Nate Klair  

Nate Klair graduated from the University of Minnesota’s Chemical Engineering program, and subsequently took a position performing cancer immunotherapy research at Genentech, where he worked alongside researchers developing an anti-PD-L1 therapy in order to treat cancer. Working with Dr. Carston Wagner this summer, Nate developed chemically self-assembling nanorings (CSANs) that specifically recognize breast cancer cells by incorporating single-chain engineered antibodies specific for EpCAM and CD133 to bind the tumor cells, and CD3 antibody to activate the T cells.

Development of Trispecific Chemically Self-Assembled Nanorings (CSANs)

Esteban Martinez

Esteban Martinez obtained Political Science BA and Public Policy Masters degrees from the University of California Los Angeles and Harvard Kennedy School of Government, respectively. His previous research experiences included data analysis in a study of achievement gaps among students of color. Esteban joined the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Jameson this summer to study how mutations of the extracellular ATP sensor P2RX7 affect pore formation and to determine their effects on T cell survival, differentiation, and function.

 Assessing the influence of P2RX7 expression level versus per-molecule functionality in murine activated T cells

Daniel Michelson

Daniel Michelson graduated from Bethel University with a degree in Biochemistry, and later designed and performed a research study on sorbent dialysis through work at Medtronic. Daniel paired with Dr. Geoffrey Hart this summer to generate chain negative NK cell mutants for CD16 signaling using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Together they developed a luciferase reporter gene system in Jurkat T cells that was sensitive to these mutations and their contributions to malaria resistance through disruption of infected red blood cells.

Elucidating the Protective Role of Adaptive Natural Killer Cells in Malaria  

Katelyn Pastick

After obtaining her degree in Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development from the University of Minnesota, Katelyn Pastick worked in Africa on a number of projects to improve the lives of individuals infected with HIV. During her summer research project, Katelyn again traveled to Kampala, Uganda, to participate in a translational research project directed by Drs. Kirsten Nielsen and Marc Jenkins that examines the polyclonal CD4 T cell response to Cryptococcus neoformans infection in HIV + patients. Using a PCR-based assay to type HLA alleles, Katelyn established that in this African population HLA DRB1*13 alleles were only rarely used, suggesting that peptide-MHCII tetramer design will be more complex.

 Examining the CD4+ T-cell Polarization in HIV-Positive Cryptococcus Patients in Kampala, Uganda

Evelyn Rwema

Evelyn Rwema graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies, and later became involved in a research project investigating interventions meant to prevent the transmission of HIV among homosexual men. This summer, Evelyn joined Dr. David Masopust in a 2-photon microscopy project aimed at determining how resident memory T cells interact with reproductive tissues, and compared the rates of T cell migration and retention within the myometrium versus the perimetrium.

CD8 memory T cell surveillance

Jason Sakizadeh

During his Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development degree work at the University of Minnesota, Jason Sakizadeh extensively studied the biochemistry of protein mutation in single-cell algae Chlamydomonas flagellin proteins. During this summer’s research project, Jason worked with Dr. Alex Khoruts to investigate the effects of Cftr gene deletion on colonic microbial organization in a mouse model of cystic fibrosis.

Imaging the Colonic Mucus Layer and Microbiota in Cystic Fibrosis

Ellen Spartz

Ellen Spartz entered medical school following 4 years of Drosophila research on the problem of Huntington’s disease at the Stanford University, where she obtained her BS in Biology. This summer, Ellen worked with Dr. Ingunn Stromnes to investigate the role of the chemokine receptor CXCR3 in the recruitment of engineered T cells to infiltrate pancreas ductal adenocarcinoma tumors.

Mechanisms of engineered T cell migration and accumulation in pancreatic cancer

If you are interested in learning more about the Summer Medical Student Research Program, or if you are interested in learning more about a particular research project done by one of our Mescher Scholars, please contact the program director Daniel Mueller