2024-2025 Cohort

My research focuses on the fascinating intersection of the vaginal microbiome and Herpes Simplex virology. Specifically, I am investigating how Lactobacillus-dominated communities in the vaginal microbiome correlate with reduced genital herpes acquisition and fewer instances of viral reactivation. This work aims to identify anti-herpetic compounds produced by Lactobacillus bacteria, offering promising new avenues for antiviral therapies. I am working in the Knipe Lab at Harvard Medical School and the Gopinath Lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

I was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York City at a young age. I later moved to the Hudson Valley, New York, for my Bachelor of Science in molecular and cellular biology. As an undergraduate student, I participated in multiple research projects primarily focused on studying infections in multinucleated eukaryotes. Post-graduation, I became a technician in an HIV research lab at Weill Cornell Medicine, where I became interested in immunology. I decided to join Harvard Medical School for my PhD in immunology because of the highly collaborative environment and wide range of immunology topics being studied.

I grew up in Thailand and New Zealand and graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. While at Yale, I started doing biology and biochemistry research in Dr. Dieter Söll’s lab, studying the functions of tRNAs and ribosomal proteins. I also conducted bioinformatics research in Dr. Mark Gerstein’s lab on genome deconvolution methods for human brain sequencing data. As my interest in translational research grew, I joined the lab of Dr. Alexandra-Chloé Villani at Massachusetts General Hospital to study the adverse effects of cancer immunotherapy using single-cell sequencing. My combined interest in cancer immunology and sequencing technology led me to join HMS’s PhD Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences to explore new methods to interrogate disease states and the effects of therapy in patients.

The ability to interrogate and track different populations of immune cells and their interaction with tumor cells in cancer patients during immunotherapy is crucial for developing therapeutic strategies with durable outcomes. T cells are the immune cells most often involved in cancer-killing and long-term protection and are a major target for immunotherapy. A novel method could provide insight into the clonal evolution of tumor-specific T cells from patients during an anti-tumor response, which could help in understanding tumor-targeting and off-target mechanisms and identify new targets of tumor-killing T cells.

I am originally from Ghana, West Africa. I did my undergraduate studies in biochemistry and cell and molecular biology at the University of Ghana and conducted my thesis work on Plasmodium falciparum. I developed a deep passion for malaria research during my thesis work, and thus, I decided to apply to Harvard University for my PhD to study the disease further. I was drawn to the BPH Program at Harvard because of the significant number of faculty doing malaria research. I saw the environment as a great place to be trained and contribute to the fight against malaria.

Malaria is a significant public health challenge. It is one of the leading causes of death of children under five years in Africa, where I come from. With the emergence of resistance against the current antimalarial drugs, there is a need to identify new antimalarials with novel mechanisms of action and less susceptibility to resistance. So, for my PhD, I am interested in exploring some of the less studied Plasmodium epigenetic factors as novel targets for antimalarial drugs. I hope to identify new molecular targets in the Plasmodium parasite for which new therapeutics could be developed.

When I first learned about the Fujifilm Fellowship, I eagerly desired to become a fellow. On December 31, 2023, I wrote a prayer to be nominated for the fellowship. So, when I saw the email, it was a dream come true for me. However, I was still very surprised. I am deeply grateful to Fujifilm and the Therapeutics Graduate Program for this honor. As an international student with limited fellowship opportunities, I am delighted and honored to receive this prestigious fellowship. It motivates me to keep working harder and believing that my dreams are valid regardless of my background.

I grew up in Plano, Texas, and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for my undergraduate studies at Harvard, where I studied chemistry. During college, I worked in two laboratories, where I studied the genetics of neurofibromatosis type 1 and developed new tools for control of protein glycosylation. After college, I worked as a research assistant in a laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital, where I developed and evaluated COVID-19 vaccines using mouse models. I came to HMS because of the breadth and depth of research opportunities and the collaborative research community, which will help me grow my scientific abilities.

Kinase signaling is dysregulated in many disease areas, ranging from cancers to neurodegeneration to cardiovascular disease. As a result, kinase inhibitors have become a prominent class of drugs both in development and in the clinic. However, despite the importance of kinases in cell biology and disease, most identified cellular phosphorylation events cannot be attributed to a specific kinase. My work aims to develop and implement a new method for kinase-substrate profiling, improving our understanding of kinase signaling and allowing for the identification of potential new drug targets associated with these kinases of interest.

I’m originally from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, China, and came to the U.S. for college. I completed my undergraduate studies in biological sciences and bioinformatics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. After that, I spent two years conducting translational research in pediatric leukemia at UCSF, working in the Loh and Stieglitz labs. During that time, I developed a strong passion for cancer research and a commitment to improving patient outcomes, which ultimately led me to pursue my PhD at HMS.