About
Dr. Hakimeh Ebrahimi-Nik is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, where she leads the Nik Lab.
Her scientific career has been shaped by one persistent question: what determines whether an immune response against cancer actually succeeds?
Her early work focused on tumor antigens and neoepitopes, demonstrating that the ability of a tumor-specific T cell to recognize an antigen does not necessarily predict its ability to eliminate a tumor. This work helped establish a central idea that continues to guide her laboratory today: the presence of an immune response is fundamentally different from an effective immune response.
She subsequently led the mechanistic and immunological studies of AC484, a first-in-class PTPN2/PTPN1 inhibitor, defining how pharmacologic inhibition of these intracellular phosphatases enhances antitumor immunity. AC484 is now being evaluated in clinical trials in patients with advanced cancer.
The Nik Lab Today
Today, the Nik Lab brings these lines of investigation together to understand the intrinsic biology of successful tumor-specific CD8+ T cells. The laboratory studies the molecular programs controlling T-cell migration, activation, exhaustion, tumor recognition, and persistence, with the goal of identifying vulnerabilities that can be manipulated therapeutically.
The long-term vision is simple but ambitious: learn from the immune cells that already know how to defeat cancer—and use their biology to make more T cells capable of doing the same.
Awards & Recognition
- 2025
Young Investigator Travel Award
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC)
One of 40 Young Investigator Travel Awards marking the society's 40th anniversary year, presented at SITC 2025 in National Harbor, Maryland.