Email: [email protected]

Program: Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology Graduate Student
Year Entered: 2022
Thesis Advisor: Ingunn Stromnes (lab website)

Research: My current thesis proposal concerns the immune response elicited by immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy against pancreatic cancer. Specifically, I am interested in the role that TCR affinity plays in the functionality of newly recruited "stem-like" CD8 T cells (CD8STEM). CD8STEM cell possess a high self-renewal potential and form reservoirs in both tumor draining lymph nodes and tertiary lymphoid sites within the TME, continually supplying cytotoxic effector cells to the anti-tumor response. It has been shown in other cancer models that CD8s presenting TCRs with low tumor epitope affinity have been found to comprise the majority of this CD8STEM reservoir when in competition with CD8s expressing high affinity TCRs. However, this lower affinity CD8STEM  population exhibits reduced functionality and does not benefit from ICB. Understanding what causes low affinity TCRs to comprise the CD8STEM reservoir in models of competition, as well as how to potentially rescue dysfunctional CD8STEM, could help improve the longevity and potency of the ICB mediated response to pancreatic cancer.

Degrees received: 
BS, Northeastern University, 2019