Immunology
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD)
Besides cervical cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV) associated malignancies have been implicated in a subset of patients who have oropharyngeal cancers. These tumors constitute a unique environment which enables them to evade the appropriate immune response, thus furthering their capacity for metastasis. Currently, we are interested in understanding the composition and properties of this microenvironment – particularly, phenotypic and functional changes in immune cells during tumor progression. Moreover, we would like to examine the epigenetic and molecular modifications involved in the regulation or dysregulation of host genes during tumorigenesis. Such immune evasion strategies allow the tumor to effectively target and suppress the immune system, thus compromising the host's survival.
2007 National Science Foundation - Honorable Mention

The Adobe Flash Player plugin (version 8) is required to view the genealogy tree.
Download the plugin here.