Sumana Sharma
University of Oxford
Biography
Dr. Sumana Sharma is a Group Leader and RDM Principal Investigator at the MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, University of Oxford.
Her research investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying immune receptor signalling and T-cell regulation, using quantitative cell-based assays, synthetic receptor engineering, and systems-level approaches to study both activating and inhibitory signalling pathways to use in both cancer and autoimmune contexts.
She has extensive expertise in genome-wide and arrayed CRISPR screening, as well as the integration and analysis of CRISPR datasets, with a particular interest in uncovering immune-specific vulnerabilities in cancer cells.
Relevant Publications
- Signalome-wide mapping of the NFκB pathway in T-cells reveals novel targets for immunotherapyClarke J., Chen H., Garcia C. T., Basiarz E., Kotowski M., Santos A. M., Voung M. T., Sherman P. A., Li J. X., Tape C. J., Davis S. J., Sharma S., bioRxiv (2026).
- PD-1 signaling and PD-1 blockade mediated tumor control are established at microvillar T cell contactsJenkins E., Fellermeyer M., Heraghty D. F., Sharma S., Mitra T., Kotowski M., Clarke J., Lui Y., Daly S., Marin Z., Banik D., Körbel M., Ng E. Z. Q., Lister T., Santos A. M., Lee S. F., Dustin M. L., Davis S. J., Klenerman D., Science Immunology (2026).
- Integrative multi-omics defines melanoma drug response networks and ARID1A-dependent resistance mechanismsBarker C. G., Sharma S., Santos A. M., Nikolakopoulos K-S., Velentzas A. D., Tormo-Garcia C., Sharma A., Völlmy F. I., Minia A., Pliaka V., Clarke J., Altelaar M., Wright G. J., Alexopoulos L. G., Stravopodis D. J., Petsalaki E., Molecular Systems Biology (2026).
- A high-throughput two-cell assay for interrogating inhibitory signaling pathways in T cellsSharma S., Whitehead T., Kotowski M., Ng E. Q. Z., Clarke J., Leitner J., Chen Y.-L., Santos A. M., Steinberger P., Davis S. J., Life Science Alliance (2023).
- Investigating cellular recognition using CRISPR/Cas9 genetic screeningChong Z-S., Wright G. J., Sharma S., Trends in Cell Biology (2020).
- CEN-tools: An integrative platform to identify the contexts of essential genesSharma S., Dincer C., Weidemüller P., Wright G. J., Petsalaki E., Molecular Systems Biology (2020).
- Genome-scale identification of cellular pathways required for cell surface recognitionSharma S., Bartholdson S. J., Couch A. C. M., Yusa K., Wright G. J., Genome Research (2018).