our group have highlighted the specificity of activating KIR for certain peptides presented by MHC-I. This underscores the significance of defining the peptide-specificity of these receptors in understanding disease associations. Therefore, I focus on developing high-throughput techniques including yeast display to elucidate KIR specificity for peptide-MHC-I interactions.