Calvin Kuo

Calvin Kuo developed the air-liquid interface (ALI) organoid culture method that uniquely preserves native tumor stroma including fibroblasts, immune cells, and endothelial cells within organoid cultures, enabling study of tumor-microenvironment interactions in a 3D context. His ALI organoids maintain T cell populations that can be activated by anti-PD-1 treatment, providing an ex vivo model for immunotherapy testing. He has used organoid systems to characterize cancer stem cell populations defined by Wnt pathway activation and niche factor dependency. His transplantation assays with genetically engineered organoids have modeled stepwise tumor progression from normal to malignant states in vivo.