Jennifer is a doctoral student in the Department of Immunobiology, under the mentorship of Dr. Nikhil Joshi. Her thesis project is focused on understanding how cancer escapes the immune system during early-tumor development and through resistance to checkpoint blockade therapy. Specifically, how neoantigen heterogeneity amongst cancer cells impacts escape of T cell immunosurveillance. Her goal is to discover immunoediting pathways that tumors exploit to evade T cell control, identifying targets for the development of novel anti-cancer drugs. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Cell Biology with a minor in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), earning her degree with honors distinction. She started doing research in centrosome biology, studying mechanisms of cell division in C. elegans in the Oegema/Desai Lab during her...
Rebecca I. Colón Ríos (she/her) was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She pursued her undergraduate studies at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, where she majored in Industrial Microbiology. In her home institution, she worked on screening for pathogenic aerosols in the biology department and identifying environmental fungal interactions with bromeliads. Now, Rebecca is a fifth year Ph.D. candidate and NIAID F31 Fellow in the Microbiology Track of the BBS program. In Dr. Barbara Kazmierczak’s lab, she’s studying Acanthamoeba castellanii - Pseudomonas aeruginosa interactions. Rebecca strives to increase the representation of underrepresented scientists by organizing recruitment efforts as the Chair of the YBDIC Engagement Branch. In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys making pottery and baking.
Ray Vaca received his bachelors degree in neuroscience from UCLA in 2019. After graduation, he worked in the X. William Yang Laboratory at UCLA from 2019-2022, studying the pathogenesis of Huntington's and Alzheimer's Disease and also contributed to the lab's role in the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN). In 2022, he joined Yale University as a graduate student in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (INP), where he was offered the Gruber Science Fellowship. He is completing his thesis work in the Shaul Yogev Laboratory in the Departments of Neuroscience and Cell Biology. His current research interests include the cellular mechanisms of psychedelic drugs, with a particular emphasis on how these drugs affect the neuronal cytoskeleton, using C. elegans as a model organism. Outside of the lab, Ray enjoys spending his time conducting outreach in the local New Haven...
Adriana N. Vélez-Avilés was born and raised in Isabela, Puerto Rico. In 2020, she graduated as a MARC Scholar from the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras with a major in Cell and Molecular Biology. During her undergraduate studies, she conducted research in Dr. Gregory Quirk’s laboratory, focusing on neural circuits involved in decision-making. Her interest in genetics and developmental biology deepened after her research in Dr. Mariana Wolfner’s lab at Cornell University, where she investigated the key pathways involved in Drosophila egg activation, a critical process for egg development. Adriana is currently a fifth-year MD-PhD student in the UPR School of Medicine and the Yale Cooperative MD-PhD Program. Her clinical and research interests center on reproductive medicine and women’s health. After completing three years of medical school, she joined Dr. Berna Sozen’s lab in early 2024...