Meet the CBTP Trainees!

Ava Albis, Predoc – PI, Xiaolei Su

Project Title: MechanoCAR T cells: Harnessing T cell mechanosensitivity to target solid tumors

Katherine Benitez, Predoc – PI, Rachel Perry

Project Title: The impact of the gut microbiome on TME nutrient availability in colorectal cancer progression

Norikoa Bracken, Predoc – PI, Marcus Bosenberg

Project Title: Defining Mechanisms of Treg Suppression in Melanoma to Improve Immunotherapy Efficacy

William Escobar, Predoc – PI, Zhou Lab

Project Title: Identifying and investigating genetic regulators of glioblastoma invasion for improved therapeutic outcomes

Kirby Gardner, Predoc – PI, Kurt Schalper

Project Title: Understanding the immunomodulatory role and clinical significance of cancer cell HLA class-II expression in human lung carcinomas

Angela Kim, Predoc – PIs, Ranjit Bindra and Juan Vasquez

Project Title: NAPRT loss as a biomarker for targeted NAD depletion in rhabdomyosarcoma

Abigail Koomson, Predoc – PI, Rachel Perry

Project Title: Investigating dichloroacetate (DCA) as a novel therapeutic in cancer related fatigue (CRF)

Amanda Leonita, Predoc – PI, Ping Mu

Project Title: The Role of SATB2 in Prostate Cancer Lineage Plasticity and Therapy Resistance

Stephanie Schwartz, Predoc – PI, David Braun

Project Title: Investigating the role of PMCH in tumor infiltrating CD8+ T cells

Leena Sen, Predoc – PI, Anna Marie Pyle

Project Title: Characterizing the regulation of the immune modulator LGP2

Zheyun Xu, Predoc – PI, Thomas Melia

Project Title: Investigating the role of TMEM164 in Ferritinophagy

Hans Zhao, Predoc – PI, Richard Flavell

Project Title: Modulating the Immune Landscape with Combined Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Demethylating Agents in Treatment-Naïve Patients with HPV+ Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Lucy Zheng, Predoc – Pis Hyunghoon Cho and Kurt Schalper

Project Title: Advanced Computational Methods in Clinical Cancer Research: Investigating Biological Drivers of Colorectal Cancer and its Resistance Mechanisms in Treatment

Julie Cheung, Postdoc – PI, Peter Glazer

Project Title: Investigating delivery systems and immunomodulates to target tumors

Mackenzie Bender, Predoc – PI, Carrie Lucas

Project Title: Enhanced CD8+ T cell expansion in the absence of ELF4 comes at the cost of functional long-term immunity

Bowei Deng, Predoc – PI, Mark Lemmon

Project Title: Investigating Endocytosis as the Mechanism Driving Differential Ligand-induced EGFR Responses

Kerry Larkin, Predoc – PI, Megan King

Project Title: Investigating mechanisms of PARP inhibitor-induced cell death in BRCA1-deficient cancer

Hannah Lea, Predoc – PI, Joseph Contessa

Project Title: Identifying OST inhibitors with the highest efficacy for sarcoma treatment

Anthony Minnah, Predoc – PI, Faye Rogers

Project Title: Targeting Amplified Genes in Ovarian Cancer as an Anticancer Therapy

Kyle Misquitta, Predoc – PI, Mark Lemon

Project Title: Understanding Signaling Consequences and Therapeutic Opportunities arising from EGFR

Ectodomain Mutations in Cancer

Lena Wirth, Predoc – PI, David Braun

Project Title: Investigating the role of the tumor-draining lymph nodes in renal cell carcinoma

Charles Zou, Predoc – PI, Jason Sheltzer

Project Title: Uncovering the role of Trisomy 21 in human leukemias

Hannah Aldrich, Postdoc – PI, Thomas Hayman

Project Title: Exploiting interactions between tumor and stromal STING to enhance sensitivity to DNA damaging therapies

Archer Hamidzadeh, Postdoc – PI, Mark Lemmon

Project Title: Spatiotemporal dynamics of biased EGFR signaling

Meng (Mia) Liu, Postdoc – PI, Jeffrey Townsend

Project Title: The Quantification of Oncogenic Potential of Somatic Mutations in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Paul Renauer, Postdoc – PI, Sidi Chen

Project Title: Metabolic Reprogramming of Tumor-Specific Immune Cells with Single-cell Multi-Omics CRISPR Biotechnologies

Martin Alcaraz Jr., Postgraduate Research Associate. PI: Shannon Whirledge and Pinar Kodaman.
Research project: Led a longitudinal pregnancy study defining the best practices for biospecimen collection and storage in order to best support various big data technologies, while identifying, collecting, and processing biospecimens at Yale New Haven Hospital for inclusion in the Yale University Reproductive Sciences Biobank.

Cory Brennick, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. PI: Lieping Chen.
Research project: Focused on the tumor microenvironment and its suppressive abilities, investigating the molecules secreted from the tumor microenvironment that inhibit T cell infiltration.

Jordan Cardenas, PhD Candidate. PI: Katerina Politi.
Research project: Investigated mechanisms of acquired resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer with emphasis on investigation into additive mutations in proteasome components.

Jasmine Caulfield, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. PI: Harriet Kluger.
Research project: Worked on developing novel regimens for cancer patients whose tumors are resistant to current immune therapies.

Dorthy Fang, PhD Candidate. PI: Sigrid Nachtergaele.
Research project: The biology of RNA modifications, focusing on N1-methyladenosine (m1A) with an interest in the ways in which RNA modifications are regulated within the cell and their downstream effects on cellular processes.

Aileen Fernandez, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. PI: David Rimm.
Research project: Identified and developed biomarkers for different cancer treatments, focusing on breast cancer, lung cancer, and gastric cancer.

Xiangyu (Gigi) Ge, PhD Candidate. PI: Mandar Muzumdar.
Research project: Dissected differential signaling pathways among Kras variants by engineering proteins for light-inducible allosteric control, using genetic CRISPR screen to identify synthetic lethal candidates in Kras-knockout pancreatic cell lines, and discovering novel escaping mechanisms in Kras-driven cancers.

Kasey Hancock, PhD Candidate. PI: Todd Constable.
Research project: Developed an open, silent tabletop MRI system to increase the accessibility of MRI. Among other uses, this technology could replace X-ray mammography as a higher resolution breast cancer screening mechanism and be used to monitor other tumors.

Vanessa Kelley, PhD Candidate. PI: Joseph Contessa.
Research project: Used CRISPR screens to uncover novel mechanisms of resistance to common cancer therapies. Specifically, used a kinome-wide CRISPR screen to elucidate mechanisms of resistance of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma to radiation therapy and immunotherapy.

Mei Lan Li, PhD Candidate. PI: Kaelyn Sumigray
Research project: Studied the mechanisms that drive the formation of intestinal polyposis, in which ectopic growth results in the lining of the intestine, and how polyp formation affects the functions and physical architecture of intestinal stem cell niches.

Diana Martinez-Saucedo, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. PI: Luisa Escobar-Hoyos.
Research project: Worked on understanding the role of a splicing factor in the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Natasha Pinto Medici, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. PI: Luisa Escobar-Hoyos.
Research project: Worked on understanding how aberrant alternative RNA splicing contributes to PDAC pathogenesis and impaired anti-tumor immune response, and determining its value as mechanistic-based therapies.

Mamie Wang, PhD Candidate. PI: Harriet Kluger/Steven Kleinstein.
Research project: Computational immunology and developing computational methods to solve interesting biological problems, and a deep learning model to predict peptide-MHC binding affinity based on their sequences.

Sherry Agabiti, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. PI: Mandar Muzumdar.
Research project: Identified synthetic vulnerabilities in KRAS-mutant pancreatic cancer cells and determining the critical molecular determinants of lung cancer progression in an autochthonous mouse model.

Daniel Colón-Ríos, MD-PhD Candidate. PI: Faye Rogers.
Research project: Studied how triplex structures in the DNA can affect DNA damage response and the balance between DNA repair and apoptosis.

Christopher Cross, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. PI: Jeffrey Townsend.
Research project: Worked to determine the candidate causal variants within genes linked to cancer across different subtypes (melanoma, breast, prostate, etc.) using an evolutionary genetic computational approach.

Julia Dietz, Postgraduate Research Associate. PI: Katerina Politi.
Research project: Translational work on a tissue collection protocol gathering patient specimens and clinical information for laboratory research. Also, maintaining a colony of PDX mice for different experiments in the Politi Lab.

Jonathan Dow, PhD Candidate. PI: Peter Glazer.
Research project: Studied the DNA repair defect found in cancers that produce oncometabolites, metabolites associated with cancer, and how resistance to DNA repair inhibitors might occur in this unique context.

Jack Huck, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. PI: Aaron Ring.
Research project: Protein engineering as a tool to understand and manipulate the immune system in cancer.

Caro Kravitz, PhD Candidate. PI: Don Nguyen.
Research project: Studing the role of H3K36 demethylases in the metastasis cascade of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Katelyn Noronha, PhD Candidate. PI: Ranjit Bindra.
Research project: Studied cancer-associated mutations in tricarboxylic acid cycle genes that cause production of oncometabolites, which suppress homologous recombination DNA repair and may affect other modes of DNA repair.

Sateja Paradkar, PhD Student. PI: Ranjit Bindra.
Research project: Identified the function of lesser-known DNA repair proteins and studying how to target these proteins in DNA repair-deficient cancers.

Yanixa Quiñones-Avilés, PhD Candidate. PI: Mandar Muzumdar.
Research project: Elucidating the divergence in downstream signaling, transcriptional profiles and oncogenic potential of the most common KRAS mutants, and also sought to evaluate how these mutants might affect patient outcome and their response to therapy.

Christian Ruiz, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. PI: Mandar Muzumdar.
Research project: Identified metabolic and microbial drivers of lung and pancreatic tumorigenesis.

Doyle Saez, Postgraduate Research Associate. PI: Katerina Politi.
Research project: Contributed to lung cancer research by maintaining the genotypes of the different strains of our mouse colony, scanning the mice by use of magnetic resonance, and assisting with preparation of drugs and treatments.

Max Scalf, PhD Candidate. PI: Shangqin Guo.
Research project: Studied the properties of the privileged cell state which enable them to undergo certain cell fate choices such as malignant transformation using mouse models of leukemia.

Sameeha Shaikh, Postgraduate Research Associate. PI: Katerina Politi.
Research project: Worked on an immunotherapy project to investigate transforming the immune desert of EGFR-driven LUAD into a more immunostimulatory environment that will increase T-cell mediated killing of tumors.

Rebecca Starble, PhD Candidate. PI: Andrew Xiao.
Research project: Worked on understanding how epigenetic mechanisms - specifically DNA methylation - contribute to the acquisition of drug resistance in lung cancer.

Annali Yurkevicz, PhD Student. PI: Peter Glazer.
Research project: Tumor targeting through the use of the pH low insertion peptide (pHLIP) and investigating additional mechanistic roles of the autoantibody 3E10 in senescence.

Chaitanya Vattem, Genetics – PI, Mandar Muzumdar

Ethan Krop, Pathology - PI, Qin Yan and Don Nguyen

Jackie Shi, Medical Oncology – PI, Barbara Burtness