T cells are central actors in our immune system. They protect us against many types of infections and in certain cases, they can fight off cancer. The first branch of Dr Delisle's research program is devoted to the understanding of the signals that dictate T cell biology. In order to be effective, a T cell needs to be activated in specific contexts, it needs to proliferate, kill its targets and generate immunological memory to confer long term protection. More specifically, Dr Delisle is interested in the phenomenon of T-cell exhaustion that occurs upon sustained activation and the generation of memory T cells.

As a clinician-scientist, Dr Delisle is committed to translate new discoveries into novel therapies. He develops and implements new treatments using T cells as treatment. This relatively novel and promising form of therapy involves the culture of T cells in the laboratory followed by their injection in the patient. However, the in vitro generation of T cells capable of specifically recognize infected or cancerous T cells is challenging. Importantly, the signals transmitted to the T cells need to be carefully titrated in order to produce cells with optimal therapeutic efficacy. Hence, the basic research performed on T cell biology by Dr Delisle is directly applicable to this second research branch.