I’m an Associate Research Scientist at Yale, driven by a fascination with how our immune system recognizes and fights cancer. My work centers on understanding how CD8⁺ T cells become activated—or sometimes fail to—within tumors and their draining lymph nodes. I combine single-cell RNA-seq, TCR-seq, and spatial-omics to uncover the cellular programs that shape these immune responses. Much of my research focuses on head and neck cancers and HPV-associated lesions, exploring how the tumor microenvironment and lymph nodes coordinate or suppress anti-tumor immunity. I also previously worked at Johns Hopkins University, where I engineered cytokine-based molecules to modulate immune cell function and fine-tune the tumor microenvironment to boost cancer vaccine efficacy. With a Ph.D. in molecular biology and years of experience in tumor immunology, I’m passionate about translating mechanistic insights into new therapeutic strategies that re-engage the immune system to treat cancer more effectively.