My research is focused on uveal melanoma which is the most common cancer of the eye and metastasizes in approximately 50% of patients. Metastatic disease occurs predominantly in the liver and is universally fatal. I am developing cell-based vaccines that activate tumor-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T lymphocytes that eliminate primary and metastatic uveal melanoma cells. The vaccines (called MHC II vaccines) consist of tumor cells that are genetically modified to express MHC Class II alleles and the costimulatory molecule CD80. Uveal melanoma may be particularly appropriate for immunotherapy because primary tumors arise in an immune privileged site.