Chien-Fu Hung, PhD

Dr. Chien-Fu Hung is a Professor of Pathology and Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a member of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. His research focuses on cancer immunology and immunotherapy development. Specifically, he engineers and tests novel biologic immunotherapies and fusion proteins designed to target tumors, reverse the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and drive robust anti-tumor immunity.

He received a Young Investigator Award from the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy in 2004.

He was elected member, National Academy of Inventors in 2017.

Dr. Hung's research has led to the generation of clinical-grade vaccines for HPV-associated precancerous and cancerous lesions. Of special note, two of Dr. Hung's technologies, DNA vaccines based on HSP70 and calreticulin fusion technologies, have also been licensed and are under active development by biotechnology companies. Recently Dr. Hung's lab has utilized annexin V (AnnV) as an immune checkpoint inhibitor and tumor-homing molecule for the treatment of cancer, as AnnV greatly enhances the immunogenicity and antitumor efficacy after chemoradiation.

Additionally, Dr. Hung has developed a novel universal immunotherapeutic molecule (Alb-Flt3L) by harnessing albumin's ability to extend serum half-life and preferential trafficking towards lymph nodes as well as the properties of Flt3L to potently expand cross-presenting DCs. Alb-Flt3L enhances immunological responses mediated by cross-presenting DCs and subsequently generates potent antigen-specific T and B cell responses.

• Kang TH, Park JH, Yang A, Park HJ, Lee SE, Kim YS, Jang GY, Farmer E, Lam B, Park YM, Hung CF: Annexin A5 as an immune checkpoint inhibitor and tumor-homing molecule for cancer treatment. Nat Commun 2020, 11(1):1137

• Kang TH, Yang A, Tsai Y, Ferrall L, Hung CF: Targeted tumor coating with antigenic, CTL-recognizable peptides via Annexin A5 chimeric constructs following chemotherapy redirects adaptive CD8+ T cell immunity for tumor clearance. Cell Mol Immunol 2020

• Mao CP, Wang SC, Su YP, Tseng SH, He L, Wu AA, Roden RBS, Xiao J, Hung CF: Protein detection in blood with single-molecule imaging. Sci Adv. 2021, 7(33): eabg6522.

• Wu AA, Peng K, Vukovich M, Zhu M, Lin Y, Bagga A, Wu TC, Hung CF: Personalizing DNA Cancer Vaccines. J Pers Med 2025, 15(10).