Programme Parameters
Foundation
3 Days (4.5 Hrs)
Online (e-LMS)
• No prior experience required — basic computer literacy is sufficient.
• A laptop or desktop with a stable internet connection.
• Willingness to complete assignments and the capstone project.
About This Course
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, especially in hematological malignancies. However, challenges such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS), neurotoxicity, limited persistence, antigen escape, and manufacturing complexity have driven the development of next-generation CAR designs. Innovations include dual-target CARs, armored CAR-T cells, logic-gated systems, and gene-edited universal CAR platforms aimed at improving safety, efficacy, and accessibility. Across 4 Weeks, you will build practical fluency in limited persistence and antigen escape, then consolidate everything in a capstone project. Every participant receives a verified e-Certificate and e-Marksheet from the Deep Science & Technology Consortium.
🎯 Program Aim
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, especially in hematological malignancies. However, challenges such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS), neurotoxicity, limited persistence, antigen escape, and manufacturing complexity have driven the development of next-generation CAR designs. Innovations include dual-target CARs, armored CAR-T cells, logic-gated systems, and gene-edited universal CAR platforms aimed at improving safety, efficacy, and accessibility.
📋 Course Objectives
1. Get comfortable working with limited persistence.
2. Build practical fluency in antigen escape.
3. Apply biotechnology methods to authentic research and industry problems.
4. Produce a reproducible, portfolio-ready project you can cite in a thesis, paper, or job application.
👥 Who Should Enroll?
• Master's and senior undergraduate students specializing in biotechnology
• R&D engineers and working professionals applying biotechnology in industry
• Academics and educators building research or teaching capacity in biotechnology
• Data and computational scientists moving into limited persistence
🚀 Key Learning Outcomes
• Confidence to apply limited persistence in real projects.
• Confidence to implement antigen escape in real projects.
• A demonstrable biotechnology project for your research or industry portfolio.
• A verified e-Certificate of competency and e-Marksheet from the Deep Science & Technology Consortium.
💎 What You'll Gain
Live & Recorded Sessions
Lifetime access to class recordingse-Certificate on Completion
Cryptographically verified credentialPost-Programme Support
Direct access to mentors & councilHands-On Experience
Notebooks, real-world code & datasetsCurriculum Outline
T-Cell Biology and Target Selection
• TCR signalling versus synthetic CAR signalling, and where the analogy breaks
• Tumour antigen selection: expression thresholds, heterogeneity and on-target off-tumour risk
• The immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment and mechanisms of immune evasion
CAR Architecture and Generations
• Binder selection and affinity tuning; scFv, VHH and ligand-based recognition
• Hinge and transmembrane choices and their effect on synapse geometry
• Costimulatory domain trade-offs: CD28 potency versus 4-1BB persistence
• Armoured CARs, logic gates, and safety switches such as iCasp9 and EGFRt
Vectors and Genome Engineering
• Lentiviral and gammaretroviral vectors; vector copy number limits and insertional risk
• Non-viral delivery: Sleeping Beauty and piggyBac transposons
• Site-specific knock-in at the TRAC locus and why targeted integration matters
• Allogeneic strategies: TRAC and B2M editing to limit GvHD and rejection
Vein-to-Vein Process and Release Testing
• Apheresis, selection and activation; starting-material variability
• Transduction, expansion platforms and closed-system processing
• Cryopreservation, cold chain and the practical limits of vein-to-vein time
• Release assays: identity, purity, potency, sterility, mycoplasma and endotoxin
Toxicity Management and Response Durability
• Lymphodepletion rationale and dose-finding in cell therapy
• Cytokine release syndrome and ICANS: ASTCT consensus grading and intervention
• Tocilizumab and corticosteroid algorithms, and their effect on efficacy
• Mechanisms of relapse: antigen loss, T-cell exhaustion and poor persistence
Regulatory Strategy and Scale
• IND-enabling package and CMC comparability across process changes
• Designing a potency assay regulators will accept
• GMP requirements for cell therapy facilities and personnel
• Scale-out versus scale-up economics, and access in cost-constrained health systems
Technical Specifications
| Parameter | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Covered Tool / Platform | Python |
| Covered Tool / Platform | Jupyter Notebook |
| Covered Tool / Platform | Google Colab |
| Covered Tool / Platform | Microsoft Excel |
| Covered Tool / Platform | Relevant Online Databases |
Frequently Asked Questions
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