Ashish Goyal
Assistant Professor
Ashish Goyal holds a BSc. & MSc. from IISER Kolkata (2006-2011) and a PhD from Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (2012-2017) under Prof. Dr. Sven Diederichs. He later pursued a postdoc (2017-2024) at DKFZ, Heidelberg, under Prof. Dr. Christoph Plass.
His primary research focuses on enhancing tumor immunogenicity for improved immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. His work explores tumor-specific neoantigen-targeting mRNA vaccines and the potential of shared antigen vaccines for broader accessibility. In Nature Communications (2023), he demonstrated how DNMTi and HDACi treatments activate endogenous retroviral elements (ERVs), leading to the production of highly immunogenic t-neopeptides. These findings provide a foundation for developing shared antigen mRNA vaccines, advancing cancer immunotherapy.
At TCG Life Sciences, Ashish Goyal aims to advance his research by identifying and validating t-neopeptides as universal targets for cancer vaccines. His work focuses on compiling t-neopeptides presented by high-frequency MHC I allotypes and evaluating their immunogenicity. This research paves the way for developing off-the-shelf mRNA vaccines, making cancer immunotherapy more accessible and effective.