Annabella Shewarega, MD

Annabella Shewarega is a resident in Interventional Radiology at Yale New Haven Hospital and a PhD candidate in Biology at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Her research focuses on developing non-invasive imaging biomarkers and novel locoregional immunotherapy strategies for liver cancer.

Her interest in interventional oncology began with her doctoral research at the Yale Interventional Oncology Lab, where she investigated the combination of ablative treatments and immunoadjuvants to study their effects on the tumor immune microenvironment. She has led and contributed to studies aimed at identifying immune and imaging-based biomarkers that can guide personalized treatment strategies and predict therapeutic and immunologic responses to locoregional interventions.

Prior to starting residency, she completed her postdoctoral training at the Yale Interventional Oncology Lab, where her work focused on characterizing the liver tumor microenvironment using a combination of advanced imaging, quantitative analysis, and immunologic profiling techniques. These projects leverage a strong foundation in preclinical research methods and translational models of liver cancer, with particular emphasis on inflammation-driven mouse tumor systems and the VX2 rabbit model. Her research has been supported by several awards and fellowships, including funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Rolf W. Günther Foundation, and the Heinrich-Hertz Foundation.

She is a recipient of the Society of Interventional Oncology Research Grant, which supports her ongoing studies on locoregional delivery of immunotherapy in liver cancer. Her long-term goal is to bridge imaging science with therapeutic innovation to advance personalized, image-guided cancer care.