Stanford, California, United States
I am currently a Medical Oncology fellow at Stanford and am completing my post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Crystal Mackall, MD. I am broadly interested in developing safe and effective cell therapies for cancer. My current work is focused on defining the pathophysiology of CAR T cell toxicities, examining the impacts of regulatory T cells and myeloid cells in therapeutic activity, and conducting antigen discovery campaigns for adult solid tumors.
As an MD/PhD student at the University of Washington and Fred Hutch Cancer Center, I completed my graduate studies in the laboratory of Stanley Riddell, MD. When I began my PhD in 2014, CAR T cells were demonstrating great promise in clinical trials for B cell malignancies, but their mechanisms and optimization strategies remained poorly understood. My research focused on characterizing intracellular signaling pathways of various CAR constructs and comparing them to natural T cell receptor signaling cascades. These findings provided critical insights into CAR T cell function and led to the design and patenting of novel CAR constructs. During my PhD, I had the opportunity to lead multiple projects, manage a small research team, and collaborate with clinicians and scientists across the United States. My work resulted in sixteen co-author publications, including four high-impact first, co-first, and second-author papers, as well as several influential reviews and textbook chapters.